Anyone know Israel well?

[MrsBossyPants]

We are thinking of taking a short (5 day) holiday in Israel over New Year. DH, me, two kids 15and 14. We’re all British and havent got any dodgy stamps in our passports

DH has been to TA and Jerusalem a couple of times and we know the basics about the Occupied territories, Gaza, etc.

We have to fly into Tel Aviv and wondered

• is car hire affordable and common for tourists
• is it safe to drive from TA to Eiilat
• is there plentiful inexpensive accommodation in Eilat
• anything we should be aware of?

Thanks in advance

Car hire is possible but they drive like nutters so beware! It's safe (apart from the crazy drivers) to drive down to Eilat. It's fairly high season in Eilat so not sure if you will get decent price accommodation.

It's actually a nice time to be in Israel. There can be rain in TA but overall it's jeans, tshirt and a jacket weather and it's generally warm enough to sit outside to eat during the day. It'll be much warmer as you work your way down south and should be beach weather in Eilat.

Tel Aviv is such a brilliant city. Treat it as a City break and take in the Tel Aviv museum, wander round Jaffa, explore Neve Tzadek which is the oldest neighbourhood in TA, very cool, fantastic restaurants and craft shops. The renovated old railway station is also great for galleries and food. The old port of TA has an incredible restaurant called Kitchen Market, in Jaffa port eat at The Old Man and the Sea, Carmel Market is everyday apart from Saturday and on Tuesday no Friday there's a wonderful adjacent craft market. There is the equivalent of Boris bikes so use them to bike from Jaffa all the way across the front. TA is the most fabulous city, thriving foods and art scene and the coolest people plus Arabs and Jews living side by side enjoying the city together

Thank you both, that’s really helpful
We’ve driven in Morocco in a hire car with a leaking radiator and no headlights and men jumping out in front of us selling rocks...so Israel sounds a bit more civilised! That oasis sounds lovely and Im already excited about the sights around TA and Jaffa.