Israel the Holy Land (Private) - 9 Days

Customer Reviews

• MD

  Melanie

  · October 12th, 2023
  Our tour began October 4 and the war in Israel broke out October 7. So you could say our tour was broken into two very separate experiences. The good: our tour guide and our driver were both lovely and we enjoyed both of them very much. Tourradar hires freelancers for both positions and I suppose it could be a crapshoot. We got lucky and got both a good driver and good tour guide, but we did not have the same people mentioned in other reviews (no John the driver for us). Our driver was very quiet, yet very accommodating and allowed us to be spontaneous when we asked. He was a sweet man who was always helpful and happy. Our guide was gregarious and knowledgeable and fun to be around. They both get 5 stars. The bad: First you must really read the fine print of what is “excluded” from the price of the tour. Ummm…what…a tour guide is not included in our tour? That’s correct. And we only realized this a few days before we left on our trip, thanks to another review that we read just before leaving. The price of this tour does not include a tour guide, only a driver who is not a tour guide. We now refer to the tour company as “Driveradar” rather than “Tourradar” and that is actually more accurate. Did we like our driver? Yes! Could he have sufficed as a tour guide? Absolutely not. After coming to the late realization that we needed a tour guide at the last minute, “Driveradar” scrambled and found someone available for most, but not all, of our days. That came at an additional cost of $350/day, which was well worth it but a huge unexpected additional cost of the trip. The second bad: when the war broke out, our tour guide was understandably distraught. Despite that, he gave us a super education and helped us understand better what it was all about. Many of the scheduled activities were closed, so he helped us figure out alternative ways to spend our time. He stuck with us as much as he could. On the other hand, once the war broke out “Driveradar” NEVER ONCE REACHED OUT TO US TO SEE IF WE FELT SAFE OR IF WE NEEDED ANYTHING!!! We spent the entire last day of our tour hunkered down, afraid to leave our hotel. Our travel companions reached out to “Driveradar” about what we should do, and they received a snarky response, which essentially said we were on our own but they would be willing to check the status of our flights home. That was it! No additional support, suggestions, help and certainly no compassion. We did purchase the trip insurance and we plan to ask for reimbursement on all the sites that were closed after the war broke out. We’ll see where that goes. The third bad: Our hotel in Tiberius was awful, dirty and in a weird location directly across the street from a massive bus depot. I did not sleep in the sheets and the towels were dingy/threadbare. The room was dirty. The other two hotels (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) were as expected. Would I book another tour with Tourradar? Not likely. They hired good people, but we could have hired them ourselves. The itinerary was good and that’s what drew us to this tour. However, hiring a private driver and a private tour guide is not that hard to do yourself, nor is booking hotels. Our tour guide would have been completely capable developing a great itinerary on his own if we had hired him directly. In a nutshell, any “tour” that does not include a tour guide is deceiving, regardless if the fine print actually says so or not. The price is not the actual price because this trip would be impossible without an additional $350/day tour guide.
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  Vacations to go travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your detailed review. We appreciate your feedback and would like to address your concerns. It's important to note that the tour package you booked included an English-speaking driver, and our tours are designed with this in mind. We do... Show more
  Trip date: October 2023
• AK

  Alan

  · October 12th, 2023
  Notwithstanding the Hamas attack on Israel 5 days into our tour, we had a really good trip. However, I would have rated it poor if not for the guide we hired. If you are not familiar with Israel, and especially if you do not speak Hebrew or Arabic, this is critical. I am most disappointed by the fact that TourRadar was not clear on this. As I look back in all our correspondence I can see they refer only to our “driver” being with us every day. We loved our driver dearly. However, he was not a licensed tour guide and spoke decent, but limited English.
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  Vacations to go travel commented on this review

  We are relieved to hear of your safe return to the USA, along with Melanie, after the challenging situation during your tour. Your feedback is valued, and we appreciate your kind words about your experience. We apologize for any confusion regarding the... Show more
  Trip date: October 2023
• TH

  Terryl

  · October 12th, 2023
  The tour did not have a tour guide. Only a driver. We had to hire our own tour guide which we found the week of our departure. The hotels were quite disappointing, especially the ones in Tel Aviv and in Tiberius. If I were to do this trip again, I’d do more research on the hotels and tour guide.
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  Trip date: October 2023
• 

  Diana

  · September 27th, 2023
  First of all as a solo traveler this was very expensive, lots of confusion as to travel add ons, one agent says things were done and another says oops, no but they were adding it on, then confusion with insurance and much more. You only get a driver, there is no tour guide although the driver was very nice. Basically except for the driver you are on your own, food is not inclusive and you better read the fine print about it and everything that is not included. I had a good time but it was because of the lovely people I met on my trip in Israel. This is not a platinum tour!
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  Vacations to go travel commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback. We apologize for any confusion you experienced during your solo trip. We understand that traveling alone can be challenging, and we'll work on improving the experience for solo travelers. We appreciate your input regarding... Show more
  Trip date: August 2023
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  priscilla

  · June 26th, 2023
  The itinerary was excellent and hit all the major Christain locations. Vacations to Go was attentive with checking in on satisfaction and helping with special requests. Our driver John Matter was exceptional. His personality and thoughtfulness made the trip outstanding. One day I hired a tour guide in addition to the driver which was not cost effective. If you use a tour guide in the Old City, be sure to ask them to take you SLOWLY through each station of the cross. I was pleased with tour radar as a source to locate excellent tours. All in all a great trip.
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  Vacations to go travel commented on this review

  Thank you for the great review! We're delighted that you enjoyed the excellent itinerary, attentive service, and exceptional driver during your trip. We appreciate your suggestion regarding the tour guide and will share it with future travelers. We're... Show more
  Trip date: June 2023
• PR

  Peter John

  · May 12th, 2023
  This tour was a thorough look at the many sides of Israel. We covered sites as old as Megiddo (6,000BC) to the Golan Heights border with Syria (a current point of dispute). The hotel in Jerusalem is only a few minutes' walk from the Damascus Gate, the best point of entry into the Old City, the Via Dolorosa, and the Muslim Quarter. Our driver, John, was an Arab Christian who gave us a considered view of the problems faced by the modern country of Israel. John was very accommodating: he let us spend as much time as we wanted at each site, and helped us with practical things like laundry, as well as being a person who was always punctual. I would highly recommend this tour.
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  Vacations to go travel commented on this review

  Thank you for the great review! Our Israel tour covered diverse sites from ancient to modern, and our Jerusalem hotel's location near the Old City was convenient. Our driver, John, was accommodating and knowledgeable. We appreciate your recommendation... Show more
  Trip date: April 2023