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Israel with a private tour guide

• Private tour guide vs Group tour
• Private tour guide vs Do it yourself

* Why to hire a private tour guide and not join an organized group tour?

Seeing Israel with a private tour guide is considered the best way to see the country. With private guide you'll discover the country in the way you like: we will do it in your pace. Let us to design the itinerary that will be customized just for you and your party. If you want to see sites of history - we'll go and find them. If you want to discover the Land of Bible - we'll tour with the Bible open on the descriptions of the Holy Land. If you are on a family vacation and need some fun for kids as well, we will add some swimming in the water holes or crawling in the caves, things that put a smile on face of your children.

Contrary, if you join an organized large group tour of one the agencies, you will find that many times the group spends time in the sites you don't like. Sometimes you'll may find other members of the group as annoying, but unfortunately you are stuck in the same bus for the next 3-5-8 days. Sometimes you're just tired and need a break, but the group is already rushing to the next place. All these are inconveniences you probably would like to avoid on your holiday. The solution is to hire a private tour guide, this way you will be the only person who decides how your tour is going to be.

Another issue is the costs. A regular walking tour of Jerusalem organized by the agencies costs about 60$ per person. Hiring private tour will cost about 220-250$ a day, no matter how many people you bring with you. Meaning if you are a family of two with several kids - you are already having a better deal with a private guide (you may even invite your aunt and uncle to join for the same price!).

The tour groups usually go by the same crowded itineraries. If you want to see the other side of the coin, to explore the off beaten tracks, you will need David's services.

If you want to discover Israel by foot you'll find out that there are no organized tours that do it. The only solution for good outdoor experience is to hire a private tour guide.

* Why shouldn't I buy a guidebook (like Lonely Planet) and do it myself?

While you can buy a guidebook, it for sure can't replace an experienced tour guide who lives the place. Guidebooks usually supply its readers with very basic information and not recently updated. On the other hand, as a licensed tour guide, David, graduated a year course which included 500 academic hours and 70 excursions, just to make you receive the best service.

A good tour guide is far more than list of brief facts on a white page. He knows how to tell the story in the most fascinating way, how to make his audience to feel the place and feel connected with it. His job is to find the way make you smile and be amazed. Can you be amazed by a printed material?

Many guidebooks are not updated for recent changes. For instance, not even one guidebook will mention that a new museum was opened at the site of Masada and you may just miss it. A word about amazing 3D reconstruction of ancient Jerusalem you'll not find in the books, even not speaking about the model of mini-Jerusalem during Second Temple period, which was relocated lately to other location.

If you plan to tour Israel with a guidebook you'll find it difficult to find your way on the roads. In many place the signs are only in Hebrew and the road system is not very clear. No guide book can replace an attached navigator, as a tour guide can be.

Moreover, If you want to enjoy some good outdooring and hiking, it is almost impossible to do it by yourself, as the hiking maps available only in Hebrew.

A tour guide, as a local person, knows where to find the best restaurants and best sight sees. While it is safe to travel to Israel (see: Safety and Security), it is much better to travel with a tour guide who knows how to avoid problems and will help you in any case.

To summarize, there is no replacement for a private tour guide. He is the key for your enjoyment on the holiday and trading him for printed material, will be in best case a risky idea and definitely a lot of possible headache.