Our Israel Layover

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in a couple of days with our toddler…

We visited Israel (and stayed in Tel Aviv) on a long layover en route to Crete and we were struck by some of the best food we had ever tasted, the incredible history of Jerusalem, the pricey cost of things, less than friendly taxi drivers, and the vibrant beaches of Tel Aviv. For us, Israel was equal parts incredible and challenging when traveling with a tiny human. But after our trip, we would still DEFINITELY want to return.

Favorite aspects of Tel Aviv, Israel:

1. Accessible playgrounds, everywhere. I say this because most playgrounds we visited had at least part of the playground adapted so that any child could visit and easily enjoy, including children with special needs. Plus, as a Speech Pathologist, my favorite area of the field is working with kids who communicate through augmentative/alternative means because verbal communication is limited. So, when I saw a Tobii Dynavox communication board embedded on a playground we visited (so that kids who are nonverbal may have an easier time communicating on the playground), I was impressed!
2. Hummus. This was easily the best hummus we have ever tasted.
3. Beach restaurants. In Tel Aviv, we could sit with our toes in the sand watching Milo frolic about the beach while we ordered dinner. This low-key restaurant experience made life so easy. Milo drove his cars up all the beach chairs while we ate. It was perfect!
4. Cool Airbnb setup. Where we stayed in Israel wasn’t fancy by any means but did have an awesome design. We stayed in a one-bedroom Airbnb apartment with a loft in the center of Carmel Market, so even though it was one bedroom Milo had his own sleeping space. Plus…Favorite part… there was a courtyard attached. This made it easy to have an outdoor place for Milo to play in a big bustling city. Our neighbors even gave us a barrel (like huge barrel) of toys for him to play with)!
5. Fruit stands everywhere. Pomegranates, dates, grapes….all of this was fresh, delicious, and at our fingertips, as Carmel market was always loaded with the freshest fruit stands. We each loaded up on all of these fruits everytime we passed through.

Favorite parts of Jerusalem:

Jerusalem is about a one hour train ride from Tel Aviv plus a taxi to and from train stations. The train ride was awesome and we all liked looking at the hill filled countryside but the taxi portions were tough with traffic and other complications. I would say, this was worth the day trip for us but it may also be worth it to split the stay if traveling for longer.

1. The second you walk into the old city, you feel surrounded by history. I didn’t expect to feel this so deeply but walking around the old city feels like we were transported to the past.
2. Fountains outside of the old city. We spent hours here! One thing is that Israel gets HOT in the summertime so although this climate was more mild than Bahrain we needed a shady spot for our Adam and all the water for our little one to cool off from the midday sun.
3. Church of the Holy Sepulcher: This Church was built in AD 330, to commemorate the hill of crucifixion and the tomb of Christ’s burial in one church location. Visiting this church was something we really wanted to do but were worried about how our boy would handle the somber nature of the site. Our buddy did amazingly and seemed to be actually absorbing the importance of the church. We saw layers of history and celebration here- it blew us away.

Milo’s favorites of Israel:

1. Fountains in Jerusalem
2. The Surplus of playgrounds in Tel Aviv
3. The toy barrel our Airbnb neighbors had given us to play with amidst our stay.

Challenges of Israel (for us)

1. Transportation options were challenging! Taxis cost an incredible amount and typically were not very welcoming of us having a small child. Milo spilled pomegranate seeds on one of our Taxi rides and whew let’s just say the driver was not pleased. Tel Aviv specifically, was not very walkable or stroller friendly for us, plus the city is long and thin with a bunch of what we wanted to do spread out just beyond comfortable walking distance for us in the summer heat.
2. Expensive. Compared to other places we have traveled to, Israel’s cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were the most expensive cities we have visited. We paid about $75 for 2 shawarma platters and a water bottle for lunch in Jerusalem and about $40 for 2 spinach pie pastries for lunch in Tel Aviv both at low-key cafes. I will say the food was delicious but this was a bit overwhelming for me at first! The cost of things is an issue discussed locally as well and places like Cofix try to combat the high price growth by having a fixed price cafe. Check Cofix out here: https://cofix.global/en-global//
3. Toddler-friendly breakfast spots are hard to come by. We were so excited to visit some of Tel Aviv’s amazing cafes that we had read about, but what we realized is that these incredible cafes were tiny and seating was typically only nestled on sidewalks right beside extremely busy roads. With an ever wandering little being these cafes became more of an exercise of block the baby from the road than anything else.

When we bustled around and met different people along the way, we quickly realized that visiting Israel for a few days is unheard of because there is so much history, food, and beauty to experience. When we reflect on our quick layover adventure to Israel we got a snapshot of the wonders that make up Israel and enjoyed it all despite the challenges. But, we definitely want to return to this place when Milo is older and we can stay longer.