Mediterranean tour to Israel, Jordan, and Egypt 17 days

8 Reviews

Excellent

38%

Good

25%

Average

38%

Rather Poor

0%

Bad

0%

• PB

  Priscilla
  Written on April 20, 2018

  4.0 - Good

  The itinerary was good however we were rushed through many of the sites that most people would have preferred spending time at.

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• 

  Craig
  Written on April 13, 2018

  3.0 - Average

  ITINERARY I booked this tour for my parents and myself. The three of us enjoyed the sites we were taken to as part of the tour, but it can be quite the journey - be prepared to walk and do some manual labor crossing the borders and going through rampant security checks! Please note that this tour package consolidates tours run by separate tour operators in each country, and have no relation to another. This tour package is acceptable for young people and adventurers with patience and thick skin. Know what to expect. We were initially drawn to the price tag - a good deal on the outset - but be keenly aware that outside expenditures quickly stack up: dinners are not included (Israel is particularly expensive), mandatory fees for border crossing and visas are marked up, the guides on most tours will talk about tipping even if they did a half-decent job, and lastly, the tour operator in Egypt will offer you optional “extras” that are egregiously marked up. Unless you read all the details carefully, are very patient, and agree to everything you're getting yourself into, do not book this tour. Instead, look to another company for a rewarding, consummate experience. ACCOMMODATION We were not given a scrupulous or discerning selection of hotels. From our experience, if you live in a first-world country, be sure to mentally discount the hotel star rating by one star. For example, "3-star" options are more like 2-star options, and "4-star" options are more like 3-star. We only had one good hotel experience and that was in Jerusalem. The one in Petra was decent for Jordan, and offered a Turkish bath for a fee. A majority of the hotels booked for us were aged, poorly maintained, not conveniently located, dimly lit, smelled stale or of smoke, and had terrible customer service when we ran into issues (extra bed not set up, no towels, BUGS in the room, wi-fi or air conditioner not working). This made our trip uncomfortable and unnecessarily stressful, as it impacted our ability and quality of sleep amid shorter night turnarounds. MEALS Breakfast at our hotels were decent, but unimpressive. Though (a very average) lunch is included on most tour days, drinks will be extra charge. Only one day were the meals good, and that was at a buffet near Petra, Jordan. Otherwise, the meals are simply edible. TRANSPORT The transportation is excellent in Israel and Egypt, comfortable with air conditioning and large windows. But be prepared for an older van in Jordan with dirty windows. Sometimes in Egypt (cruise days) and Jordan, the van may smell musty or of cigarette smoke. ISRAEL You will be part of a group tour. Every tour day, you will be ferried from your hotel and taken to a meeting point by a contracted tour operator. Then you will switch to an assigned bus for your tour. Sometimes you stay on the same bus, but most times you will switch. This process takes one to two hours, depending on delays and traffic from other buses ferrying people to the meeting point. A similar process is employed to drop off tourists at their hotels in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, or anywhere else they may be staying. The tour guides are multilingual. Most of our guides had thicker accents and were less intelligible for my parents, with broken English or German/French/Hebrew accent. Compare this to other tour guides at the same touristic sites and you’ll (unfortunately) hear a difference in English language articulation. Because the guides are handling a proper group of tourists, they will be less individually attentive. However in Jerusalem, where my father is harder of walking with the hilly terrain, our guide was kind enough to make sure we were set. We particularly enjoyed adventuring through Old Jerusalem City, and Haifa and Acre, with the grottoes and Bahai gardens. And Tel Aviv is also worth experiencing, but you can get yourself around to the hotspots quite easily by taxi or public transit. No need for a formal day tour, like we did. For dinner and snacks, the food (seafood in particular) is great in Tel Aviv by the way! JORDAN You will likely be part of a group tour. Petra and Wadi Rum are excellent, must-see experiences. I wish we had a bit more time in Petra. Our guide was great and ensured we were always safe, secure, and happy. Just be prepared to walk with your luggage for about 200 meters, encounter a bit of bureaucracy, and some disorganization when entering to the Jordan border side from Israel. The food was quite tasty and the people were particularly wonderful to (try to) talk to. EGYPT To our surprise, we got a private tour with a driver and guide. Both were great. Our guide was friendly and quite articulate in English and was a seasoned Egyptologist with 20+ years of experience. The individual attention for my parents and I made it more of a consummate experience. Know that the security situation has improved over the past few years, but naturally at the expense of your time and convenience. Your passport will be checked an innumerable number of times, and have pictures and copies taken of it. In the Sinai Peninsula, be prepared to wait anywhere from half an hour to an hour to get security clearance to travel, usually by caravan - a group of vehicles escorted by a police unit at the rear. When departing for another destination, the guide or driver will notify the tourist police of your traveller details, and to expect your transit and arrival at the intended destination. There will be police and military checkpoints along the way. The included foods are sometimes good, in particular kebabs, potato soup, and eggplant (aubergine) stew. For our Nile cruise, we had average guides. Again, the accents were pretty thick for my parents, but most guides had thick accents here. One of them even forgot to show us the main highlight at Karnak temple. And as previously mentioned the tour operator (via the guides) in Egypt will offer you “extras” that are egregiously marked up and are usually included in other tour packages for a humane price. This includes: hot air balloon over Valley of Kings, trip to Nubian Village, morning trip to Abu Simbel, etc. For the price of Abu Simbel with the tour company, we simply flew there ourselves, got a free shuttle from the airport, and saved seven hours of driving round-trip. But - aside from this, the Egyptian tour operator attempted to give a consummate experience. The guides would help us ward off unwanted vendors, give us tips on how to bargain, help us check in to our hotels and our flights, and make sure our airport security and immigration experience were seamless. Another benefit of private touring, we can modify our areas of interest and the time we spend at each place - one of the sites we even had to ourselves!

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• LV

  Lalit
  Written on April 5, 2018

  3.0 - Average

  Actual tour details didn't match the planned itinerary information provided. Some meals which were shown included in the tour were not provided and we had to pay additional money. One night accommodation was not included and we had to pay additionally for it.

  

  Booking Tours commented on this review

  Hey Lalit, first we checked regarding the transfer from Ben Gurion airport, please note that you wasn't charged for this, it was reduced from your total amount that left for visas and taxes. The left amount that left for visas and taxes was 450$ total, and you paid 396$ at 15/03 to our representative in the border ( less 54$ - price for transfer from Ben Gurion to Tel Aviv ) . Please inform what lunches was not include? We checked with our Egypt office about the lunches in Cairo, as i was informed , you make the one of the tours for 2 days as per your request, touring program of 1 day was divided for 2 days , so lunch include only for 1 day, not for 2. Thank you.

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• SL

  Shannan
  Written on April 2, 2018

  4.5 - Excellent

  Because I was picked up at the hotel and then transferred to a bus in Jerusalem and then went to Tel Aviv to wait to pick up other people I had Ravi first. Then he went off on his Spanish speaking tour. I ended up with him at the end of the day. I really liked him. He did a great job.

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• BS

  Barry
  Written on February 15, 2018

  4.5 - Excellent

  Rather than a single multiple day tour, the first few days are multiple one day tours, with a different group each day. However, the personal touch comes in a big way as the tour goes on. I didn’t like the hotel in Tel Aviv, but the accommodation got incrementally better after that, and by the time I reached Egypt, I was in luxury. A wonderful trip of a lifetime with so much exploring. The optional extras are worth checking out too. For example, I looked at visiting the temples at Abu Simbel the morning before the cruise ship embarked, and filling my free last day with a tour to Alexandria. A small army of people went to great effort at all hours of day and night for this, in order that everything was laid out for me, and it ran like clockwork. Considering the amount of people and effort, the price of this trip is a bargain.

  

  Booking Tours commented on this review

  Hello, Barry. We are more then glad, to know, that you were pleased from our tour. Thank you very much for your review. We would be glad to see you again. Thank you

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• TW

  Teresa
  Written on February 1, 2018

  3.0 - Average

  Trip should have been 15day trip not 17days. We ended all tours in 15days .. Two days had to fine something to do, Also I wish we had four or 5 star hotels, WiFi didn’t work too good in the rooms except in Israel. Jordan and Egypt hotels rooms were very bad with smell of smoke or the rooms were not clean. However,we did enjoy seeing all of the wonderful sights we went to see. Also we enjoy the Nile river cruise. That was great!

  

  Booking Tours commented on this review

  Dear Teresa, first we are happy to hear that you enjoyed to visit all sites and Nile cruise.This is a 17 days tour, and its described in tour itinerary that 2 last days are free.We also providing hotel upgrades of customer ask about, for additional fees of course. We will check with the hotels regarding WIFI and cleanest, thank you to convert our attention.

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• 

  Mason
  Written on January 30, 2018

  5.0 - Excellent

  Our Day Tour of Jerusalem and Bethlehem was amazing, Liat and Avi are excellent Tour Guides and Driver. I've had this same team from last year and they didn't disappoint. I took my Mom with me this time and had an amazing time. Special thanks to our guide in Bethlehem. I forgot his name I thought it was Christian but he was an excellent caring guide. My elderly Mom cannot keep up with the pace of the walking tour so he advised the rest of the tour group to proceed on his instructions while he escorted my Mom through out the Bethlehem tour. He was able to talk to the right people and get permission to allow my mom to use the elevator. My Mom and I were very grateful for his help and we really appreciate it. We gave him our heartfelt thanks and a generous tip. Please don't forget to tip your guides and drivers as they are kind and supportive people who are doing their best to ensure you enjoy the tour and go out of their way to ensure your safety and enjoyment.

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• A

  Anne
  Written on January 5, 2018

  4.0 - Good

  My mom and I just came back from the Mediterranean tour to Israel, Jordan and Egypt. I have been on other group tours before but it was my mom's first, and I can say that she and I both enjoyed the trip very much. This has always been a dream of ours and we were a bit worried about the political situation in the countries but we were proven wrong. The trip was perfectly organized, the people were friendly, and the tour guides made our time special and unforgettable. In Egypt, we met some wonderful like minded travellers and developed some amazing friendships. The guides were knowledgeable and caring as to ensure that we got the most of our trip. They were also very quick to resolve any issues or complaints (only a few) we had. Definitely worth taking this trip and seeing it for yourself.

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