The Good and Bad of Israel with a kids

Trying to decide where and why to travel to a destination has gotten much trickier since having our tiny human in tow; just because there are so many variables to take into account now that we travel with Milo that we had never considered before. Israel is full of history, food, and wonder plus it is a cooler getaway from the heat of Bahrain. Israel can be a great place to visit for a family living in either the middle east or Europe because of the accessible flights (only 1.5 hours from Bahrain!) but an accessible great place doesn’t come without challenges. Here are a few pros and cons I have jotted down about Israel (both visiting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) that I hope guide us, if we ever have the chance to visit again.

Good:

Playgrounds galore. There were probably some of the most playgrounds per mile on our visit to Tel Aviv.
Beautiful beaches with restaurants and play areas embedded.
The food is INCREDIBLE. Food in Israel is some of my favorite and Milo absolutely adored the pomegranate seed cups we could get so easily.
Profound history.

Bad:

Transporting ourselves around all of Israel was HARD. Taxi drivers seemed to be put off by having to drive a small child and cabs could be extremely pricey. Trains were challenging to get to and for me, I did not like seeing so many people armed on the trains sitting right beside our very mobile 2 year old.
Very Crowded: This was scary for us while still being mindful of COVID-19.
EXPENSIVE. The cost of food and transportation in Israel is through the roof. Our sandwich lunches often equated to almost $100 which makes it challenging to but food with a finnicky eater in tow.
Eateries are typically not safe environments for small children as tables are outside and go right up to busy roads. It was so challenging to find any breakfast location with a safe space for Milo to eat and bathroom (which as a mom I feel like we always need access to).
Less friendly towards children compared to other areas with this region. (This was only our experience and may not be common for all)

Overall trip description: A history/foodie human’s dream (with older children)