Customer Reviews

Frommer's Israel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I could not disagree more with the two previous reviews. I travelled to Israel in October-November 2006 for my eighth visit, just before this book came out (unfortunately). The Fodor's guide was woefully inadequate when it comes to restaurant and hotel recommendations. I want more than "two per city" -- I want a range of choices, and Frommer's gives me that. "Let's Go" isn't bad, but it is decidedly aimed at the backpacking and very-low-budget set. That is an important group, and I'm glad there is a good guide for them, but a range of guides exists to serve different groups with different budgets, needs, and interests.

Things change rapidly in Israel, and it may be that some of the information is not current. But I know the country well, and I find most of Robert Ullian's information dead-on and accurate. In my view, the Frommer's guide is hands-down the best and most comprehensive one available today.

Unfortunately, the only guidebooks that have been published for Israel in the past three years are Frommer's and Fodor's. I went with Frommer's, and soon after my arrival in Israel, traded it for the three-year-old Let's Go. The first problem is the lack of quality maps -- outside of the most major sights, this book's maps are amazingly not at all useful. Next is the priorities chosen by the author: with so many pages devoted to where to dine, it is no wonder that there are no maps. Get a falafel on the street and really experience Israel. If you want a nice restaurant, one or two per town will suffice.
Finally, although Frommer's advertises this as a guide for all budgets, the book contains almost no real budget accommodations.
The Let's Go, on the other hand, despite being three years old, has broad coverage, very useful and relevant maps, good suggestions for dining where Israelis go, and (of course) budget accomodations. I have been here two weeks and have yet to find information that is out of date.
It's a tough call because obviously Frommer's is more current, and if you are not a budget traveler, has more useful accomodation information for you. But I would check out Fodor's and if that doesn't look good, go with Let's Go and write them an email encouraging them to update their edition.
By the way, it is totally safe and comfortable to travel in Israel right now. Everyone should experience this amazing country.

Frommer's Israel was useful to have in hand. Background history and
archeological sites were well-explained, and there are lots of human
interest boxes that added to our understanding of ancient sites as
wells as major cities. In practical terms, we liked a handy 2 page
spread filled with excellent street food and cheap meal suggestions
for Jerusalem's busy downtown district, where wall to wall eateries
can be a confusing maze ( In some cases choices were no-name holes in
the wall). The book also clued us in to terrific "business lunch"
deals (til 5 or 6pm) at wonderful restaurants. The Frommer's people
clearly love the place and packed the book with a wide range of
suggestions for all kinds of travelers and their interests, including
young kids.

Another Amazon reviewer thought Israel's great Aroma coffee
shops weren't mentioned. But actually, we found Aroma among the tons
of cafes and eateries in the center of Jerusalem because Frommer's
praised it in a special box on Best Coffee Places (two downtown
branches for Aroma in Jerusalem, as well as a number of other great
local coffee cafes are on page 139). Initially, we wondered why
Frommer's listed no Starbucks -- it's almost un-American to omit
them, but apparently, they don't exist in Israel. One minus: Map
bullets showing some restaurant locations were not clear for the tiny
maze of downtown Jerusalem streets, but in the end, we found what we
were looking for.

My wife and I spent three nights at the Notre Dame Guest House in Jerusalem last fall. Notre Dame was especially recommended by the author of Frommer's Israel, who was very generous with his time and suggestions when we contacted him for advice. Contrary to the reviewer from Washington State we enjoyed our stay. The personnel was courteous and helpful, the food was good (including the espresso coffee), the surroundings and our room were nice, the price was reasonable, and we saw or heard nothing to make us feel unsafe at any time.
As to another reviewer's complaint that "no mention is given for coffee lovers of the great Israeli chain CAFÉ AROMA", this café is nicely described in page 139 of the book.
Not having read most of the book (away from Jerusalem we stayed with and were shown around by Israeli relatives) I hesitate to give it a five star rating. But what I read was helpful,

This is probably the worst tour book I have ever had the misfortune of traveling with. It was published in 2006, but has obviously not been updated in years, many of the places they recomend are no longer there. On page 268 they recomend Hamashbir Lazarchan on Allenby Street, went out of our way to go there to get a better pillow for my sister, and it wasn't there and when we asked our concierge he told us it hadn't been on Allenby for ten years it was in Dizengoff Square (which was a couple blocks from our Hotel the Cinema Hotel-a great place). The Book recomends a shop off of Dizengoff called Dervish (p 268)supposedly they carried museum quality items, but now it is overrun with cats and poor quality imports. It was a huge waste of time to read and take Frommer's recomendations. They also recomend the Notre Dame Guest house in Jerusalem, they have obviously not been there to feel safe sleeping we had to pull the dresser in front of the door. I have stayed at safer feeling $20 a night hotels. I wouldn't waste my money on this book, we got a locally published guide once we got to Israel, do some internet research and buy a locally written guide when you get there, it's better than being stuck in a foreign country without current information or maps to get around.

expeditiously received. did not find it incredibly easy to use to make an itinerary as my trip was very loosely constructed around needing to be in certain places at certain times. However, was great once in Israel to help narrow down decisions on where to go, and how to get there. The maps are surprisingly thorough. Was disappointed that Frommer's ignored some of Israels most important sites linked to Jewish heritage, most likely for political reasons (i.e. Yad Vashem, Israels national Holocaust Memorial)

I was surprised that Frommer's came out with a new edition so soon and debated about whether I should buy this new edition or not - wish I'd have saved the money and stuck with my well-used 2006 edition. I've been living in Israel for 2 years and have found the Frommer's guide to be very useful, especially for hotel and restaurant recommendations. But be warned, much of this book has not been updated. For instance, the guide notes that the beaches in Herzliya are expensive, charging 20 NIS for entry. There hasn't been a charge since I've been here and I understand it's been at least 3 years since there has been a charge. However, it is one of the few guides that includes Herzliya and I'd second the recommendations to dine at Terassa and Erez. Also, I just tried to visit the Tomb of the Kings in Jerusalem - according to the guide, it's open, but upon finding the site, it doesn't look like it's been open for years. Also tried to find the Nekker Glass Company - no shop at the address given. Info about the Israel Museum is current - most of the museum is under renovation and therefore is closed. You can still visit the Shrine of the Book to see some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Otherwise, I'd advise calling ahead to make sure that hotels/restaurants/shops still exist.

I work in a Jewish bookstore and also have traveled to Israel at least once a year since 2002 and less often before that. So last year I was happy to see that Fodor and Frommer had published new books on Israel. I bought the Frommer's book this summer as it seemed to have more details, but when I started to read it on the plane, I saw that much of the information was out-of-date. I totally agree with the other Washington State reviewer, Autumn Sheridan. For example, no mention is given for coffee lovers of the great Israeli chain CAFE AROMA, but Starbucks in mentioned although it closed down years ago. The information on car rentals is also out-of-date, especially the prices. The book says to be sure to rent a car with airconditioning, but it has been many many years since one could rent a car without it. This book may be OK for one who has never been to Israel and/or is coming on a group tour, but the authors really should have been more professional about the updating of the information.

I have used Frommers in the past, and overall I have thought the information was useful. However, this time I took a trip (to Israel for a week) that was put together by a company, so my hotels/restaurants, etc were already taken care of. Thus, the nitty-gritty info that Frommers provided was not needed. In addition, the book just wasn't fun to read. I so much more enjoyed Fodor's Exploring Israel, as it contained fun information and it was exciting to discover in graphics that were pleasing to the eye. Unless you're booking your own hotels and the like, I'd probably stay away from Frommers.

I used this guide on a week's trip to Israel. The book was OK and I used it for a walking tour and finding restaurants in Jerusalem. I also used it in Tel Aviv for areas of interest.
I usually use the Rick Steves books in Europe and this guide does not give the same sense of enthusiasm and love for the place.
This is good guide but not great.