Jericho, de Jordaan en de Dode Zee vanuit Jeruzalem

We had the worst guide - Avishay during our Jericho visit. It was not a pleasant experience. He brought us to this Temptation Restaurant where he told it’s only 50 shekels for a buffet. He was pressuring everybody up until we were about to pay. We ended paying 192€ for that crappy lunch. Then he just spent our time going to shops and he complained a lot for asking to bring us to Tel Aviv even if we already told the tour operator of this ahead. He has said wrong information too about the places we visited, and funny thing is one from our group knows the places better than him. Beinharim is great, we used them for 3 tours but it was a horrible time with the tour guide assigned to us.

Our tour was lead by Itamar who was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable, which added to the pleasurable experience. The group atmosphere allowed for interactions with people from all walks of life and interesting inter-faith discussions. As a solo-traveler, the small group was a perfect way to explore and learn about the Jewish historical sites of Jordan, Jericho, the Mount of Temptation, and the Dead Sea which I may not have felt comfortable visiting alone.

1. The tour actually begins at 9.30am at Mount Scopus and not 7.55am. 2. The tour spends more time visiting shops where the main company probably earn commission. 3. There's a historical Greek church in the caves of the mountain of temptation but the tour prevented us from visiting this but was happy for us to spend significant amount of time in pointless shops. 4. The tour ended on the day of the Jewish parade, which everyone knew was taking place. The tour company did not account for this eventuality and left all us stranded circa 1 hour from the centre of Jerusalem. Its fine for me but there were people with disabilities on the tour who were left stranded. In summary, if you're interested in spending 100 dollars per person on visiting shopping malls then this is the tour for you.

That was awesome. Our guide, Joseph Haviv was great. He has a huge knowledge about Israel, sense of humor and great personality. He has shawn us not only the greatest view in Jerusalem, but also everything we needed to see in Jordan, Dead See and Jerycho. Organization was excellent - with good bus, everything on time.

Unbelievable experience,great memories and great guide. Yosef Haviv(our guide) was incredible. He showed us all the fantastic places of Jericho and not only. He’s funny,always with a smile on his face,well studied with knowledge about the ancient/present history of these religious places. 100% I recommend you to book a tour and travel “back to time”!!

The tour started off bad right off the bat. That should have been my cue. I’ve taken many tours before in different countries and this was by far the worst. First off, the bus that came to pick us up was 40 minutes late. We got there 15 minutes early (like they asked) and ended up waiting a whole entire hour at the hotel lobby. They never called to let us know they will be late, so I had the hotel registration desk call them for me. The bus finally came and it was one of those large tour buses. The driver did not speak any English so I was confused as to what was going on. The registration desk confirmed that he was our driver, so we left with him. The inside of the bus was disgusting! One of the seat had dried up throw up on it. I could not believe it. And other seats were either broken or had gum stuck all over them or dried up food spillage. Anyways… turns out he’s not the driver for the entire tour. He drops us off at some tour guide meeting spot and we meet our tour guide, Raffe. He greats us nicely and promises that the bus we’re going on is gona be much cleaner. So we board a much smaller and cleaner bus (thank God!). Raffe had a great personality but was not very knowledgeable about the area. We first went to the Jordan river which was okay. Nothing more than standing in sewage water. But that was my expectation anyway. From there we went to Jericho. I was especially excited about this part of the trip because it’s been a dream of mine to visit the monastery on top of mount temptation. So we go up on the gondola there just for Raffe to tell us that the monastery is closed and to enjoy some pomegranate juice instead at the expensive cafe located on the mountain. He said the monastery h was closed for renovation. So we all just sat around the cafe and talked and then went back down on the gondola. Honestly I have no idea what the entire point was going up there. But as we’re going down on the gondola, we had another couple with us who were talking about the monastery. So we curiously ask how they were allowed to go. And to our surprise they say “well it’s open. You just go up. It’s about a 15 min walk” We were stunned. So not only did Raffe straight up lie to us, he intentionally had us spend time at the cafe and purchase food and drinks so he can get his commission from the restaurant. Also, just to mention that my drink was 25 shekels (approx $7). I checked my bank statement today and they charged me $20 for a fresh squeezed pomegranate juice!!! But I’m not worried… my credit card company is already working with them on refunding me. So from there we go to the Jericho ancient ruins. He takes us to one of the excavation sites only where we spend like 15 minutes talking about how it appears to be a tower and was build approximately 7,000 BC. He then takes us to a restaurant where we have no other choice but to eat there because we’re basically in the middle of nowhere. The food was okay and not too overpriced. But again, commission right? He doesn’t care about giving us any information on the tour itself. From there we go to the Dead Sea. And truthfully if it wasn’t for the Dead Sea, I would give this tour a zero. But the last stop was the only highlight of our trip! And even then he proceeded to take us to a store to have us purchase products for his commission. The whole thing just seemed like an entire scam. We mainly shopped and ate and learned a few things that we would likely find on Google if not more. This trip was totally not worth the money or the time. Sorry.

Yoav is a very knowledgeable guide. He provides interesting information all throughout the tour and is very friendly and willing to answer questions. Although he is not Christian, he clearly understands the history and stories of the New Testament and I was impressed by the respect that he has for the beliefs of others. He loves his country and is anxious to share information about its history. He clearly is not working as a guide for just the salary. He really loves what he does and has a passion for sharing his knowledge with others. He made the tour worthwhile. Excellent experience with Yoav.

Due to the expertise and encyclopedic knowledge of Tour Guide Yoav Malachi, we had an outstanding experience on this Tour. We have had private and group tours all over the world, and Mr. Malachi was really one of the most remarkable Tour Guides we have come across. Balancing appropriate witty comments and sharing his knowledge made the Tour so interesting and enjoyable. Historic Jericho and its religious sites and archaeology were interesting and the Dead Sea was relaxing. Would highly recommend. Thank you!

After being picked up from near our accommodation, we were taken to a central meeting point where we transferred to a smaller vehicle for our tour. We felt like we were on a private tour as there were only 5 of us! Our guide was really friendly & really knew his stuff! The tour progressed at a great pace - we never felt under pressure to move on quickly but we were also never sat around waiting. Yoav is clearly passionate about the history of the area & enjoys showing tourists the lesser spotted sights! At the end of the tour we were taken to a Dead Sea Resort where we were able to go in the water & enjoy the mud. This was a bit of a bucket list experience for us & it did not disappoint! A highly recommended tour, especially with Yoav as the guide!

Took the day trip for this because Jerusalem was just too touristy. Jericho was amazing, and the Dead Sea was out of this world. Highly recommended for both historical and tourist major attractions!