There is so much history to see and experience in Israel, but it’s pretty spread out, geographically speaking. You need at least between 8-14 days to see the top sights, whether you pick closer to 8 or 14 will depend on how fast you want to go and how much you want to see. I went on a 14 day trip to Israel to soak in all the best sites. I have a 9 trip to Israel outlined below.
Day 1: Arrival (Tel Aviv) to Jerusalem, Israel
A good place to start and use as a base camp for the first five days is Telaviv (Jerusalem). There are great day trips from this location, while you stay in the heart one of the biggest cities in the country. By staying here, you can take care of a couple of southern day trips before heading north.
When you arrive in Tel Aviv on your trip to Israel, you will need to then take transportation 40 minutes to Jerusalem, where you will set up shop for the first half of your trip.
Day 2: Jerusalem Old City
- Western Wailing Wall
- Via Delorosa, way of the cross city walk
- Church of the Holy Sepulchre
- Jaffa gate, Damascus gate, Golden gate
- Explore and shop in the Old City
- Ramparts Wall Walk
Day 3: Jerusalem Old City
- Dome of the Rock (Temple Mount) early AM when it opens for sunrise
- Garden of Gethsemane
- Mt. of Olives
- Chapel of the Ascension
- The garden tomb Jerusalem
- Explore the Old City and shop in the markets
Day 4: Dead Sea, En Gedi, Masada NP/Qumran
This will be a day trip from your base camp in Jerusalem. The Dead
- Float in the dead sea and enjoy a natural spa experience
- Take a cable car up into Masada National Park to see the best view of the Dead Sea and get in some desert hiking
- See the Qumran caves where the Bedouin boy found the scrolls of the Old Testament
For more information, on the Dead Sea day trip check out our in depth article here.
Day 5: Bethlehem /Jerusalem Old City
- Shepherd’s Field Church
- Shepherd’s Field
- Church of the Nativity
- Take a town walk to see Banksy art murals on the city streets about peace and war in the country
- Explore the Old City Jerusalem
Day 6: Nazareth, Cana
On this trip, you will depart from Jerusalem and start heading north,
- St Joseph’s Church, Nazareth
- Mary’s well, Nazareth
- Synagogue church (Jesus as an adolescent)
- Basilica of the Anunciation, Nazareth
- The wedding Church, Cana
Day 7: Sea of Galilee, Mt. of Beatitudes, Capernaum
- Take a boat tour in the Sea of Galilee
- Tour the museum of biblical history at the Sea of Galilee
- Mt. of Beatitudes church
- The Beatitude Monastery
- Capernaum synagogue
- St. Peter’s monument
- Franciscan monastery
Day 8: Mt. Carmel, Ceasaria
- Hike Mt. Carmel to a city lookout viewpoint, hike many trails on the mountain
- Ceasaria national park on the Mediterranean ocean
- Ceasaria Columns, Roman Ruins tour
- Hippodrome
- Synagogue
- Antiquity museum
Day 9: Travel home
On this morning, you will travel to the airport from the Sea of Galilee in order to fly home.
Your Trip To Israel: Transportation
Rent a car
There are very convenient car rentals located at the airport for right when you arrive and make it easy to drop it off on your return flight home. This is the easiest option for
Easy Terra Rental Car Cost
A Nissan 4 door automatic for 9 days costs about $154 ($19 a day). This includes unlimited mileage with a great fuel policy as well as liability insurance. You have a full tank at pick up and need to leave it full at the drop-off. Gas is expensive in Israel, about 8 USD a gallon. The car rental is relatively inexpensive. On a private tour to the Dead Sea and throughout Jerusalem, it will likely cost about $300 per person. That is visiting one location by bus without any flexibility or potential to set your own timeline. Renting a car gives you flexibility and the chance to set your own agenda. Easy Terra is the best rental car company I’ve found with amazing prices. Check out Easy Tera here.
Private Driver
Sixt my Driver
This is a great private car service website in Jersualem that is comparable to an Uber and scheduled in advance on the site with. They include multiple stops, perfect for sightseeing and a budget way to have more control than the big tour groups. You get to choose the dates, the car type, and download the app. They offer airport transfer services as well. This can be seen as a taxi alternative in the city for Jerusalem. This is definitely not the cheapest option for longer out of town trips but great for smaller closer city use. Download and book a driver here.
Ex: Jerusalem-> Dead Sea 4 hours roundtrip (2 hours in sea)
The cost for this trip is $381. This comes out to $63 an hour you are paying for private driver service, gas, and him waiting at your location to take you back. This is pretty standard for the average cost of a private driver in Israel. A full-day dedicated driver with a vehicle is said to cost around US$250-US$350 for up to 200km of driving anywhere in Israel.
Blacklane Chaueffer
This is a most upscale version of Jerusalem’s uber Sixt my driver. This is a company it seems more geared towards businessman and people traveling for work who need to rent cars and have travel inside of Israel. They do private transfer service to and from the airport as well as in the city. The quality of the drivers in Blacklane is
The cost for a 4 hour trip to the Dead Sea from Jerusalem was quoted as $298. This is a bit cheaper than the Sixt my ride company. Definitely use these companies and check prices. The best deal will always be renting your own car and driving yourself. This is only a better option if you are traveling with a group and could split the cost accordingly.
Tour Groups
The difficulty with taking tour groups is they only offer certain places and times, and you are controlled by the timeline of the guide and the group. This can be very hard to feel you have the freedom to go where you want and see everything that you want. However, it is one of the easiest ways to see different sites. These groups take day trips out of Jerusalem, for example to the dead sea. The hard thing is also doing many of these smaller trip
Information/Tips
- For a bucket list of further explanation of these biblical historical sights listed in the itinerary READ HERE.
- For where to stay, where to eat and transportation information for Jerusalem READ HERE.
