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If you're thinking about flying to Israel or starting to plan your trip to Israel then
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you are at the right place.
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Hi guys, my name is Oren and I'm a professional tour guide.
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Now my whole internet site and channel is dedicated to Israel, I've written about the
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sites, the Israeli society, the best hotels and hostels, but I wanted to do one video,
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this video, with all the most important stuff.
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So, let's get started and I will start by saying that Israel is a safe destination,
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if you're not afraid flying to New York or Berlin then you shouldn't be afraid flying
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to Israel.
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Before people come to Israel they are concerned with safety issues, once they arrive they
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are concerned with how expensive things are and I will talk about it in a minute.
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Now you will probably land in Natbag, this is the name the Israelis call the airport,
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but it is also called Ben Gurion Airport, or TLV.
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It has the perfect location right in the middle of Israel, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
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It takes about 40 minutes to get from the airport to the middle of Tel Aviv and a little
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bit longer to Jerusalem.
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Now to Jerusalem you can take the train; the line will be open in the middle of 2018.
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Until then you need to or take a bus: there is a bus 485 that goes every hour to Jerusalem,
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or there are shared taxis: these are taxis of ten people that you can take to Jerusalem,
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or of course take a cab.
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To Tel Aviv there is the train and I will say that the first station in Tel Aviv is
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HaHagana and it is also very close to the Tel Aviv central bus station, but that is
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not a good area, you don't want to hang around that area, especially not at night.
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It is much better to take the train to Savidor Center or Arlozorov, these stations located
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in the middle of Tel Aviv and from there you have many buses, you can take a taxi, you
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can also email your hotel or hostel what is the best way to get there.
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But south of Tel Aviv, your first night in Israel: it's not a good idea.
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Now as I said Israel is expensive.
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If money is not an issue then go for the best: sleep in Jerusalem at the Mamilla Hotel or
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the King David Hotel, and in Tel Aviv in The Norman hotel.
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Take a private guide with a car every day.
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But if money is an issue then there are things you can do about it.
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The biggest expense is accommodation and hotels in Israel are expensive.
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The average night is more than 200 dollars in hotels but you can also take hostels.
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In the last couple of years some great hostels opened in Israel and all of them also offer
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private rooms.
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So you basically sleep at a hostel, pay less, but have a room like a hotel.
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So I can really recommend that.
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Another thing is that Israel has great street food so you can have lunch for 7/8/9 euros/dollars
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and it will fill you up.
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Now street food is never healthy but I will say that the Israeli street food is great
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and is way healthier than what they sell in Europe or in the US.
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The best time to travel to Israel is March, the beginning of spring.
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It is still low season so the prices are lower, everything is beautiful and green, and the
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chances that it will rain are quite small.
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Winter is also a great time to come to Israel, especially if you come from Europe where it
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is cold.
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And Israel has a safe friendly desert so if you are coming from October to March then
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plan as much time as you can in the desert.
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Summer is very very hot.
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You can expect more than 35 degrees every day.
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Great if you like the beaches or go to churches and museums but if you want to go for long
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hikes then the summer (so June, July, August, even September) are a little bit too hot.
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Now when it comes to planning a trip in Israel I like to use three words: the heart, the
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line, and the land.
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The heart of every trip in Israel is Jerusalem.
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The Old City of Jerusalem is a must-see.
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If you haven't been there you simply haven't been to Israel.
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Jerusalem is one of the most important cities in the world.
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If you have only one long weekend to spend in Israel, book a hotel or hostel in Jerusalem.
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I've written a lot about the different sites in Jerusalem, but the most important ones
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are the Old City, where you will find the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
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the Via Dolorosa.
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Outside the Old City you can head to the top of Mount Olives, visit the churches and the
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Jewish Cemetery.
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In the New City be sure to visit Mahane Yehuda Market, the Israel Museum, and Yad Vashem.
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Two days are the absolute minimum you will need.
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And from Jerusalem you can always take a one-day tour to the Judaean Desert or Tel Aviv.
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The line is Highway number 1, connecting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Judaean Desert.
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In Tel Aviv you will find the ancient port of Jaffa (Yafo in Hebrew), the Carmel Market,
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Tel Aviv Art Museum, the Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot, many Bauhaus buildings,
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and, of course, the beaches.
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Although there is a lot to see, Tel Aviv doesn't have the important sites that Jerusalem does.
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And many of the buildings look rather neglected.
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But the charm of Tel Aviv doesn't lie in the importance of the sites or the buildings,
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but in the atmosphere.
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You can walk in the middle of the night in Tel Aviv, 2am, and cafés and restaurants
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are open and people sitting there as if it is the middle of the day.
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The Judaean Desert, about an hour away from Jerusalem and two hours from Tel Aviv is the
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nearest and most accessible desert.
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The main sites are the Dead Sea, Masada, and the Ein Gedi nature reserve.
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If you plan to spend five days traveling in Israel, then these places are more than enough.
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I would recommend staying two or three nights in Jerusalem, one night in the Judaean Desert
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and another one/two nights in Tel Aviv.
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If you like the desert and plan on coming in winter, then maybe spend two nights in
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the Judaean Desert, and if you prefer the beaches and nightlife then stay a little longer
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in Tel Aviv.
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The land is basically all the rest and there is a lot to see.
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The Negev Desert, Nazareth, Haifa, the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, Acre, Caesarea,
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and much more.
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Here I can't really summarize it all into a few sentences, since it really depends where
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you are coming from, when you're coming and what are your interests.
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I will just say that if you come in wintertime then spend more time in the desert Negev.
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And if you're a practising Christian, then a tour to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee
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is a must.
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Now there is a lot to see in Israel but many of the sites are not impressive.
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Unlike Egypt where you go and see the Pyramids and they are just impressive, no matter how
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much you know about them.
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In Israel if you want to understand the sites, you need to know what you are looking at,
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you need to know the history.
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Most of the most important places, like the Wailing Wall, or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
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are not impressive in themselves.
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You need to know what you're looking at.
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The best option is to take a private guide, you can always join a tour or purchase my
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booklets.
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I have a booklet about Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Judaean Desert, that I talk about the
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history of the important sites.
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Another thing you need to take in consideration is the Jewish calendar.
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Now in Israel we have two calendars: the Gregorian calendar (the one that you know starting at
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January) and the Jewish calendar.
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And you need to know this because the holidays in Israel are mostly by the Jewish calendar.
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Now it's great being here on a holiday, on Sukkot, Pesach, Hanukkah, but there is no
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public transportation, and the prices of flights and hotels will be higher.
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And I've written a long post about the Jewish holidays: what they are about, when they are,
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and what you can expect.
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About transportation, I will say that when you're in the big cities you don't need a
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car but if you want to go to the Golan Heights or to the Negev Desert, it is much easier
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hiring a car.
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You can also go there with public transportation, but it is way more convenient with your own
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car.
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Now there is something very important you need to remember: that in Israel there is
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no public transportation between Friday afternoon and Saturday night.
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So if you land in Natbag on Saturday or Friday night then there are no buses, no trains,
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and you have to take a taxi, and on Saturdays the taxis are more expensive.
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Now one last word about the land and the people.
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Israel is basically a corridor, a corridor where Africa, Asia, and Europe meet, where
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great empires went through, where Judaism, Christianity and Islam met.
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And like the land and the history, so are the people: restless, something interesting
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is always going on, people here are always hurrying.
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I think that Israel is the most interesting piece of land that exists on this planet.
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Come and see for yourself.
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That's it, guys, I hope you enjoyed this video.
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If you did then please help me grow my new channel by subscribing.
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Now these videos are for you so please write me down here what you want my next videos
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to be about: the desert, Jewish sites, churches, how to plan your trip.
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That's it, guys, see you in the next video, and bye for now.