Caesarea, Rosh Hanikra and Acre Day Trip from Tel Aviv

The tour guide Isaac did an excellent job. We had a van and not a bus which made things more intimate and opportunity for answers to questions

In my nearly three decades of traveling, this was the worst tour I have ever taken. It was poorly organized and the tour guide blamed the rush of the day on us. The day started with a warning that due to Shabbat one of the sites may close early, but the tour guide wasn’t sure. This is a jam packed itinerary and the itinerary should have been adjusted to accommodate early closures. This rush to make it to the site before closing for Shabbat put a negative cloud on the entire day. After our first stop in Caesarea, we were offered a 20 minute break with a warning not to have a lingering breakfast at the nearby cafe. As the tour started at 7:15 am before our hotel breakfast opened, we were hungry and we (as well as others in the tour group) decided to buy coffee and bagels to go. Unknown to us was how badly staffed and slow the cafe staff was. Several of us were getting nervous about being late, but we paid for the food and wanted to wait for it. The tour guide came and yelled at us for being late, then yelled at the cafe staff. When we got our food, I apologized and explained what happened, and was told it was both not my fault, and also is my fault, all in one lecture. We then got another lecture on the bus and was told we could not get out of the bus at the site of the aqueduct because it was our fault for being late. We were then rushed in Haifa and Rosh Hanikra, but the worst was when we were given 30 minutes to eat lunch at the restaurant in Acre. Before the wait staff could even bring our food, the tour guide yelled at us again that we had 2 minutes to eat - and told us again it was our fault - and we didn’t even have our food yet. We spent $65 for lunch and barely was able to eat but a few bites. When we got to the site that was closing early for Shabbat, it was a 10 minute walk through the tunnels in Acre. I got nothing out of it and would have preferred to skip it to have 10 more minutes to actually eat the lunch that I paid for. So after a day of being rushed and yelled at to hurry up because of a 30 minute delay in Ceasera, it was clear that we could have saved around 2 hours of time by a better executed tour. First, Bein Harim asked us to prepay entrance tickets online the night before, or at the door. We wasted so much time at 4 separate locations to handle checking in or buying tickets for a group of about 40 people. This is easily solved by charging us entrance fees through the tour price, Bein Harim purchasing in advance, then let us sail through the entrance. Second, the restaurant experience was chaotic because we ordered separately and then paid separately, which took a lot of extra time. BeinHarim could also purchase a family style lunch experience, and charge us through the tour price. I have never had such an unpleasant tour.

A wonderful trip back through history. Our guide, AVI, took great care of us all day and provided us with historical insights that were very impressive. And we had a delicious communal lunch with local delicious dishes.

I had an absolute blast on this trip! The guide kept us entertained with his humor, shared fascinating history about each place, and made sure we stayed on track with meet-up times.

This was an incredible trip. Each part could have been a complete site seeing adventure of its own. Our guide was delightful. Once I got used to his accent he was a wealth of knowledge. I have so many pictures from this trip! It's amazing.