Middle East - 3.5 days in Israel

Howdy,

You guys are about to see an influx of TLV travelers courtesy of El Al's mistake fare, and I'm one of them. Could you critique the below? I know it's too busy.

We're flying into TLV on a Wednesday evening, and here were my thoughts:

Rent car
Drive to Tiberias, overnight there
Thursday, hang out by the Sea for a bit, then make our way down to Jerusalem, overnight there
Friday, Jerusalem all day (anyone know a good tour guide?) until Shabbat starts, not sure what to do after that begins
Saturday, Morning tour to Dead Sea (if possible), then drive to Tel Aviv and sleep there before our flight back to the States leaves at 615am Sunday morning

For your day in Jerusalem I can highly recommend Ariel Gabay (if he's available). We used him for 12 days last November & he was fantastic. Here is his website:

http://tourwithariel.weebly.com/

When are you going? That would drastically influence my opinion on your plans.

I don't think Tiberias is anything special personally, so unless it's either summer or you want to visit the christian sites there, or both, I'd probably choose somewhere else to spend the night. Since the El Al deal really only included some of October and some of March as times of year when the weather makes a trip to the Kinneret worthwhile, if you're not going to be there at one of those times, I'd rethink it.

I'll be there November 21-25, during the US Thanksgiving holiday.

Part of the attraction to Tiberias was to sea Galilee (pun intended) and the Christian sites.

I'd avoid driving from Tel Aviv to Tiberias as there isnt much to see there.
If you plan on seeing some great sites in Israel you should stop by Caesarea and see the ruins, go to Rosh Hanikra which is way up north by car and see the amazing cliff and panoramic view there, and mostly stay in the Tel Aviv area for great food and vibe.

So would you recommend Akko as a first night destination, then drive over to Galilee and Capernaum the next day?

If you want, drive to Caesarea & spend time there, then drive to Haifa & stay at the Crowne Plaza, which is just down the block from the Baha'i gardens. Then the next day you can drive up to Akko & then across 85 to Safed & then down to Tiberius, & I recommend staying at the very nice hotel on Kibbutz Lavi just outside the city.

For your day in Jerusalem I can highly recommend Ariel Gabay (if he's available). We used him for 12 days last November & he was fantastic. Here is his website:

http://tourwithariel.weebly.com/

I second that. Ariel was our guide for me and my family for 5 days this past July. He is just fabulous.