Cruise ship in Haifa by Alex Jilitsky, on Flickr

The cruises which go to Israel tend to be Mediterranean cruises and stop in other Mediterranean basin countries such as Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt, meaning that they are well suited to those looking to encounter history, archaeology and religion in ancient lands.

Many people visiting Israel on a cruise choose to take tours inland:

Sea of Galilee by agroffman, on Flickr

The Port of Haifa is located on the edge of Israel’s Galilee region in the north of the country. The city itself has the famous Bahai Gardens which slope down Mount Carmel overlooking the bay of Haifa, and ending at the city’s restored German Colony. Beyond Haifa itself, however, there are loads of options for easy day-trips within an hour or two’s drive. The Sea of Galilee is about an hour away, and is the heartland of the New Testament with literally tens of sites to visit relating to Christianity ranging from churches and monasteries, to the Jesus boats which sail across the Sea of Galilee, and, just south of the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River Baptism site. To the East of the Sea of Galilee, in the Golan Heights is the amazing Gamla Nature Reserve and Israel’s only ski resort is at Mount Herman, whilst to the West is the Jezreel Valley, famously known as the Valley of the Armageddon. The Hula Valley is one of the world’s greatest bird-watching sites, whilst the Galilee region is flooded with leisure activities from biking and hiking, to paragliding and windsurfing. The archaeological site at Beit Shean is one of the largest in the world, whilst the amazingly conserved harbor at Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast south of Haifa is fascinating. And, let’s not forget, the nearby Alona Valley and towns of Binyamina and Zichron Yaakov is the heart of Israel’s wine region.

White City of Tel Aviv by Alex Jilitsky, on Flickr

The Port of Ashdod is located just south of Israel’s vibrant, cosmopolitan cultural capital, dubbed the “Mediterranean Capital of Cool” by the NY Times: Tel Aviv. Dripping with culture, leisure, and just about everything else conceivable, Tel Aviv’s White City is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its Bauhaus Architecture, the port of Jaffa is one of the world’s oldest ports, and the city’s beach is a great option if you feel like doing very little. From Ashdod, Jerusalem is just an hour away. Jerusalem speaks for itself. Certainly the world capital of religion, the city should not be missed.

It is possible to arrange a private guide to take you on your whistle-stop cruise tour of the Holy Land, but what is almost certain is that you will become addicted, and want to come back to see more!

Continental Airlines are strongly considering the introduction of flights from San Francisco to Tel Aviv. Continental who have recently merged with United Airlines, already fly twice daily from Newark to Tel Aviv, and are the second largest carrier of passengers to Israel after Israel’s own El Al.

El Al fleet grows

El Al, Israel’s national airline and largest carrier, has announced over the past two weeks plans to add FIVE new aircraft to its fleet. Additionally, they have options on two further aircraft. This fleet growth will be sure to increase the great range of destinations from where you can fly to Israel.

Flights from Portugal to Israel

Sun D’Or, the Israeli charter airline will this summer introduce flights from Israel to Portugal. The flights will run weekly to begin with and fly from Tel Aviv to Lisbon with the aim of increasing capacity at a later date,

Indian Airlines Flights to Israel?

Indian Airlines are expected to shortly announce their launch of new flights between Israel and India. About 40,000 Indian tourists visited Israel in 2010, and this number is set only to increase. At present the only flights between India and Israel are with El Al to Mumbai.

Chinese Hainan Airlines to fly to Israel?

Also increasing the links between Israel and Asia, Chinese Hainan Airlines are likely to announce the launch of more flights between China and Israel.

Tel Aviv will be the first non-European destination for the Danish company, which operates flights to 54 destinations across Europe. The new route will be active three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and will commence operations on November 2010.

“The Tel Aviv route is designated for businessmen and tourists who want to visit Scandinavia,” Cimber Sterling Vice President Lars Bording said.

Full article at Ynet

El Al CEO Eliezer Shkedi said, “This is a breakthrough and good news for tourists entering and leaving Israel. El Al’s scheduled flight, inaugurated today for the first time, will boost the number of number of tourists, improve service, and bring the periphery closer to the center of the country to everyone’s benefit. We believe that El Al’s regular service between Tel Aviv and Eilat will substantially boost both domestic and international tourism to Eilat.”

To serve Israelis and tourists making follow-on flights to El Al’s international destinations, the airline will provide shuttles between Terminal 1 and the international terminal, Terminal 3, at Ben Gurion Airport. Check-in for the follow-on flights will be carried out at Eilat Airport.

To mark the first month of the launch, El Al is offering special single-segment fares of NIS 189 based on a booklet of 14 midweek flights for residents of central Israel, and NIS 149 per segment for residents of Eilat who buy the 14-midweek flights booklet

El Al is not yet offering market-breaking fares to Eilat. Although both Arkia Airlines Ltd. and Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd. charge up to NIS 400 one-way fares to Eilat, they both make dozens of flights every day between Ben Gurion Airport and Eilat, compared with three daily flights by El Al.

In addition, Arkia CEO Gadi Tepper launched the Arkia Express service a few months ago, which offers starting fares at NIS 80, not including luggage costs, for advance reservations.

The options: Airlines flying between Tel Aviv and Eilat

Arkia: Offers flights every couple of hours between Eilat and Tel Aviv’s domestic Sde Dov Airport as well as two/three a day from Ben Gurion Airport

Israir: Offers slightly less flights, but still very regular through the day between Eilat and Sde Dov, as well as less frequent flights to Ben Gurion Airport.

El Al: New to the domestic market, El Al is now flying two/three times a day between Ben Gurion Airport and Eilat. These flights have been designed to fit in with their international schedules and the extra Eilat leg is heavily discounted for passengers flying onwards after taking an El Al flight to Israel.

[via Globes]

The airline will, by the end of the summer operate 9 flights per week between Israel and Germany.

The new routes between Cologne and Munich will start operating on March 29 and March 30 respectively. Whilst the Dusseldorf route will start on June 11.

Like other low-cost airlines, most tickets are sold online via the airline’s website. Although Tel Aviv does not yet appear on the list of destinations on the website, the airline’s flight schedule for March does appear on the Israel Airports Authority website.

There are no currently regularly scheduled flights between Israel and Scandinavia, and Israelis seeking to go there have to switch planes elsewhere in Europe, which increases the fare. There are seasonal charter flights between Israel and Scandinavia, as Scandinavians are one of Eilat’s tourist mainstays.

Source: Globes

See our page about flights to Israel for more options.

The document states that, during a visit to Spain and Portugal a few weeks ago, Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov met TAP’s president, who said that he wanted to resume operating the route and establish direct aviation links between the two countries. The measure was part of a tourism agreement signed in January between Misezhnikov and Portugal’s Minister of Tourism Bernardo Trindade.

Under the agreement, representatives from TAP are due to begin talks in a few weeks with the Israel Civil Aviation Authority to arrange the operations. The Lisbon-Tel Aviv route is planned to begin operating toward the end of the year.

Source: Globes

El Al and Swiss International Airlines already fly between Tel Aviv and Geneva under a code-sharing agreement. The Israel Civil Aviation Authority and the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation also recently signed a new agreement allowing more carriers to fly between the two countries.

Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd. recently announced that it plans to launch a Tel Aviv-Basel route this spring.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, easyJet carried 17,000 passengers on its London-Tel Aviv route in November-December 2009.

In the past few months, the Civil Aviation Authority has been in talks with its counterparts in European countries on an open skies agreement, which would allow European and Israeli carriers to fly more freely between destinations.

Quotes: Globes

The ships will dock at Haifa and Ashdod ports in the coming months, bringing with them an estimated 40,000 tourists.

The first ship to come to Israel this September is the luxurious Vision of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean. The ship, which hosts up to 2,500 guests in each cruise, will visit Israel nine times during September-November as part of its Holy Land Cruise.

Full article: Ynet

by Flickr user mockstar