Footprint Israel Handbook

This guide is the ultimative way to know this country. I live in Israel and I've known places that my friends even haven't heard of, because of this guide. When you live in a country and you had already been in the major sites, this guide brings you to the interesting places near home that you passed by bus every day and you didn't know they were there. Also, the historical background is superb; I've used it even for college papers (a constant in Footprint guides). For a traveller staying only two weeks, I would choose a less comprehensive guide. But if you really want to KNOW the country, to be informed about israeli everyday behavior, and to be entertained, this is the book. A critic: I like the maps and walktroughs of the Michelin's Green Guide Series. There aren't here. But also aren't all the drawbacks of the Michelin book (sites in alphabetic order? that's lame for a real traveller). Update 2005: A Pro-Palestinian view? I revised this book time after time, and I can say that the political commentary in it is truly balanced. The critics about (the old) Yad Vashem maybe had some effect over the new museum, more effective in its message. Most of the critics to this book probably come from people at home with the ideas of the Likud Party (not Sharon, of course) or at its right. Is still the best book to visit Israel for more than two weeks (after 5 years!).

It is my opinion that the Footprint series is great! The Footprint Israel handbook gave alot of useful information, yet tried to write the book so that it wouldn't go out of date so fast. Thus, there is a lack of information on backpacking and student travel specifics. My issues with this book: 1-Monty Python's Life of Brian wasn't 'that' good. Why do they have to constantly mention it? This was irritating. 2-People who want a travel book on Israel don't want to read pro-palestine/anti-israel propoganda. This was somewhat annoying. Overall, a good read, and definately take it with you, keeping it handy, when going to Israel. Take the feeble attempts at humour with a grain of salt. Try to ignore the palestine bias in the content. Palestine is not a perpetual victim. With this in mind, enjoy this edition. It is usefull.

I found this to be a good comprehensive guide during my trip to Israel: helpful information about how to get around, good maps, a lot of historical/political background, and a very nice format. It has quite a bit of detail in it and some witty editorials. If you're looking for something more general, with less reading, the Rough Guide is also quite good.

This guide is a must if you are planning to travel on your own. It provides all the basic information about eating, housing, archeological and religious sites and geographical features. But, the real worth of this handbook is the detailed information and maps showing you how to get to specific sites. There are also small detail maps of the sites themselves. This book also has the best geopolitical background information of any guidebook I have read. Such information is critical in understanding the people and in helping the traveler to avoid trouble.