I'm want to take a 10 day trip (not including travel to and from) to Israel, October of 2013. I don't believe this will interfere with any major Jewish holidays. Is there a way to secure a trip this far in advance. I have not traveled extensively before and never abroad, so I'm not sure how this all works. I probably would feel better going with a group since I might be going solo and if not, it would be with one other friend. I'm a Christian and would like to see those points of interest in the Holy Land. Any responses would be helpful, I just need to be pointed in the right direction.
Planning too far in advance?
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It's a good time to start researching tour companies, but I think it's too early to book. You can't even book airfare more than 11 months in advance so just have fun planning.
Just so you know, you're right in guessing that your trip in Oct. 2013 does not interfere with the holidays; in 2013, Sukkot ends on September 26.
And although you CAN book airfare 11 months in advance of your trip, it is rarely cost-effective to book such a long way ahead, as you may miss out on sales or be charged a fee if you need to change your tickets for any reason.
Not to mention, who knows what prices will be like in late 2013? (Though you can pretty much assume that they will be lower in October 2013 than September 2013, when prices are raised because so many people fly in for the holidays)
As for the question of tour or with a friend, that's really up to you and the friend. The forum has a number of threads where the question's been raised; Israel is quite easy to navigate alone but you may prefer having someone else to check schedules and explain some of the history to you, and there are many well-recommended guides in Israel.
Israel has so much to offer-- you will have no trouble filling your days with wonderful things to do and see!
All of the above... too early to book hotels/itinerary and certainly for airline tickets. But not too early to start your research. If you haven't done so yet, get a good guidebook on Israel so you have a idea of where/what, etc. Many guidebooks also list Tour Operators who handle 'group' or private tours.
If you are in the US, two companies that do tours to Israel would be:
Gate 1, located in Phila suburb
Israel Travel, located in NYC
- both do group and private, both have itieraries geared for the Christian traveler.
And, I'm sure there are others, that a Google search will bring up, or if you're a church member, they could direct you.
Once you've got an idea of what you'd like to do, the number of days in-country, where to visit/sites, even hotels and estimated budget, you can return here for further comments.
http://goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist%20Information/Christian%20Themes/Pages/default.aspx
Here's a link to the Israel tourist board's list of Christian sites and itineraries to get you started. You can even sign up for a themed newsletter that might interest you
I appreciate all of the responses to my questions. I am located in the US and will look up the two travel companies in the NY/Philadelphia area. I went to my local library and picked up several guide books including Fodor's Israel Guide 2011. I'm super excited about my upcoming trip and as it gets closer I will come back to the forum to seek more advice. Thanks again.