First, it is important to note that your passport, no matter what nation it is issued from, must be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. Be sure that your passport is up to date!
Israel controls all points of entry and exit for both Israel & Palestine. Citizens of more than 100 countries, such as member states of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and almost all countries of North, Central & South America, and several countries in Asia, receive on-arrival visas in the form of an electronic paper slip that can easily fit into your passport. If you are uncertain about your eligibility for an on-arrival visa due to your citizenship by passport, please cheek if you need to get in advance visa: https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ConsularServices/Documents/VisaRequirements-Tourists.pdf
If you need to apply for a visa in advance, Please refer, about one month or 40 days prior to the visit, to the nearest Israeli Embassy in your place of residence to complete the relevant visa application forms. We will provide you with the necessary document proof of reservation of the tour once we have finalized and confirmed your participation in the forthcoming tour.
If there is no Israeli embassy in your country, in certain conditions we will ask and apply for a visa for you from the Ministry of Interior in Jerusalem.
Some additional information for tourists according to the Israeli Ministry of the Interior:
For some time, the Israeli authorities have ceased the practice of stamping passports and have transitioned into issuing automated paper slip visas. Be sure to keep this paper with you, as it is your proof of entry to the country and you may need it to show at Israeli checkpoints if asked. You also need to show it when leaving the country.
Passports stamped in Arab countries or Iran and Pakistan are not automatic reasons to refuse entrance into Palestine or Israel by passport control. Many visitors with stamps from these countries enter into Israel without any problem, although Israeli immigration authorities may question the passport holder regarding their past and present travels and their purpose for visiting Palestine-Israel. Please do bear in mind that passport control officials do retain the final say in whether a tourist visa is issued.
The arrival and departure process at Ben Gurion International Airport is well known for its thorough procedures, with personal, direct questioning of customers being a regular occurrence. Tourists should be prepared to be questioned, to show flight or proof of the booking, to have their luggage searched and to possibly be detained up to a few hours.
On Arrival: Upon arrival at the terminal, it is important to connect to the airport's Wi-Fi, and contact our operations contact via the issued WhatsApp number, and to send messages regarding your current status in the arrival procedure. Arriving by land borders through Jordan or Egypt, also one may be delayed; please maintain contact via WhatsApp accordingly.
On Departure: Be prepared for a lengthy check-in process at Ben Gurion Airport. Be certain that you have travel documents on your immediate person at all times, that you have packed your own luggage and that you are completely aware of its contents. Remain calm and answer questions asked by airport authorities directly and as simply as possible.
In all cases, once you reach the Arrivals hall, one of our staff holding a sign with the Agency name. Will wait and greet you near the exit doors. Stay in touch with your contact via the WhatsApp number given to you prior to departure.
If you arrive to your tour starting point via land borders, once you have finished the border procedures, our staff will wait for you outside with a sign.
First, remember your passport must be valid for up to 6 months after your return date.
For tourist visas, many nationalities are eligible to get a visa for Jordan upon arrival at their point of entry to the country, or through an online application. We will advise you and your fellow tour program participants as we finalize your itinerary. For our cultural & pilgrimage tours, it is our practice to begin the tour in the Holy Land and finish in Jordan: as we spend a minimum of two nights in Jordan, we organize for our clients an entry visa without the Jordanian one-night tax. To do this, we will need your passport details in advance (we will send you an information form to fill). For tours that should stay only one night in Jordan, there is a visa fee and must pay at the airport or borders: 40 JOD approximate 60USD.
Jordanian land departure taxes to be paid at borders:
For groups entering Jordan from the Holy Land:
For groups entering the Holy Land from Jordan:
Please note: exit taxes are paid in local currency, but there are currency exchanges at the borders.
Passport holders from European Union member states, the United Kingdom, North America, Western Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia or Singapore receive tourist visa upon arrival in Egypt. The fee is $25 USD payable upon arrival at Cairo Airport or at the land border crossing. All other nations must apply for a visa in advance via an Egyptian consulate.
Hla Tours uses mostly the Taba Border Crossing to enter and depart from the Holy Land.
For groups entering the Holy Land from Egypt via Taba: No exit taxes
For groups entering Egypt via Taba from the Holy Land:
♦ LE 46.00/ Egyptian Pounds = $4 USD (Inbound Egypt)
♦ NIS 101 / Israeli Shekel = $30 USD (Outbound Israel)
From the Holy Land to Jordan via the Northern Crossing/Sheik Hussein or Southern Crossing/Arava Border Crossing: On most of our cultural programs or pilgrimages combined with Jordan, we cross to Jordan via north border at Sheik Hussein. Our team accompanies you to the border. On the Israeli side, you will make a short transfer by border shuttle that cost around $1 USD. After border procedures, you will pay an exit tax of $30 USD, then pass to the Jordanian side for passport control, where our Hla Tours contact will meet you on the Jordanian side.
From the Holy Land to Jordan via Allenby Bridge/King Hussein Crossing near Jericho:
Located approximately in Jericho, our team accompanies you to the border, at Israeli side. After you have been processed through passport control, you will pay an exit tax of $50 USD. Following a brief cross-border shuttle from the Israeli terminal to Jordan terminal of a cost around $15 USD, you will arrive in Jordan. After being processed through passport control by the Jordanian procedures, you will meet our Hla Tours contact on the Jordan side.
From Jordan to the Holy Land.
The exit tax from Jordan to the Holy Land are same at all borders: $15 USD.
Via the Northern Crossing /Sheik Hussein or the Southern Crossing/Arava:
Our team will meet you immediately after passport control,
Via King Hussein/Allenby Bridge:
Our team will accompany you to the border, on the Jordanian side. After passport control border procedures, you will use the cross-border shuttle from the Jordanian terminal to the Israeli terminal, at a cost around $15 USD. After Israeli control, our Hla Tours staff will meet you.
From Egypt to the Holy Land:
Our Hla Tours contact will accompany you to the border, where you will cross the border to Israeli side, and our Hla Tours staff will meet you there.
For groups entering the Holy Land from Egypt via Taba: No exit taxes
For groups entering Egypt via Taba from the Holy Land:
♦ LE 46.00/ Egyptian Pounds = $4 USD (Inbound Egypt)
♦ NIS 101 / Israeli Shekel = $30 USD (Outbound Israel)
The Holy Land (Palestine and Israel) is considered a year-round destination. The region has a Mediterranean climate with mostly warm to hot and cloudless days. Generally, travelers can expect lengthy, hot summers (C 25 ° to C 35 °) and cool, rainy winters (C 5 ° to 18 °). Many consider the best time to visit Holy Land is in spring or autumn, when temperatures are warm but not overwhelmingly hot.
The seasons of spring, April and May and autumn, September and October are the best time to visit the holy land when temperatures are pleasantly mild throughout the country. Due to high tourism season period (March, April, May, then October and November), guides and hotels availability are very limited and charge higher prices. If you plan to travel during this period, we advise you to book your trip longtime in advance. For cultural and pilgrimage tours, we recommend travel to the Holy Land at any time.
Jordan and Egypt: The most favorable times to visit both Jordan and Egypt is from September to June, with the months of July and August deemed not especially advisable due to the extreme heat.
For all of our tours, we advise our program participants to wear long-sleeved clothing, furthermore, wear a hat and re-hydrate frequently. Be especially mindful of sun protection if you wish to bathe in the Dead Sea.
Accommodation:
The accommodations offer for each tour always respect the categories indicated (as per local standards); categories are a double, twin, triple, family room, or in a single room with single supplement. For a private or group request, you could ask another category of hotel; a higher or lower level than that provided in the standard tour program. Prices will be altered accordingly.
In high season periods, availability in hotels may be limited regarding to high demand. For reasons of unavailability, a chosen hotel may be changed by another. We guarantee the same hotel category provided in the reserved tour or a higher category. If a modification is essential and cannot be made in same category, the customer will be notified and a refund for the difference if the booking will be for a lower hotel rating, or pay the difference if the booking will be in a higher hotel rating. In such cases, the customer can refuse to travel and request a refund of land services.
Hotels check in 14:00, check out at 11:00. Breakfast is usually 6.30am til 9.00am and dinner is about 6.30pm til 9.00pm
For our Jordan extensions, program participants will spend the night in Wadi Rum at a camps
Food:
On half-board programs, breakfasts and dinners are included, from the first day (on-arrival) dinner to the last day (departure) breakfast. Served buffet style with many local specialties. Please note that dinner at the hotel is served until 9 p.m. any late arrival after 9pm no refund for dinner.
Open lunches in a restaurant or fast food/takeaway will mean the meal is at your own expense. Budget between $5 USD to $20 USD per day, depending on your usual preference for the size and type of lunch.
Accommodation for The Abraham Path Hiking and Biking includes stays in hotels, guesthouses, Bedouin camps and homestays.
In Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the hotels will be ranked between 3 and 4 stars: simple, clean and well-kept establishments, with private bathrooms, showers and wifi, with a possibility of requesting single rooms in hotels only, at an additional cost.
In guesthouses and with family homestays, accommodation is more collective in nature: modest but clean and tidy guesthouses with room for 2 to 4 people. Collective toilets and shower provided. In the Bedouin camp: the accommodation is in a large Bedouin tent, with a blanket and mattress provided. Collective toilets and showers provided. For much of the trip, you will be in the relatively isolated from the world. During the winter, there is no central heating in most of these accommodations (in winter several blankets per person are provided) even if the establishments are presumed to provide hot water, the solar panels that heat the water tanks are not always very effective. While some access to electrical outlets is available in all accommodations, wifi is not universal as of yet.
Food
Breakfasts will always be given at the various accommodation (hotel, guesthouse, Bedouin camps, homestays). They are generally composed of local bread and preparation. During the days of trekking, the midday meals will be in the form of various picnics. We will stop near the best natural spots, offering shade and beautiful panoramas. The local team will prepare something to refresh you and treat you, based on regional specialties, easy to transport. Our hosts at the guesthouses, Bedouin camps and the families who welcome us will cook us some lunches and snacks, made with fresh, traditional products. You will taste among other things their homemade stuffed breads and many other delicious local foodstuffs. While visiting different cities, you can have lunch in local restaurants and snacks, taste specialties such as hummous, tabbouleh, falafel, shawarma etc.
In the evenings, you will have dinner at your accommodation, and enjoy eating cooked meals. Be aware that at night the temperatures drop, making the air very cool.
For the Abraham Path program, including hiking and bike, the best period is from the middle of September to May.
We strongly encourage all program participants to be in good physical condition, due to an average of hiking full days with early starts, and often in hot to warm weather.
Equipment
. Sunglasses
. Water bottle (1.5 liter minimum)
. Flashlight or headlamp
. High-protection sunscreen
. Folding knife (to put in checked baggage; do not bring a military-style knife)
. Toiletries (preferably biodegradable products)
. Toilet paper (biodegradable if possible)
. Quick-drying hand towel
. Wide-brimmed hat, cap and light scarf to cover the neck
. Garbage bags
Clothing
The clothing list should be adapted according to the chosen season.
Bikes and equipment
MTBs are perfectly suited for this type of trip.
The following equipment is provided common to the whole group and managed by the guide:
For hygiene reasons, we always advise you to bring your own helmet and water bottles. However, we can provide helmets on request.
If you take your own bike (with MTBs being compulsory):
Recommendations for health and fitness levels
Hiking
The difficulty level of hiking will change from one stage to another, and also vary per season based on the anticipated climate. However, being capable of a good hiking endurance and stamina level is necessary to consider completion of any program. There is no hike which poses any severe difficulty level, but a few days do include routes with steep drops. Average daily duration: 5 to 7 hours of walking.
Bicycling
This circuit is for experienced mountain bikers. The course is physically demanding, and some more rocky passages are somewhat tricky in places, but without any obstacles or major technical difficulty. The route is less than 50km per day, is done mainly on tracks or paths, punctuated by passages on tarred sections. Cultural visits are interspersed to constitute a pleasant break between two mountain bike sections.
Clothing restrictions:
There are no particular clothing restrictions. The cycling outfit (padded shorts + jersey) is perfect. However, it is advisable to dress decently in cities and during visits, so as not to offend our guests (shoulders covered for everyone, no skirts too high for women). For sacred places, clothing that fully covers the legs is often mandatory (and sometimes lent at the entrance to the site).
Standard Cancellation Fees
If you choose or are obliged to cancel your trip before it begins (as determined by your arrival date on your program itinerary), you must inform us as soon as possible.
Cancellation fees will apply as follows:
Cancellation fees during high season: The months of March, April, May, October and November, as well as Christmas and New Year, are designated as high season periods. During these periods, the following cancellation fees are applied: ·
Tour cancellations on our programs in the Holy Land are exceptionally rare. Even at times of heightened political conflict, tourist locations and holy sites visited on our tours are very likely away from areas of protest or trouble.
In the event of a cancellation due to a dangerous political situation and war, or natural disaster or pandemic as COVID 19: in such cases of border closures and travel bans, thus making it impossible for our service providers to function, we will opt to either postpone the date of the trip or simply to refund the paid amount for the tour.
If a specific day tour is canceled due to security reasons or natural disaster, it is replaced with an alternate tour for the day, and no refund would be offered.
Yes! Many of our clients have made life-long-friends during our tours experiencing the Holy Land in a group setting. Single travelers pay a single rate for hotel accommodations. Please note we do not find another passenger to share a room.
Israel and Palestine are multi-faith lands. In Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Hebron, the religious centers of the region, an attitude respectful of local customs is required. In particular, during visits to religious sites, proper clothing is required. Long pants for men and clothing that covers the shoulders and knees for women is the norm.
For summer, lightweight T shirts, sleeveless shirts, shorts, and a bathing suit for the beach are recommended. Pack a very light sweater or a jacket for nights in the mountains or the desert.
For winter, bring long sleeve shirts, sweaters and a scarf, gloves, a warm coat, and a raincoat and an umbrella. You may wish to bring pairs of thicker socks for the evening.
Holy Land escorted tours require a lot of walking; bring comfortable shoes and sun protection including a hat, sunscreen lotion, and sunglasses. You can also bring a backpack to help you carry day-to-day touring items you may need, including bottled water.
Currency: Palestine - Israel, the currency is the shekel. Please check for daily exchange rate:
www.x-rates.com. The dollar and the Euro can also be used for all major payments.
There are automated teller machine everywhere and credit cards are accepted in many places.
Languages: The official language of the Palestinians is Arabic, and the official Israel language is Hebrew. The second language is English, but French is also spoken in major centers.
Jordan: Language: Arabic. Currency: Jordan Dinar (JOD)
Egypt: Language: Arabic. Currency: Egyptian pound (LE)
Health and vaccines: no vaccine are presently required.
Pharmacies are prevalent in all cities and towns we bring tours on. We do recommend packing the following medicines, which are often useful: antidiarrheal and antiseptic intestinal medication, high protection sunscreen, aspirin, plasters for blisters, and disinfectant.
Telecommunications: there is a good mobile phone network. Likewise, accessibility to the internet is available almost everywhere, notably via WIFI in hotels. Cell phones: Your service provider can advise about international roaming. Other options are to buy a local SIM card, on arrival in each country.
Electricity: The electrical current is generally 220V, with the outlets and plugs utilizing the two-round pin type that are common throughout Europe (except the UK).
Business hours and weekend closures in the Middle East are different from those in the Western world.
In Palestine: the Muslim days of rest and prayer are on Friday; Christian days are on Sunday.
In Israel: most Jewish businesses are closed on Friday afternoon and Saturday (Shabbat), as well as several high holy days.
In Egypt: government offices and banks are closed on Friday and Saturday.
In Jordan: government offices, banks and most businesses are closed on Friday and Saturday.
In Muslim areas of the Middle East: working hours are greatly reduced during the month of Ramadan.
Time & orientation: The time in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and seven hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (EST) in North America. All four countries observe daylight savings time, which lasts from approximately the end of March/early April to the end of September/early October. (Changes to times shift often year to year due to religious holidays.)
We are committed to promoting the purchase of locally produced handcrafted, handmade products. Supporting the local economy is one of the foundations of responsible and sustainable travel. There is a wide range of crafts made in the Holy Land: embroideries and oriental fabrics transformed into cushion covers, bags, carpets, etc. Women's cooperatives often sell pottery, ceramics, weaving and embroideries. Christian pilgrims and believers who come to visit the Holy Land can bring back all kinds of religious objects made from olive wood. By buying their products, you supporting fair and ethical tourism initiatives that are beneficial for local communities.
Before the trip:
Learn about the inhabitants and their way of life, heritage, religion, the environment.
Choose professionals involved in responsible tourism: travel agencies, tour operators, airlines, guides, on-site activities, accommodation, and restaurants.
Travel lightly, and keep space the suitcase to bring locally-crafted souvenirs. Learn about the practice and limits of price bargaining and tips traditionally left to professionals: restaurants, accommodation, guides, artisans, merchants, without stubbornly wanting to obtain unreasonable privileges and perks.
To leave with a light mind, keep a critical mind. Question the reality of the risks of the destination, and to obtain information from the competent bodies, without being too influenced by questionable media sources.
During the trip:
Respect nature as well as people and their culture. Put yourself in tune with the habits and customs of the destination, without imposing your habits or lifestyle, paying attention to the way you dress, especially in places of worship, but also to the signs of wealth that can contrast with the local standard of living. Taste the local cuisine and be curious about authentic accommodation.
Just like at home, sort waste where possible, save water and energy. Also respect the rules posted in natural spaces, in order to preserve the balance of the place.
Take care not to collect souvenirs from natural and archaeological sites
Touch with the eyes!
Do not take photos of isolated individuals without permission. Do not accept to pay to take a photo because it encourages undignified and potentially dangerous behavior. It is advisable to promise to send photos to the people concerned only if you can respect this commitment (to send by WhatsApp or Instagram, for example).
After the trip:
Foster dialogue between cultures to allow tourism to create peace.
Share your experience as a traveler, with your family, with your friends, or on social networks to testify to the riches and fragility of our planet and give others advice on how to travel better.
If you want to help locals in need…prefer donations to competent associations, schools, rather than promoting begging, especially that of children. We can advise you and help direct you to the right people or associations.