Now, I love Israel and will be back there like a shot when I can afford it, but there is something about Eilat that is so ordinary after the rest of the country which I found quite unnerving.
I spent 10 days in Israel with my girlfriend and her friend in 1999 and it was the best holiday of my life. I loved how multicultural the country was and it had an edge of danger which I enjoyed. We travelled around Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and then down to Bethsheda (where we stayed on a Kibbutz) and the friend then decided that we had to go to Eilat as she had heard you can swim with dolphins there. She was right, you can and that was a great (although fairly expensive) experience. We also went on a superb camel trek through the mountains with the border of Egypt.
Ok, so it sounds good so far, and in those respects, it was. The trouble with Eilat for me, is that it is like any other Mediterranean town and that is not what I want from Israel, I want spice and things I have never seen before. Eilat is like a sunny Blackpool with a nice beach.
If I was a going to Israel with a family, then Eilat is probably where I would go. It has some beautiful beaches further round the coast and the sea is gorgeous, but it is cut-off from the rest of Israel by a desert which takes about 4 hours to cross by coach. There would be pleanty to do on a beach holiday, but not if you like sight-seeing, unless you are prepared to travel for a long time.
Tip: If you get there on a Thursday you will have problems leaving until Saturday (because of Sabbath) and this can be very frustrating when you know the rest of the country is so full of things to do and see.
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Sightseeing
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