There are several things one might want to avoid in Israel. Here we go.

1. Expensive hotels and accommodation. Well duh! Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it sounds as Israel is filled with expensive hotels and few cheap options. To avoid expensive hotels and accommodation in Israel you should take a look at our Cheap Israel Hotels, Cheap Israel Rentals and Cheap Israel Hostels pages for advice.

2. Being an obnoxious wise guy at the airport. In case you’ve got your passport stamped with visas from countries that aren’t very friendly to Israel such as Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, etc., you’ll get a more thorough check-up than a normal traveler. Don’t be afraid of that and answer all questions truthfully no matter how silly you might look. If you’re no terrorist then you’ll be just fine.

3. Planning to get back home through Syria or Lebanon. That just can’t be done.

4. Renting a car and using it inside a city. Major Israeli cities, especially Jerusalem, are well known for their traffic congestion issues. That’s why renting a car just to go from place to place inside a city is a no-no. You’d be better off taking public transportation such as taxis and buses that have dedicated lines or just walk around from place to place and enjoy the scenery. You should check out our cheap Israel car rental page for more on renting a car in Israel.

5. Trying to catch a ferry out of the country. Most passenger ferries have ceased to use Israel since the early 2000s. There are still freight ferries that may at times accept human passengers along with their cargo but they charge exorbitant fees, they don’t respect the promised schedule and their ships are usually outdated.

6. Trying to go from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv by train and vice-versa. This should be avoided if one lacks time and is in a hurry. In this case, buses or shared taxis (sheruts) would be better options as you’ll reach your destination much faster. The train is too slow but the scenery between the two cities is amazing by train so one should use it only if time permits.

The same applies if one wants to go from Jerusalem to Haifa and vice-versa by train because you’ll have to go through Tel-Aviv while buses and shared taxis (sheruts) don’t have to.

This concludes our article on what things to avoid in Israel. We do acknowledge that this is not a very comprehensive list and it’s pretty much what went through our head after doing some research so if you’ve got more to add then don’t hesitate to do so by posting a comment.

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