Advantages: Hot weather, water sports, and great hotels.
Disadvantages: All entertainment costs money!

...Eilat, is the glamourous holiday resort in Israel, situated next to the the desert, (similar to Las Vegas in that way)It is also next to the sea. Being Jewish, and with half my family living in Israel, I go to Jerusalem a lot, but i much prefer Eilat. Israel has a reputation, for having many orthodox jews and synagogues all over the place, but Eilat is quite the opposite. It attracts 90 thousand tourists a year, but not all are Jewish. This is for many reasons. A key factor of Eilats popularity, is that even in winter, the temperature rarely drops below 25 degrees, and is almost always sunny. In the summer, the temp, rarely drops below 35 degrees! Secondly, there are many hotels, all incredibly fancy, reasuringly expensive, and luxurious, ranging from 3 to 5 stars. There has been a lot of competetion to make the best hotels in Eilat... Read review

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Advantages: sea, sun and more if affinities
Disadvantages: lack of culture

...I have lived in Israel for almost 3 years now and I plan to deliver my opinion each site which I visited. Eilat...priviledged destination of the fortunate French, the rich Americans... and the young people without a penny who will camp in a field. Around Eilat, it is the desert, a choking and splendid desert. From Eilat one can leave to go to Jordan and to visit this splendid site called Petra, and which is currently deserted by the tourists due to unfavourable geopolitical and economic situation. Now, Eilat itself. A few decades ago, Eilat was simply nothing; and from the desert and the sea was born this seaside resort without heart, whose main interest is that one does not fear there (or little) the dangers which make you tremble in Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem... In Eilat, you will feel hot, you will bathe, you will eat in good... Read review

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Advantages: see article
Disadvantages: see article

...Its many years since I’ve been to Eilat but I still have very fond memories of the modern Israel. I backpacked around Egypt and Israel and Eilat was my last port of call. As with all backpackers after three months of travelling I was broke, Eilat was a good place to find casual work. The thing that I loved about Eilat, which kept me there for quite some time, was the diving. I did my diving licence in the Red Sea, which was out of this world, its like diving in an aquarium. There I saw Rays, turtles and all shapes and sizes of aquatic life. Some of the fish come up to you for feeding and you can always tickle the clown fish when they try and suck your fingers. Within a matter of a week I was doing 40-meter dives and night dives that again is quite different as you see different fish in the evening. I stayed in a hostel called... Read review

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Advantages: Warm, Differant, Lots to do...
Disadvantages: Too much to do in a week

...My daughter has lived in Eilat for many years, and I myself finally went out there last year, not sure what to expect. But I was pleasantly suprised... Eilat is a busy and young city, with so much to do in the day as well as the night. There are so differant types of hotels, from 5* deluxe to the clean 2 stars, from self catering to HB. From hotels that cater for children or hotels that dont allow children at all. Whatever you are looking for there is a hotel to suit you. Eilat has the northern beaches that most of the 5* hotels reside near. The beaches are clean, with lots of water sports on offer. But if you are into snorkling, you wont find it here. There is also a marina, with daily boat trips going to the border with Egypt (Taba). A trip of about 4 hours, or a longer cruise can be offer by going into Egypt and sailing to Coral... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent diving and cheap CDs
Disadvantages: Eating out in restaurants is pretty expensive

...I had always imagined Israel to be a bit like the North African countries that I'd visited so I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived in Eilat. It is a very modern resort but it also has lots of little market stalls down by the beach promenade which gives a kind of seventies, hippy feel to it. It tends to attract a wide age group as well. My husband and I stayed at the Moon Valley Hotel near the centre of the town. Our main reason for going to Eilat was to dive in the Red Sea. We had surfed the internet prior to leaving to find ourselves a dive school and we decided that Lucky Divers seemed the friendliest and best value for money. The Red Sea is spectacular to dive in. As soon as you enter the water you are surrounded by fish. Near the end of our week's holiday we did a 'dolphin dive'. This consisted of diving in an enclosure where... Read review

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Advantages: An unusual place for winter sun, good water activities
Disadvantages: Guns on display and getting home.

...~UPDATED 19th July 2005~ This is a complete rewrite of my original opinion following several comments from Ciao members. Spelling mistakes and other errors have also been amended. Photos will be posted when I find the album. ~Summary~ Eilat was an unusual destination of me, a last minute deal in December 1999 to get away from the millennium fever that was gripping the England at that time. It was a strange holiday in that I had a good time diving and swimming in the sea, but I had some difficulty due to my current style of living and a few moments of misunderstandings between the locals and me. ~Introduction~ Eilat was built to secure Israel an access to the Red Sea and as such it is sandwiched on either side by Egypt and Jordan. The Hilton hotel in Taba on Egyptian land was originally built on Israeli soil, but handed over later... Read review

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Advantages: Diverse and fascinating
Disadvantages: Can be dangerous and very hot in the Summer

...proprietors and numerous beggars is none so endearing. However, this was more than balanced by the excellent tour offered by the hostels which involves hiking up Mount Masada to watch sunrise over the Dead Sea, a dip in the salty pond itself and various other activities including a visit to Jericho. Unmissable. After Jerusalem I headed south to Eilat, where I found work in 'The Underground Pub' as a cook, and took up residency in a local hostel. The work was hard and involved long hours but was certainly "character building" and definitely enjoyable in its own way. However, this was not the way I planned to spend the rest of my holiday and Eilat is by no means the most pleasant place to endure the Summer heat and attendant tourist trade. After Eilat, I found my way to Ein Hashelosha, a desert kibbutz which grows watermelons, potatoes and lemons... Read review

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Advantages: Awesome diving, very cheap.
Disadvantages: You will get an upset stomach.

...Most of the best diving in the world unfortunatly seems to a long haul flight away, for instance The great barrier reef in Australia, Mombasa in Kenya and of course the Maldives. However, the Red sea coast of Egypt, Sinai, Israel and Jordan are a little over four hours away and arguably provide some of the best diving in the world. It does not matter what your fancy is, it is all here. For the novice, the red sea provides an excellent opportunity to learn, with very little currents, especially in the Eilat area of Israel. The waters are warm and clear, and there is often good dive sights that can be reached from the shore. For the more experianced diver, there is also a wide variety of dive sights. One that comes highly reccomended is that of the wreck of the thistlgorm. This is a sunken warship that will take your breath away... Read review

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Advantages: relaxing, friendly, clean, lots to do
Disadvantages: long flight, guns in view, airport politics

...We went to Eilat for our honeymoon in March 2006. I was 7 months pregnant at the time so knew I would be limited to do all activities, but this wouldn't stop my husband. I found booking the holiday hard as their are only a few operators that go to Israel, but it is getting easier to find them. I went through a travel agent to get some brouchers for pictures and ideas, and looked through the internet for more information. We eventually booked through a specialist Israel operator, and they were extreamely helpful. As we live in the East Midlands we had to travel to Luton to get a very early morning flight, as again, not that many airports fly to Israel yet. But it is getting more popular. The flight was fine, though the seats were typical airplane style... small, uncomfortable and cramped. The food was nice on the plane, but really... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful City, plenty to do, lots of history.
Disadvantages: Watch out for dodgy dealers. A lot of 'friction' in Israel.

...people, history and style). Jersulaem is also a good base for exploring the rest of Israel, with good bus links to just about everywhere in the country, even the snorkeler's paradise Eilat on the far South coast is reachable in five and a half hours. If you can't handle heat though, I'd stay a way from Jerusalem in the summer, everyday we were there it was over 40 degrees C. I would definitely recommend anyone to visit Jerusalem, it is a very special place unlike any other. If you do go, A Lonely Planet guide would be very helpful in finding accomodation etc.... Read review

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