Eretz yisroel family trip- tips & ideas

Active Poster Joined: Apr 26 2010 Posts: 70

We are iyh traveling to ey in mid feb, me,my husband, dd (5), ds(3), and a few extended family members.
Anyone with any tips of how to make it easier in terms of time difference and food, trips, what place are kid friendly, where to eat, renting a car, and what and where not to go, etc...
THANK YOU!!!

Senior Member Joined: Mar 26 2008 Posts: 186 Location: NY

Just came back from there with my two kids ages 7 and 10.

They had the greatest time.

From my experience, here is just some notes from my perspective.

We went to Ir Dovid. Very educational and nice. But the highlight of the tour is when you go into this dark tunnel, with water to almost your knees. And I mean DARK. My kids were terrified. We ended up doing it, they really loved it in the end, but it is probably too much for younger kids.

Mini Israel is really nice. Cute place if you will not be able to do lots of touring. You will get to see it all in small.

We went to the Tanachi. Really beautiful zoo in Yerushalayim. they have all types of animals, beautifully exhibited. Definitely try to spend a couple of hours there. Loved the elephants and the kangaroos (everybody loved those). They even have one area where kids get to go underground and look out from glass plates in the floor, to make them feel like underground creatures. I think I took about 100 pictures over there alone.

We went to Yam Hamelach one day. We were there over Chanukah,but we had beautiful weather. My kids really did not enjoy it there. the second they went into the water, they started screaming that everything burns. And it really does. But it is amazing to see that you really can just float on the water.

Trying to think of anything else. Cant think of anything else now.

Oh Yeah, I took a flight to Israel at 1 in the afternoon. DISASTEROUS. My kids were not tired. Did not sleep on the plane at all. When they finally wanted to dose off 11 pm, our time, it was time for landing and it was 6am in Israel. So the whole day just went. And they were bored stiff the entire plane ride. Coming home we took a night flight. Kids slept thru most of the flight.

Any more specific questions, please feel free to ask

Gold Member Joined: Aug 17 2008 Posts: 1250

I recommend the night flight (not the afternoon one) as kids will fall asleep within 2 hours of getting on the flight. The afternoon one is not as bad, but they will stay up. Bring headphones- the ones they give are ear buds, and most 3,5 yr old ears are too little and you have to help them. On most flights there are movies and shows for kids, but bringing DVD or play station is also a best practice.

Once you get there, if you take the evening flight, usually you arrive at 4-6pm, rush hour. Get to hotel, eat, go to sleep. The jet lag doesn't hit until day 2-3 at 2am. Do your best not to "entertain" yourself or children- encourage them to lie quietly, etc. If you get up, then go back to sleep hours later, then you oversleep and it takes days to overcome. Eat and drink during the right times and the body adjusts. Get out in sunlight early in the day if possible. Do take snacks with you- tummies take time to adjust and not having a drink and a bissli or something can make for cranky kids. But that's advice in the states, too.

Do not rent from Budget. The cars are awful. If you have a costco membership, see if you can get a discount there- best rates I got last time for AVIS. make sure you understand that you have to tak einsurance unless you have a credit card with that coverage, and even then, there are additional fees.

I used a stroller with dd until she was 4. We checked the umbrella stroller thru, and took it when going to the shuk, or in Jerusalem for walking. One less whine heard round the world. I structure sight-seeing like this for her age: for every 30 minutes of activity, we rest 10. So if I made her walk from the free parking at the Cardo, to the Kotel...I buy a popsicle and we sit for 10 minutes. Otherwise I get too focused on her walking, walking through museum, shop and plazas. I also set aside 20-40 minutes 2x a day for "playground time" somewhere. Whether it is at the mall or the park. They need to see other kids, for sure. We have relatives in Israel, but she still wants to meet kids in the neighborhood.

Going to the beach and collecting shells was a big hit. Going to the dead sea was not- DD complained that the salt bothered her private parts. No fun running up the hill to the shower with sensitive issue! Goinng to a kibbutz or moshav with farm animals- big hit. (Kfar Yarok) Going to kosher McDonald's in Raanana was a big hit for me to eat her chicken mcnuggets, but also for her to have a real "happy meal." Giving her a few shekels to spend at the shuk in Jerusalem- machne yehuda or Rosh Ayin- awesome. She bought dvds in Hebrew.
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"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you usually get it." - W. Somerset Maugham

Active Poster Joined: Apr 26 2010 Posts: 70

op here- Thanks for your responses!!
The zoo and beach are totally up my kids (and husbands) alley.
The way I figure we'll get to do one or two major touring/spiritual things and the rest is going to have to be kid friendly and family visiting.
Any additional info on the zoos and/or beach mentioned or things like that would be great!!
Thanks so much!
also would you recommend renting or just taxing around? does anyone have a name/number for a taxi in ey that I could call ahead?