Our Vacation: Summer in Israel


exploring the shuk (market) in Jerusalem

Summer in Israel means sunshine, popsicles, beaches, shady trees, fun and most of all tourists! Despite tourist spikes in the fall and spring, summer is most definitely high season for tourism in Israel.

Between summer pilgrimage trips, Israelis visiting home during summer vacation, and Europeans checking out Israeli beaches, summer in Israel is never boring. It is also hot!

On the other hand, it is extremely baby friendly and there are so many places to see in Israel, it is easy to have a great vacation.

Here are some ideas of things to do in Israel during the summer! Read the overview, and then click through to more specific guides!

Summer in Israel

So you’ve heard about the flight, and the sleep, but what about the rest, right?

This summer we went to Israel! It was first and foremost a family and friends visit, since we hadn’t been there since our wedding, two years ago.

Here are a few glimpses of our month there, and I’ll be back with another post with some tips for anyone that might be thinking of visiting the Holy Land with a baby or toddler.


at the old port in Tel-Aviv


this is a fruit shake, and the very first time Baby Boy successfully drank out of a straw, I guess it was worth the effort!

Zichron Yaakov

The first stop on our trip was Zichron Yaakov. We had just a bit of exploration time to peruse the main street area, starting with the grassy visitor’s center.


Zichron Yaakov visitors center, walking on the grass with his new shoes

We continued our drive north up to Kfar Vradim and enjoyed the amazing view from the balcony of our hosts. Little N had his very first piano lesson and got to enjoy some mountain scenery, quite different from what he’s used to.

Jerusalem

We managed to make it to Jerusalem twice on this trip! All things considered it was quite a feat, but we managed to make the most of it and had a great time.

Our first visit was purely to spend the day with some very good friends. We walked around the Emek Refaim area, enjoyed lunch and each others’ company. Of course we had to grab some dinner from our favorite restaurant, Focaccia Bar, and Little N most certainly approved of our choice!


meeting new baby friends


devouring M’s and my favorite restaurant food (we dined there countless times while we were dating)


his first ever bath in a laundry basket; it was a very big success!

Our second trip to Jerusalem also involved lots of socializing, but we also managed to enjoy the downtown area and the Old City!

We made the day into an adventure by taking the relatively new light rail (thus avoiding having to deal with parking). Our verdict: semi success.

While the train was nice and efficient, it stopped for unreasonably long times at stop lights so the “priority” supposedly given to it, is obviously not working. It didn’t however damper our visit and Little N enjoyed lots of walking time and his first trip to the Western Wall.

Yaffo Street, looking good
making our way into the Old City


at the Western Wall


at the Tel Aviv university zoo

Final Thoughts on Israel in the Summer

If I had to sum things up, the trip involved eating (lots of new foods), walking (he mastered the skill while there), and visiting (all our activities actually revolved around visiting people, but for their privacy I’m leaving all those hundreds of pictures out).

It was an extremely busy month, but Baby Boy had an amazing time!

Planning a trip to Israel with baby? Read my guide to what you need to know! And like I said above, if you’re traveling to Israel in the summer, start planning right away!

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