So I’m asking you now, when do you want to visit Israel?
This is the first question I ask myself when I’m trying to plan a trip to a different country. WHEN do I want to visit.
I know when I CAN visit, when I’m free to travel, and then I do my best to line that up with the experience I want to get when visiting.
There are a lot of influencing factors that determine when you’ll be able to travel. Some of the major ones include:
- The amount of vacation time you have
- Whether or not you have kids
- And if you do have kids, when they’re out of school is crucial
- If you’re going to visit friends/family, their schedules are just as important as your own
- How much you have saved up for this trip
And this is just a few of them.
So a lot of the time when you travel is dictated to you, and not a choice you make.
Each season and time period has its own unique advantages and disadvantages for travel.
Here we’ll look at these factors specifically for Israel.
Break-Down of Tourist Season in Israel
The main boom of tourism is during the summer, when schools are out for summer vacation.
Here in Israel – this is the busiest time of the year. Things start picking up around Easter (mid-April) and start dropping back down again towards mid-August/September.
Back to school generally coincides with the Jewish Holidays, which are usually somewhere in the September-October months. The holidays are based on a lunar calendar, and not a solar calendar like the one we’re used to using, so they seemingly shift dates every year. During this time, there is a lot of travel going on, since Israeli schools are on vacation, but incoming tourism is slightly lower. On the other hand, most Israelis are traveling during this time. Some travel abroad, and some travel within Israel. So you might not see as many tourists from foreign countries, but you’re bound to run into plenty of Israelis taking in what this country as to offer.
In November through mid-December there’s a slight lull in tourism. It’s after the Jewish Holidays yet before Christmas.
Mid-December through the beginning of January, aka winter break, is another huge peak of tourism here in Israel. With everyone being off of school, and it coinciding with Christmas and sometimes Chanukah, it seems like EVERYONE wants to be in Israel during this 2-3 week time span.
And finally, a break. January through March is relatively calm. No holidays, everyone is at work, kids are all in school, so less people are traveling during these few months.
Delving Deeper
Now that we have a general breakdown as to when people generally travel here in Israel, lets take a look at the breakdown by season.
Conclusions
Based on tourism patterns of previous years, the BEST times to visit Israel are:
January
February
the first half of March
November
the first half of December
or whenever your schedule allows you to make it over!
Hopefully this has been a helpful breakdown of what’s going on in Israel throughout the year.
Was this useful to you? Let me know in the comments!