How much time should you spend on a trip to Israel? It’s a totally valid question. Like so many things in life, however, the answer is… It depends. Here are some thoughts and things to consider to help you decide how long you should plan to travel around Israel.
If You Want to Hit the Highlights: 6-7 Days
If you are only interested in seeing Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Galilee, this is the ideal timeframe for that. You can even take a day trip to hit up the Dead Sea if you want to squeeze that in, too. It’ll be a fast-and-furious week, but if this is the time you have, it will be well worth making it happen.
If you can’t quite make it for a week, you could base yourself in Jerusalem for 3-4 days, but you really won’t have time to explore more of Israel in that amount of time. We definitely recommend at least a week-long trip, inclusive of travel days.
Check out this 7-day Israel itinerary for an idea of what you can accomplish in just a week.
If You Have the Time: 11-14 Days
If you’re planning to only visit Israel as a bucket list destination once, you want to do it right and you want to go all out. Spending a week and a half to two weeks in the country will be the right choice for you. You can do absolutely everything you want to do within two weeks, easily.
With a longer trip like this, you may even have time for a few days’ excursion to Jordan or Egypt if either of those nearby countries is also on your list of places to go in your lifetime.
Check out this 12-day Israel itinerary for an idea of what you can accomplish in two weeks or less.
The “Goldilocks” Timeframe: 8-10 Days
If six days is too few, and 14 days is too many, then an eight to 10-day trip will be just right. This gives you time to see all the things you want to see at a reasonable pace, but you won’t get bored or feel like it’s a never-ending trip. You could experience all things Israel in this amount of time, and even squeeze in a couple of nights in Jordan to see Petra, if you wanted to add that as well.
If you’ve been thinking of a week-long trip in Israel, it’s worth it to at least consider bumping it up to 10 days. This will ensure you won’t miss something essential because you run out of time, and you can feel like you actually had time to experience the things you’re seeing, instead of rushing from one to the other.
Check out this 10-day Israel itinerary for an idea of what you can accomplish in just over a week.
We hope this information is helpful! How long would you be able to spend on a trip to Israel?
For more insider tips, check out the “How to Structure and Itinerary in Israel” episode of the Israel Travel Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!