Dieuwer

Mom and I hope to visit Israel for the first time late October this year. We plan to arrive on Saturday evening and leave the next Friday (or the next Saturday if needed). I wonder if I could get some suggestions where to stay, what to see (highlights) and how to maximize our time.
Part of the trip will be to visit moms family we haven't seen in decades and visit the Yad Vashem memorial.
My hunch is to stay in Jerusalem (as it seems centrally located) and do day trips from there. Not sure if we should rent a car or do organized tours.

mbgg

If you want to base yourself in Jerusalem for the entire vacation, then your itinerary is quite simple:

• 3 days Jerusalem
• 1 day Dead Sea (look at the "Abraham Tours" options).
• 1 day tour to each Galilee/Golan or Caesarea/Akko (Egged Tours, United Tours, Rent-a-Guide,etc)
• 1 day Tel-Aviv, easily done by public transport.

You can also look at this travel guide for more suggestions:
http://amateurtraveler.com/travel-gu...el%20guide.pdf

Ditto

I would definetly go for the extra day if you can, there is plenty to see around.
Jerusalem is centrally located but traffic jams can be pretty bad during rush hours, just something to take into account if you would like to visit Tel Aviv and/or continue up north on the coastal road.

I would take renting a car over a group guided tour, but that's a matter of preference.

Personally I would split my stay between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where does the family you wish to visit live? And what interests you the most?

Dieuwer

Family lives just south of old Jerusalem. We are most interested in culture, but not necessarily the roman part as we have seen plenty of that during vacations in Europe.

yosithezet

When you say just south of old Jerusalem, do you mean still within Jerusalem? Bethlehem? Kiryat Arbaa? Just trying to ensure you aren't looking at the map and considering Beersheva to be just south of the old city.

I would not stay the whole time in Jerusalem. It isn't actually all that central in the overall scheme of things. You either need to go down to the Dead sea to go north/south or head towards the airport to go north/south. Arrive Saturday and go to Jerusalem. Spend Suday-Tuesday in Jerusalem, with one day being a trip to Massada and the Dead Sea.

Then take a trip from Jerusalem to the Galil and perhaps sleep that evening in Haifa or in the Elma Arts Center, an SPG property. In Haifa go to the Bahai Gardens, Akko, perhaps to Zichron Yaakov to see some of the original buildings and visit the winery.

Make your way down to Tel Aviv and stay a few nights. Go to Jaffa, some museums, Friday morning Nahalat Binyamin artist market and check out the food in Carmel Market.

Dieuwer

Baka (Geulim).

I don't think my mom (68 years) wants to move around too much.

yosithezet

Ok, so Jerusalem.

Fair enough. Then I'd skip overnight near Haifa, but I still would break the trip between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and take a day trip up north.

israelroadtripcom

If I were you and your mother (who isn’t old yet at 68) I would arrange it as follows -
4 nights in Jerusalem including:
- The old city
- a day of culture at the museums in the western part of town (including Israel Museum which is fantastic)
- a day trip to the dead sea
- Yad Vashem
3 nights in Tel Aviv including:
-a day to tour Tel Aviv and Jaffa
-a day trip to Haifa and Acre (an hour by train)
Tel Aviv is loaded with culture - museums galleries, music opera, theatre and more. You might want, before you get here, to choose and buy tickets to concerts or shows as sometimes availability is limited.

This itinerary skips the galilee, which is a bit shame. If you want to see it you should spend one night in the area after leaving Jerusalem, or book a day tour from either Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
Have fun

yosithezet

Welcome to FlyerTalk israelroadtripcom!

Efrem

If you end up doing that, get it from Tel Aviv. Many of the one-day tours start in Jerusalem before 6 am and stop in Tel Aviv to pick up more passengers before heading north. Makes sense from their point of view, they have to go kinda-sorta in that general direction anyhow and it's passengers who pay the bills, but why get up an hour earlier than you have to and get back to your hotel an hour later than you have to? It will be a long enough day from Tel Aviv.

(I can't speak for anyone whose physical condition I don't know, but at 74, and getting ready to cross the border from Jordan into Israel at Aqaba/Eilat in two days, I will slug anyone who calls me "old.")

Dieuwer

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
With respect to lodging, family suggested the Ben Yehuda/Cohen Sq. area and mentioned the Montefiori as example.
Since I have no idea how spread-out Jerusalem is, I think it would be convenient to stay close to sites and restaurants so we don't have to walk for long or take public transport/cabs all the time.