Egged Review

Amir was super helpful arranging a multi-day private tour for me and my son. Uri Golani was our guide for our time in Jerusalem, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, baptism in the Jordan river, and the dead sea. He was knowledgeable, flexible with how we spent our time, and genuinely fun to be with. I would ask for Uri through Egged tours or find him personally to be your guide. I am a VERY satisfied customer of both Egged tours and Uri our guide.

On the 3rd day of our trip we went to Bethlehem and Jericho, for tis day our guide was Rajae Mukahal and he was AWESOME. He knew special roads, uncrowded views , and local restaurants that were delicious and inexpensive. Even thought this crossed into Palastien we never felt unsafe or out of place, Rajae and his knowledge absolutely made our day!

A mix of the worst and best tours that I've ever had depending on who actually does the tour. They seem to be more of a booking company and then group all the tours into larger groups. The only tour that was actually worth the money I spent was the Masada & Dead sea tour. I also recommend that you do the Jerusalem tour, and not the Bethlehem tour. They spent more time in the shops and stores than we did actually exploring Bethlehem! Complete waste of money. We also did the 3-day Jordan/Petra trip and only visited half the sites on the itinerary. We actually had people on the bus crying because of how bad the tour and the service was. Their exact words every time we had a problem was "Not my problem". They didn't care since we already paid anyway.

We traveled with them a year ago to India and we really enjoyed it. The trip was well organized, good hotels and professional guidance. Recommend

I had two experiences, the first excellent on a trip to China. Everything very well, they complied with everything offered and more, the madrij extremely attentive to all our concerns.
The second time a disaster, we wanted to travel to Thailand, we hired the tour and we thought that everything was planned. But when we called a few days after starting the adventure to find out more details and what vaccines we needed, they tell us that it was canceled. Without notice or anything. We had to rush to find another agency so as not to lose our vacation days.

Booked a tour with them to the Dead Sea and it was very nice. They work with Bein Harim, which seems to be the largest tour provider in Israel. The booking system on their site is a bit confusing as it allows you to select and pay for a tour for the next day even it is late in the evening. I made a booking at about 9pm for the next day- it tells you on the site you can book for the next day until around 9pm-and for a few hours I was in limbo as the booking was not confirmed and the payment was taken. The next day early in the morning they informed me that the itinerary for the Dead Sea had to be modified as the Masada was closed- this info was not on their site- but we still decided to go on the same tour, just on another day. The next morning I also changed emails with someone from there, (Amir)who was very prompt in replying. To save you the hassle I would suggest booking two days in advance of your desired date. When they do send you the booking confirmation, it is very complete, so I was happy with that.

AMAZING, FUN and BREATHTAKing.... best thing we did in Israel! We booked the Masada and Red Sea tour in October 2017 for our family (2 adults and 7&9 y.o). It was nothing short of spectacular ! At first I was very nervous as I read bad reviews about this company but we had a very different experience. Yes, the tour is operated by BeinHarim (not egged) but they were wonderful. The tour/pick up spot (our hotel) was confirmed by email within 24 hours of booking (check the junk mail), we were told to be at the pick up at 7.15am, we barely waited 10 minutes and we were picked up. They take you to a central spot ( a huge park) where everyone gets split into the various tour buses. We had a very nice air conditioned bus (60 people), other smaller tours had the 20 people air conditioned vans. We then left for Jerusalem. They picked up a few more people but you barely noticed it as they were all in the one car park spot at Mt Scopus. We stopped briefly at an Elvis cafe for a very short toilet break ( it was unnecessary). Bring a drink and a sandwich and use it as your breakfast/toilet stop as it's expensive. The excellent explanations by the guide from Tel Aviv up to Jerusalem made the trip seem short and I learnt things about Israel that I never knew despite reading up on the place. We then descended through the Judaea dessert. We saw Bedouin camps, stopped at the lowest point on earth to take photos. You could also ride a camel for 20nis (the kids highlight), see the famous caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found (from a distance), sea oasis, local fauna (onix), date plantations and local moshavs (farms). I took some amazing photos. We made a short (30minute) stop at Hahava to see the Dead Sea cosmetic manufacturing plant and shop. Again it did not bother us as we used it for a toilet stop and stretch our legs, we saw the amazing apple of Sodom trees/fruit, the cosmetic manufacturing area (through glass), nice salt pillars (at shop entrance) and to take photos of the Dead Sea. There was absolutely no pressure to buy anything but those who did supported the local community living in the dessert so it's ok. Then we continued to Masada again through breathtaking views of the dessert and Dead Sea (30 minute drive) . We ascended via a cable car to the top and spent 1.5 hours there being guided through the various fort rooms. There was ample time to take photos and self explore. The Guide's (Liat) explianations were fantastic. We then had a short 40 minute drive to the Dead Sea. There you had 2.5 hours to do as you please. We chose to have lunch for half an hour. A huge plate of meat, rice and salads were 46nis and a huge/heaped plate of salad was 26nis, which was not expensive as it was super tasty. We spent 2 hours covering ourselves with mud/floating in the Dead Sea. It was enough time for us. It's a bit tiring to float too long as the water is a bit wavey and if you put your head right down you can get water in your eyes which is excruciating. There are plenty of outdoor showers like the ones you find at Tel Aviv beach to rinse off. The only down point was the formal shower area at the enterance which was totally overcrowded and gross (not clean) because of the shear number of people using it. We boarded the bus at 4.40pm for Jerusalem (40 minute trip back) where I had time to take photos from the other side of the road (I sat on the right hand side there/back). Most people were exhausted and napped. The coach had personal iPhone chargers so your device never went flat and also internet (a bit patchy at times) but I was too engrossed in capturing the amazing views outside the bus it didn't bother me. We drooped people off in Jerusalem by 5.30pm and got to Tel Aviv by 630pm. Drop offs took a while but they were super organised. The trip was broken up into short drives through the day so it's didn't feel like you were sitting too long on the bus. The bus driver (Itsik) was also great and he and the guide complemented each other. I was really pleased to support an Israeli tour company and would book again with them.

We made a lovely tour with most professional guide who gave us deep knowledge about everything which was interesting. Kept his time table and was super nice

Our tour guide Ofer was fantastic. The only inconvenience was that once we got on the bus we were taken to a place where we had to switch buses. This wouldn't have been a problem but it would have been nice if it was explained at the beginning.

Petra day tour- we hired the service online and a confirmation email arrived. We were raised with a combi at 4am from the door of a hotel, the driver stopped twice on the way to go to the bathroom and buy something to eat / eat, he took us from Jerusalem to Eilat, the border with Jordan, there was waiting for us a guide that helped us with the exit process from Israel, he is paid 65usd x customs fees (it is a process that he advances to avoid wasting time there) once you finish the exit from Israel you have to walk about 100 meters to customs Jordanian, the entry procedures are a little more disorganized, but it does not take long, you also have to pay 60usd of customs fees, once the process was finished on departure there was another combi waiting for us. The guide was very nice all the way, it was a small bus, and it takes a long time to get to Petra, there was a stop to leave people who were doing another tour, and the rest of us continued on our way to Petra. We had only one stop to go to the bathroom and shop. The view of the place is beautiful at that stop. It took us an hour and a half or more to get to Petra, while the guide told us and told us all the way. Once in Petra he took care of the tickets and we walked to the "amphitheater" the tour continues but the hours for the day tour are not given. After the tour with explanations you are given an hour free, but if you are tired it is the time it takes to get back to the entrance. We left Petra at 15:45, and from there they took us to lunch, the place was fine, it was not the best but neither was it very ugly. We started the return approximately 5:00 p.m., there was one more stop and at 7:00 p.m. we were crossing the border back, from the Israeli side the combi was waiting for us to take us back to Jerusalem, we arrived at approximately 10:00 p.m. I recommend bringing food and plenty of water along the way. The tour was fine to be one day, and they did everything.