When people ask about what our favourite travel experiences of the last two years on the road are it’s always a tough one to answer. Having said that my mind always wanders right back to the Middle East, and Jordan and Israel in particular. We were lucky enough to spend a month exploring Israel alone and it was absolutely magical. The scenery is just breathtaking.

There are, however, a number of pitfalls you can fall into when exploring this endless fascinating country. We’ve outlined all the mistakes to avoid and the things you will want to know before visiting Israel.

Mistakes to avoid in Israel

1 - Booking Airbnbs

I am sorry to the people who are running genuinely great Airbnbs in Israel, but we have to say that the ones we stayed in were the worst.

We were visiting with my family for my dad’s 70th birthday celebration and we spent a lot of money on several Airbnbs in different areas. None looked like the pictures.

There was the $300 a night ‘luxury boutique apartment’ in Jerusalem with no hot water, no sound proofing and one bedroom whose wall was a curtain……

There was the ‘luxury penthouse’ in Tel Aviv whose third king bedroom was in fact two children’s camp beds and holes in the walls were rife. Need I go on?

2 - Driving your hire car into Palestine

This is very unfortunate because we would have loved to explore Palestine and our initial route included it until we read the fine print on our car insurance forms.

It is prohibited to take a rental car from Israel to Palestine and your insurance would be void. This is a double whammy because not only do you miss out on much of Palestine (you can easily visit Bethlehem without a car) but you have to take long circuitous routes to avoid crossing the border. Journeys that Google Maps said would take a couple of hours would now take four.

In case you’re wondering, our group had three different rental cars from three different companies and all had the same policy.

3 - Not realising the Temple Mount has limited opening hours for non Muslims…

We ever so nearly missed out on one of the most famous sites in Jerusalem - if not the whole country - by not realising that, if you aren’t Muslim, your access to the Temple Mount is only at selected times and days.

Luckily, on our last day in the city we, by chance, made the right time and we were so lucky we did. Seeing the Dome of Rock close up is one of the essential things to do if you come to the holy city.

You can’t go inside (unless you are Muslim), but it was special just to be able to see it up close and wander the surrounding gardens.

You can check the visiting times and everything you need to know about the Temple Mount in our post all about the best things to do in Jerusalem.

4 - …and not covering up when there

If your legs or arms are uncovered at the Temple Mount, you won’t be let in, so make sure you have clothes that cover you (or at least a shawl and a sarong).

I didn’t realise this and took my fleece off, and to my shame was shouted and whistled at to put it back on immediately. Yikes!

5 - Visiting during Passover

Often visiting a country during a special festival is a memorable experience. After initial reservations, we adored visiting both Jordan and Turkey during Ramadan. Holi in India and Tet in Thailand are also on our bucket list.

However, we saw no positives in visiting Israel during Passover.

Passover is a time when families get together, not a time where there are lots of special events happening in the community that you can join in with - absolutely nothing wrong with that of course, but it’s worth knowing that you will be paying phenomenal prices for accommodation at this time and everything will be crowded.

You’ll also find that for many days food options will be severely limited. If you’re travelling on a budget and planning to survive for much of the time of the delicious falafel pita pockets (yes that was us!) you are out of luck.

Lots of places shut down completely and unless you’re in the major cities it is just harder to find places to eat as a traveller.

6 - Shaving before getting in the Dead Sea

We all know that the Dead Sea has a really high salt content, but it might not occur to you at the time that if you’re recently shaved it’s going to sting. Big time.

It’s recommended not to shave for at least two days before you enter the water. The salt islands (and salty deposits) can be really sharp, and cut you if you’re not careful - literally leaving you with salt in the wound.

You have been warned!

7 - Visiting Ein Gedi in the middle of the day

Many foreign tourists don’t know about Ein Gedi but let me tell you, Israeli’s do and they love it! Who can blame them? It is a desert oasis the likes of which you usually only dream about.

Waterfalls and pools filled with emerald water that you can swim in surrounded by huge sandstone mountains anyone? It’s absolute paradise and easily one of our favourite places in Israel.

However, you need to get there at opening time (that’s 8am at time of writing), otherwise your blissful desert experience will be shared with so many others that queues form along the trails.

8 - Not visiting at least one slot canyon

To say that the hikes in Israel blew us away would be an understatement, but you don’t need to be a hiker to enjoy many of them. My whole family loved the Red Canyon!

Israel has some of the greatest slot canyons we have ever visited anywhere in the world and you don’t even need a guide - can someone please tell this to Arizona?!

There are a great variety of canyons in Israel, from easy to adventurous. What I love so much is that many of them have metal rungs and ladders that are installed to help you access them easily, and without any special equipment needed.

You can read more in our guide on the best hikes in Israel.

9 - Not ‘going native’ when you drive

The only one of our group that actually enjoyed driving in Israel was my sister’s husband. The reason? He went native.

Pretty much as soon as you set foot in the car you’ll notice that all normal rules of the road are thrown out the window.

Shouting, aggressive overtaking and horn honking are the norm. Whilst we’re not suggesting you adopt all these informal practices, we can tell you that if you sit waiting for a ‘safe moment’ to leave, you aren’t going to be moving far.

We spent a month driving round Israel and have put our very best tips on everything you need to know, including where to find free parking in all major areas in this guide.

10 - Thinking that Shabbat is not strictly observed

I remember learning about Shabbat in school, but I have to admit that in the intervening decades my memory had become rather hazy. And I’ll be honest, I didn’t really understand how strictly it was observed in Israel.

Depending on where you are at the time it can have quite an impact on your experience as a tourist. I mean in the grand scheme of things they are small impacts, but coffee lovers beware: preparing a coffee involves pressing a button and that is banned on Shabbat.

No food can be cooked, so you can only have food that is raw. Cutting, grinding, squeezing and mashing? They are all out too.

This will be from the evening before (Friday night) until you can see the first stars in the sky on Shabbat (Saturday night). If you are in a city like Jerusalem, you will find life goes on as normal in the Muslim areas. If you’re in somewhere like the Dead Sea, even the Crowne Plaza only served salad!

The good news? Driving is wonderful on Shabbat! Operating a car (or indeed a lift, hello stairs!) is forbidden, so the roads are blissfully quiet. It’s a great time to make long journeys.

11 - Visiting Bethlehem independently without doing your research

Most people will tell you that you will need a guide or a tour to visit Bethlehem from Jerusalem. This is just not the case. It is important, however, that you know the facts before you go.

Where you can park for free before the wall, how to navigate the taxi mafia on the other side and exactly how far all the tourist sites are and what they should cost to get there.

We have you covered on all of that and more in our guide to visiting Bethlehem independently.

12 - Thinking there is nothing to see in the desert

Most foreign tourists will visit Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea and Jerusalem on their Israel trip and completely skip over one of our favourite parts of the country: the desert.

There is so much to see and do in the Negev including some of our favourite hikes, incredible slot canyons (with virtually no one there), visiting the world’s largest erosion crater and snorkelling in the Red Sea!

Not to mention the chance to stay in a lux mud-hut with a campfire and thousands of stars above you.

You can read all the amazing things to do in the Negev desert in this post.

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