12 Reasons to consider doing traveling on your own

Everyone travel experience to each country is unique and very special in its own ways. In the past we have seen our family members and church groups traveling to Israel as a tour groups and it worked great for them. Package tours provide great experience and you don’t have to worry about driving, sights to see, place to stay, place to eat etc. And every tour company offers something unique for the tourists to make their trip very special. We don’t deny that. This is our opinion after our 10 day trip to Israel and Jordan and we are basing this totally from discussion from friends and family who have been to the Holy Land as group tours and from our private tour guide. We would love to hear your valuable opinions as well.

1. Beating the crowd

With the amount tourists and tour groups that visit the Holy Land every single day, chances are you have to follow the guide everywhere he/she goes and every word he/she says. If the tour group is of 25-50 people, it will be but hard to pay attention to every word he say and everything he shows. It slows you down as a group if someone can’t walk faster either

 

 

2. Flexibility

Arranging a private guide for yourself means you always have an advantage to choose one spot over the other based on weather/crowd/factors

Many tour groups arrive in Jerusalem Old City during day time between 9:00 to 5:00 and those tours will cover attractions in very sequential order and many times wait times are longer. For example, many churches conducts service in The Church of Holy Sepulchre at various times and people have to wait in line for service to get over before they allow to see the tomb of Jesus itself.

3. Cost

Imagine spending the full cost for a 6 year old for 8 day trip, which will include tourist attractions, hotel stays and food. We are talking about more than $3000 per person including the air travel and for a family of 4, it will be more than $12000. Definitely not worth it, if you are taking your little ones. If you are adults or teenager it makes sense to go on a group tour.

 

4. Shopping

Tour groups stops at various souvenir shops where they have tie ups. Usually the prices are fixed and expensive. These shops know for sure you are tied on time and you have no choice but to buy. With the tight scheduling, you are forced to shop souvenirs in these fixed locations. We found some store prices were 3 to 4 times for the very same items that we bought earlier in Jerusalem and Dead Sea e.g.: Store at the Jordan baptism site.

 

5. Food options

Israeli food is amazing! So many choices of food anywhere you travel in Israel. Treat yourself to the best restaurants in that area. Google and search restaurants in your area which has very good reviews and choose to eat in some amazing places. TripAdvisor is also a good source for searching restaurants in that area. While doing trip by yourself, you can enjoy varieties of food choices in Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter and Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem and some great dining options along the Sea of Galilee. If you staying at the Jewish Quarter during Sabbath day, every single shop and restaurant will be closed, but the restaurants in Muslim and Christian Quarters are open during the Sabbath Day which is just 5 to 10 minutes away from Jewish Quarter

 

6. Driving

You can choose to drive in Israel if you have a valid US driving license (If you are planning to drive, check with the car rental companies in Israel before the arrival to see what is required avoiding any hefty fees). Driving and following signs is super easy. Google maps and Waze are very accurate. But Waze is quite popular among the locals as Waze is from Israel. Having a tour guide beside you who will guide you where to go mostly also makes it convenient.

 

7. At our own pace

Some attractions are more fun for you and some aren’t. Whatever the tour groups proposed to you might be great or might not be fun for you. You may want to spend more time in the attractions you like and alternatively you may choose to spend less time in the attractions you may not like. Doing trip by yourself means you can choose to spend your own time. Again flexibility!

 

8. Better photography

I like my photos with no people in it but just that particular attraction. But in Jerusalem it is hard. People are everywhere. It’s a very busy place especially at all the touristy sites. Even though some popular attractions open very early, there is always a queue or you find people almost everywhere. At least by individual tour, we choose to go early and come back late or my own tour group isn’t blocking the attractions. For e.g.. we started driving to Masada very early morning and reached there at 8:00 am, just when it was opened and we had all of Masada to ourselves

 

9. Choice of the place of stay option

No big vehicles can’t enter old city of Jerusalem. So most tour groups stay outside the Old City, which is the new city where there are plenty of hotel options. But if you are doing by your own, you can choose to stay at the options like Airbnb, Hostels, etc., (of your own budget and preferences) which are plentiful in the old city, some times very closer to amazing attractions. For the first 3 days, we were 2 minutes walk away from “Church of Holy Seplechur “ in Christian Quarter and last 2 days, we were 5 minutes walk away from Western Wall in Jewish Quarter. Most of the other attractions in the Old city is just 5-15 minutes walk. For Mount of Olives, you can take a taxi up and walk your way down.

 

10. Interaction with locals

Most of the locals speak good English and they are always happy to help. Ask if you are lost or you want to go somewhere. Israelis love to speak to tourists, so when you ask something, they are very happy to help you.

 

11. Western Wall On Friday after Sunset

Big tour groups are done with the tour by end of day. You don’t see tour groups in the old city on Friday afternoon or evening. Starting Friday afternoon, most of the business in the Jewish Quarter begin shutting down and get ready for amazing dancing and gathering at the Western Wall. 1000s of people pray at the Wall. As a tourist, this unique experience should be the highlight of the trip. Tour groups don’t take you there.

 

12. Shabbat Dinner with a Jew family

This is definitely a very unique experience again. The Jewish people love to break the bread with tourists on the Shabbat day. As independent travelers, you have so much flexibility to have Shabbat Dinner over the group tour.

 

13. Time to Relax

By doing a trip by yourself, you have flexible time to come back to your hotel room when you are tired, or when you are done with shopping and keep all your newly bought stuff in the room etc. If you are having kids or elderly parents or grand parents, then they will really appreciate a nice good rest in the room in between the sightseeing and you can continue your trip later.

Questions for the readers:

What do you say?

What kind of trips have you taken: package tour or independently?

How did it work for you?

What really worked great for you?

What least worked for you?

Is there anything else, you would like to contribute that you feel is important for the readers to know before their travel to Israel?

 

Entire Holy Land Trip Index

Trip to Israel as family was amazing. Getting to see the Holy Land which we have read and heard about since our childhood Bible story days is truly special indeed. We have put forth 50 detailed post on our DIY trip to Israel & Jordan. Check out our entire 10 Day Trip Index of Holy Land. We would love to hear your feedback.