Golan/Galil, Israel, Master thread

[Deal Guy]

 I'm heading out to Israel in a couple of weeks with my wife, and would like to hear feedback on what to do up North, as I will be staying in Tiveria for a week. I will have a 12 month old with us, and would like to hear what we can do up there even with a infant.

 I have been with my wife 3 years ago, to Rosh Hanikra, the Golan winery, Tzuk Manara, one of the kayaking places, as well as the ATV's.    Where else can I go to spend the week besides for all the k'varim up North? I see that Dan mentioned on the main site earlier today "the Banias, Nimrod’s fortress, Har Bental, lots of hiking options, even Charmon in the summer is fun to take the ski lift up and walk around". Would Dan or anyone like to expand on these options, and also go through them on a individual basis, if they are doable with a child/stroller or not?
  Also, should I want to go atv'ing, does anyone know if any of the places provide babysitting services at their moshav for the hour that we go? If yes can you specify which one? (Same question applies to Eilat, for a couple of hours as well).
  Any other ideas, or which of the above ones could/should be combined on one day and which need to be seperated to seperate days?
 I know many of you have done all this fun, and some of you have gone with kids and made the best of it, so let me hear all the tips.
  Thanks tons!!

[flyingace]

I stayed in Tveryah last summer, during bein hazmanim. It was a zoo. We waited over an hour and a half for food at a takeout. Traffic in and out of the city was horrible. Be prepared, or try to stay outside the city proper. There are beautiful easy hikes outside Tzfas, by river sides. Just google all these areas and you will come up with many ideas. Try a backpack for your baby instead of a stroller and get him used to it before your trip.

[moish]

is the op going to be there bein hazmanim? if not it should be ok

[Deal Guy]

I stayed in Tveryah last summer, during bein hazmanim. It was a zoo. We waited over an hour and a half for food at a takeout. Traffic in and out of the city was horrible. Be prepared, or try to stay outside the city proper. There are beautiful easy hikes outside Tzfas, by river sides. Just google all these areas and you will come up with many ideas. Try a backpack for your baby instead of a stroller and get him used to it before your trip.

is the op going to be there bein hazmanim? if not it should be ok

I'm leaving in 2 weeks from today, for a total of 2 weeks in Israel. Can someone please go into detail about my above mentioned sites, or any others that you know of. I still don't have any plans

[moish]

why not buy a frommers or lonely planet book on israel?

[Yordai Dooma]

you can look in this thread for some ideas...http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=1885.msg15900#msg15900

i posted in the there our experiences. Although we had an 18 month old which is a little different...

[Deal Guy]

you can look in this thread for some ideas...http://www.dansdeals.com/forums/index.php?topic=1885.msg15900#msg15900

i posted in the there our experiences. Although we had an 18 month old which is a little different...

In what ways is a crawling/standing 12-13 month old different than a 18 month, with regard to the trip?

[Dan]

Pick up Fodor's Israel (Full Color) and Hiking in Israel.  Also Lonely Planet Israel has great suggestions as long as you can hold in the puke from reading the author's anti-Israel bias.

Like you quoted from my comment on the main site, the Golan has:

-Banias waterfall
-Nimrod's Fortress
-Har Charmon
-Har Bental
-Golan Heights Winery
-Yehudiya Nature Reserve
-White water rafting
-Kayaking

Lots of into on all of those in the books.  What do you want to have more info on?

[aarony]

Don't know what your budget is, but our family loved the time we spent at the kinar hotel, they probably have babysitting there.  We took some nice water hikes but none that would be appropriate with a toddler.  You may be able to go rafting on the jordan - you would have to call to see if they have an age restriction.

[Deal Guy]

Don't know what your budget is, but our family loved the time we spent at the kinar hotel, they probably have babysitting there.  We took some nice water hikes but none that would be appropriate with a toddler.  You may be able to go rafting on the jordan - you would have to call to see if they have an age restriction.

I have an apartment in Tiveria to go to at the moment, for a good price. Do you think I can just walk into the Kinor for example and ask them if they do babysitting for a couple of hours, or are there other suggestions?

[Deal Guy]

Like you quoted from my comment on the main site, the Golan has:

-Banias waterfall
-Nimrod's Fortress
-Har Charmon
-Har Bental
-Golan Heights Winery
-Yehudiya Nature Reserve
-White water rafting
-Kayaking

Lots of into on all of those in the books.  What do you want to have more info on?

The first four places that you mentioned, are they all doable with a 13 month old? (and with a stroller or without, in your opinion.)
Also which should be combined on the same day, and which would you recommend splitting? I would also assume that the rafting and kayaking are out, right? (The winery I did already)

[Dan]

The first four places that you mentioned, are they all doable with a 13 month old? (and with a stroller or without, in your opinion.)
Also which should be combined on the same day, and which would you recommend splitting? I would also assume that the rafting and kayaking are out, right? (The winery I did already)

-Banias has 2 entrances.  One entrance is a long but supposedly beautiful hike which I never did.  The other entrance is just a short easy 5 minute walk down stairs to the waterfall.  The waterfall appears out of nowhere and is one of the most serene and beautiful sights in Israel.  Great photo ops there. Allot 1 hour max for the short hike.
-Nimrod's fortress is just a 10 minute drive from Banias and is a huge fortress in ruins.  There are a lot of stairs but it's very neat to explore. Allot 1-2 hours.
-I think that you can take the Ski lift up Charmon with an infant, but you probably can't bring a stroller up to walk around once you get to the top. Allot 1-2 hours.
-Har Bental has awesome views of Israel, Syria, and Lebanon and can easily be driven right up to.  Allot 45 minutes.

Theoretically all can be done on the same day if you want!

[Deal Guy]

-Banias has 2 entrances.  One entrance is a long but supposedly beautiful hike which I never did.  The other entrance is just a short easy 5 minute walk down stairs to the waterfall.  The waterfall appears out of nowhere and is one of the most serene and beautiful sights in Israel.  Great photo ops there. Allot 1 hour max for the short hike.
-Nimrod's fortress is just a 10 minute drive from Banias and is a huge fortress in ruins.  There are a lot of stairs but it's very neat to explore. Allot 1-2 hours.
-I think that you can take the Ski lift up Charmon with an infant, but you probably can't bring a stroller up to walk around once you get to the top. Allot 1-2 hours.
-Har Bental has awesome views of Israel, Syria, and Lebanon and can easily be driven right up to.  Allot 45 minutes.

Theoretically all can be done on the same day if you want!

Thanks Dan, you're the man of the hour!
How close is Har Bental to Chermon or to the Banias? I'm assuming all four places have slight entrance fees, except for Chermon which may be a bit more, right?

[Dan]

I don't recall Bental having an entrance fee.  Nimrod and Banias have a cheap combo ticket and the ski lift was slightly higher.

I'm in a generous mood, here are all 4 spots on a map.

[Deal Guy]

I don't recall Bental having an entrance fee.  Nimrod and Banias have a cheap combo ticket and the ski lift was slightly higher.

I'm in a generous mood, here are all 4 spots on a map.

Indeed so! Thanks again!

[moish]

get a baby bjorn

[moish]

dan how do you get a link from google maps?

[Dan]

dan how do you get a link from google maps?

Click on "link"

[moish]

i tried that obviously but got some sort of error

[Yordai Dooma]

In what ways is a crawling/standing 12-13 month old different than a 18 month, with regard to the trip?

I guess what they can appreciate. My son appreciated going to the safari/zoo in ramat gan and the kangaroo park up north by bet she-an. Do you think your child would appreciate those kinds of things?

The plane ride itself will probably be easier being that yours cant walk yet...