Reprinted with permission from Travel and Events in Israel
A private tour has many advantages over an organized tour. First and foremost, you get to plan exactly the itinerary as you want, instead of having to stick to an existing itinerary that may include places not of interest to you. Second, you get to tour at your own pace. Organized tours are pre-planned right down to when and where you eat. In a private tour you also have the advantage of touring on your own, instead of with complete strangers
However, people who want to stay in specific places often find that planning tours to the sites they want to visit can be quite cost prohibitive. A little advance planning and awareness of a little known trick of the trade can help make your private tour more affordable and enjoyable
Most tourists, coming from countries much larger than Israel, seem to take the approach that since Israel is such a small country; you can easily get from one place to the next. This may be true, especially for those used to driving long distances, but what most people don't know is that the standard industry rate (for a guide plus car) is based on 200 kilometers a day (regardless of the actual rate, which may vary between $300-$450 a day).
Time and again we find that people who first decide which hotels to stay at and only later try to work the tours, around the hotels. Decide what is more important to you, what you want to see or where you want your accommodations to be. Perhaps you will be visiting relatives or friends, or plan on spending time at your favorite hotel. If that is the case, consider doing day trips in the area.
If you plan tours that are not in the area, you will find yourself saddled with over mileage charges which can significantly increase the price of your tour.As an example, let's say your accommodations are in Jerusalem, but you want to visit the Galilee and the Golan Heights. By the time you get from Jerusalem to the Galilee or Golan, you will have used up your allotted kilometers; after 200 kilometers, over mileage charges kick-in, at a whopping $1 per kilometer. That means that you could end up paying an additional $200-$300 for over mileage charges. Not only does this not make sense, there is a second reason not to plan such trips.
When you run into over mileage you're wasting a lot of time getting to and from the places you want to see. If we take a look at the Jerusalem case once again, getting to the Galilee or Golan Heights means that you would be spending between 2 ½ -3 hours in each direction, on the road. This is precious time, which detracts from the amount of time you actually have to sightsee.
Our suggestion is clear, if you want to see some of Israel's outlying areas, plan on staying at more than one hotel. In the north, Tiberias is strategically located, another option is Safed.
To summarize, if where you want to be is the most important thing to you, explore options for tours in the area - there may be many things which you have not yet seen. If on the other hand you would like a multi-day custom tour, plan the tour first and decide on the hotels once the itinerary for the tour has been finalized.
