February 8, 2015

We traveled to Israel during this past December break to celebrate our son and nephew becoming Bar Mitzvah. There were 10 of us on the trip – grandparents, parents and grandkids – with the youngest being 8 years old. Joe and his team did an amazing job customizing the trip to the needs of the group with a focus on hands-on educational activities for the kids. Phil was our guide (“Phil the Guide”) and he was extraordinary in all ways – connected with the kids in a way that exceeded all of our expectations, made the history come alive and was sensitive to the range of needs of the group. Strongly recommend to those considering similar trip. Robert Lewis Port Washington, NY  

January 22, 2015

I traveled with my family to Israel over Christmas break. My four children were completely dissatisfied with our choice to travel to Israel. They also had an amazing time. Lout guide Bena had a lot to do with the depth of our experience. He was so knowledgeable about the history of the area and had a phenomenal sense of humor. He also was so attentitive with my youngest son who is 10. We were all sad to say goodbye to him at the end of our trip. We are catholic and the other family we traveled with is Jewish so we saw both Jewish and Christian sites important to both religions. I saw, learned and experienced so much. A month later I am still telling people “you must go there.” Touring Israel took care of our every need. Someone in our group left their passports back in the hotel safe and while at a site our driver went back and retrieved them for us. We never waited in a line for any attraction. Our van was never far away at the end of our site seeing day. At the airport on the way home we had 4 men for our 12 person party escort us through every aspect of the airport. Never have I traveled with such ease as that. It was almost effortless. People ask me if I would go back and the answer is absolutely yes! It really was the best experience ever. They made it seem easy. Thank you! And we miss Bena!!!! Amy Lipton New York, NY

January 11, 2015

My extended family of 11 people ranging in age from my early-seventies parents to 5 kids ranging in age from 8 to 18 had the most amazing trip in Israel with Joe Yudin’s Touring Israel company. The service in planning and arranging the trip were amazing – working with me on the itinerary, meals, hotels, and expediting services at the airport in Israel. And our guide, Tamar Loyfer was amazing! Everyone says they had the best guide, and so many are great, but Tamar was inspiring, knowledgeable, fun, and had the right blend of toughness and flexibility to make the trip work for all the people on it, from my not so thrilled to sight-see mother, to my teenage kids, to my 8 year old nephew. Just fantastic! I can’t recommend Tamar and Touring Israel enough Jon May New York, NY

January 8, 2015

Touring Israel pulled it off! 16 people + 3 generations +12 days + laughter & fun + history & culture + LIOR = TRIP OF A LIFETIME!! Our trip to Israel was seamless. Both Touring Israel and our tourguide, Lior, were very professional and made everything possible. They created an incredible itinerary for us that made all 3 generations happy. Our days were filled with a perfect balance of history, culture, current events, religion, interactive activities and mitzvahs. Icing on the cake was our tour guide, LIOR. We can’t say enough about him, he became family!! Lior was hilarious and always found laughter, calm & never flustered, and easy going yet well organized. He was attentive to every detail, adapted easily to change and made appropriate daily alterations. And Lior was undeniably knowledgable! As per our kids, “He never stuttered once…he knew the answer to every question!” At the end our trip, we were all so sad to leave and felt as though we were leaving a new family member behind. Lior is a true GEM!! Book Touring Israel & Lior and you will not be disappointed!! Jennifer & Ian Goodman

January 5, 2015

  We had very high expectations for our first visit to Israel with our 3 college age kids. Joe and Maria in the office worked very patiently with us on all of our requests and suggestions for our itinerary, every suggestion they made was perfect. Our guide Amir was incredibly knowledgeable, friendly and sensitive to all our varying interests and perspectives. And as much as we planned in advance the touring Israel team was flexible and amicable in making adjustments on the fly. With a mix each day of recreation (repelling, ATV, zip line, Segway, anti terrorist training) and education sight seeing (all the obvious and not so obvious sights) we truly had the perfect trip. We would 100% recommend Joe/Maria/Touring Israel and our new friend Amir! Steven Kleinberg Great Neck, NY

December 19, 2014

Joe Yudin and the team of Touring Israel provided us with what can only be called a life changing experience during our ten day vacation to Israel. The professionalism, knowledge, care, and concern of the Touring Israel team, especially Daphne Bondy, our driver/guide, allowed us to experience Israel from a historical, religious, and political perspective all while feeling safe, comfortable, and pampered. Being veteran travelers over the past 30+ years, we both agree that the experience with Touring Israel was THE BEST experience we have had to date. Strongly recommend anyone interested in visiting Israel to consider using the Touring Israel team for a truly life changing experience. Marion Harbison, Chattanooga, TN

December 2, 2014

We knew our first trip to Israel would be unforgettable, but our actual experience still far exceeded our expectations thanks to our amazing guide, Gil. We were blown away by his breadth and depth of knowledge – and his personal stories about Israel, which brought the land and sites to life for us. We went to Israel with the goal of seeing the Christian sites but came away with so much more. In fact, our most memorable parts from the trip came from experiences we would never have thought of on our own – seeing the newborn calves on the kibbutz and hearing about the courage of the pioneers at Degania, finding pottery that had lain buried for the last two millennia on an archaeological dig, and looking out over Old City rooftops from the Tomb of David. All of these suggestions from Gil set our trip far apart from the cookie cutter approach of packaged tours. I should note that we went to Israel at a time when American media were reporting heavily about incidents of unrest in Cana and Jerusalem. Yet not once did we ever feel threatened or unsafe. Gil kept us abreast of situations as they happened and helped adapt our itinerary accordingly. We never saw or felt signs of tension and are so thankful that we proceeded with our trip. Also worth noting is the value that Touring Israel provides. We are probably younger and in a lower tax bracket than most of Touring Israel’s clients – the cost of this trip was not insignificant to us, but it was worth it. The peace of mind we had while traveling was worth every penny. The expert itinerary planning, wonderful hotel suggestions from Maria and overall professionalism of the team were all added bonuses! Since we returned to the States our friends have been asking about how Israel was for us. We tell them that it was incredible – but that we owe this in large part to Gil. I cannot stress enough how much our guide made this trip. Israel has so much more to offer than we could have imagined. We would love to go back and experience more of the history, culture and beauty, and will certainly choose Touring Israel when we do! Shau Ru Lin San Francisco, CA

November 22, 2014

My wife and 2 other couples just completed 10 days with Joe Yudin guiding us in Israel. Joe happens to own the company, and is originally from New Jersey, though he has been living in Israel for more than 20 years. Let me break this review down into 3 parts: preparation, touring quality, and ancillary planning. Preparation- Touring Israel spends a lot of time working with the group, planning the tour and wanting to get it right. The only glitch we had in this whole process was a person in planning who was not very responsive. That person no longer works for them, and after that glitch all went extremely smoothly. Joe and I even spoke by phone to make sure that all was planned well. Touring- Joe knows his stuff. I lived in Israel (the only one of our group who has spent any amount of time there and speaks Hebrew), and while I know some about limited parts, Joe knows it all. He was particularly good at giving time lines, then repeating them during the tour over and over until it stuck, so by the end we were able to follow the local history with regards to Canaanites, Israelites, Judeans, Macabees, Romans, Assyrians, Mamluks, etc. Joe drove, and we had our own van, which was really comfortable. One of the best things was the flexibility- if the weather was bad, or we were tired, or just wanted to mix things up a bit, Joe went with the flow and adapted to our needs. Ancillary- I can’t say enough how little things raised touring from good to very special. Many examples: the VIP treatment at the airport enabled us to skip long lines and get through quickly (make sure you opt for it!); reservations at attractions, parks, and tours were made in advance, and we just showed up and went in; we had a lunch cooking lesson with a Druze woman in the Galilee, which was very special indeed; Joe and his company (thanks Maria!!!) would make reservations at restaurants that were at times last minute and fluid, all without a fuss. These were just a few of the ancillary and details that make a trip very special. We had different dietary needs, some mobility issues, and all of these were considered and attended to. Who knew that it is easy to get gluten free meals in Israel! In the end even I, the one who had lived in Israel for 2 years and wondered why we needed a guide for our trip, was extremely happy that we decided to use Touring Israel. I learned so much about a place that I thought I knew, which speaks to the quality of the guide. In addition, all of our friends considered this one of the best trips we had been on. Jonathan Siegel San Diego, CA