Booking Tours Reviews 213

We absolutely loved Israel and Jordan. Hotels were good and the tours were great! The company picked us up every morning and then we would switch buses to go to whatever day tour we were scheduled.

The day we went to the Dead Sea was a little rough. It was extremely hot and gross after being in the sea and then we went straight to a bus ride and flight that the tour company wasn’t aware of! Our guide waited on the side of the road with us in the middle of the desert, got us on another tour bus to Tel Aviv and then paid for a taxi to get us to the airport - I’m not sure what we would’ve done if it weren’t for him! We didn’t have time to eat dinner and once we got to the airport, we found that the flight was at a different time than the information booking-tours had given us, but thankfully we got to the airport while the flight was boarding so we were able to board!

Our taxi wasn’t there to pick us up in Eilat because of the flight time change, but the hotel was walking distance. The hotel was very run down and noisy.

A guide walked us through the border transfer to Jordan which was nice! In Jordan, we did the first day in Petra with a tour and had the next day to go back by ourselves. The hotel told us about the back way to get to the Monastery so we were able to hike up to the monastery early morning and then time to come back and do a camel ride - definitely recommended! But we did not have a shower between hiking that day and the ten hour drive into Egypt, so prepare to feel pretty gross on that drive!

We then crossed back to Israel where we were supposed to have an hour to grab dinner, but when we asked, we were told we would get dinner once we crossed into Egypt, but as soon as we were across, there was absolutely nothing to eat. So make sure to bring snacks if you plan on doing this trip.

The Nile River Cruise had no WiFi and had A LOT of down time. We would do a tour of a temple from 6:30-11am and the rest of the time was on the boat with no tv or WiFi, so make sure to bring games or books to keep you entertained - we didn’t have anything so were pretty bored! The tours in Egypt were nice and guides were great, but we felt we had too many free days in Cairo - per the itinerary the last day on the cruise we were supposed to have tours but because they booked our flight so early that morning the combined the two days in one which gave us two free days in Cairo! We couldn’t find much to do on our own after the tours in Cairo, so lots of down time at hotels.

Also, expect to tip a lot in Egypt - even though everything is included in the tour, they will still ask you to tip, and even tell you when you didn’t tip enough!! For example, the tour paid for us to have a camel ride at the pyramids, but then we both had to tip on top of that (and they asked for quite a bit). The guides also pushed a lot to book extra excursions on our free days, like a hot air balloon ride or driving to different sites, but we were pretty tired of tours and sitting in cars that we didn’t book one. They also wanted over $100 a person for every extra tour.

Overall, the tour was fun but we would have rearranged it with more free days in Israel instead of Egypt, time for dinner every night, and doing the Dead Sea and Masada a different day than the flight to Eilat!

Stellar experience - quick - informative

Compared to other booking tours, our ease getting picked up, getting through border and on our way was seamless. The stops were limited but long enough. And the tour guide was great, intelligent, and friendly.

Our Israel, Jordan and Egypt trip - 9 day tour

Everything about the tour ran smoothly. Guides and drivers were always on time. Guides were very knowledgeable and spoke excellent English. We couldn't thank you enough for organizing our trip for us. Hotels were also great. Perfect location, clean and comfortable. Would recommend Booking Tours to anybody!

we were told to meet the tour bus of 7 other people outside the cruise dock gates, everybody else was inside! 100s of them!!. i just happened to talk to one of the other tours and they said that we were to go to the Hilton doubletree hotel in the centre of town, this was amazing because i just happened to talk to this chap and he know of our booking amongst 100s of others. we took a shuttle bus to town and walked to the hotel, there was a car driver who asked for us by name, so we thought this is it. he asked where the other 7 people were - us - we have no idea who the are!. he said to wait there and he would try to find them, we waited for 1 hour and he returned to say he could not find the other so he would take us to our tour bus. he drove for 20 minutes and tried to drop us of at a huge carpark full of coached packed with people - students. we refused to do this because we had paid for a semi private tour, the bus tour was half the price !. the driver who brought us to this place just drove away and left us there !!!. we refused to get on any of the packed coaches and after 30 minutes one of the organisers took us back to the port entrance where we had originally arranged to meet the tour bus, the other 7 people were all there and had been for more than 1 hour standing in the sun, it was just a concrete parking area. after 30 minutes, this is now 2.5 hours later!!!!! we all got on the bus but now because of the time the whole tour was shortened by this much, we could not be later back because the ship was leaving. we only managed to see half of Petra. the guide we had when we got there was very good but we simply did not now have the time.

Had a great tour guide. He has both a friendly personality and a wealth of knowledge. He was very open to making adjustments in our tour to meet our needs.

I sent an email to get a refound and the company does not answer...the tour described did not happen only rush to go to shops, very disappointed! Hope someone will contact me about the issue...

Booking tour is a wonderful company very helpful. We did the Mediterranean tour to Israel, Jordan, and Egypt for 17 days, it’s was 100% what we expected when we booked this holiday but wonderful non the less. Through Israel and Jordan we had different day trips with different people and guides each day and we had only been on tours that you are on the same bus with the same people, once we got to Egypt we had the same guide besides when we were on the Nile cruise were we had the best guide Samuel for 3 days. I would highly recommend using booking tour and doing this tour.

This was an incredible, trip of a lifetime. The itinerary is jam packed but the sites and experiences you get to see are well worth it! I wish I would have had an extra day in Jerusalem, one day was not enough. I did have an issue with the bus breaking down in Egypt on the 10 hour drive from Israel. This was unexpected as well as the many checkpoints through Egypt. I wish I would have upgraded to the 4 star hotels, the 3 star hotels were not very nice especially the Deborah Hotel in Israel. All the guides were excellent and the transition from border to border was seamless!

This tour was mostly enjoyable, however there were a few disappointments/things to note:

- After 27 hours of flying, we arrived in Israel at 0700, arriving to our hotel at 0830. We were told by reception that we were unable to check in until 2pm, so we left our luggage at the hotel and walked around for 5+ hours trying to find a place to eat. This took us 2+ hours because we arrived on their Sabbath (Saturday) and everything was closed. We were exhausted by 1230 and went back to the hotel to wait in their reception. The hotel was really nice and checked us in early about 1300. This was in no way the Hotel's fault, and appreciated their hospitality; however we feel it was very poor planning on Booking Tours part. After giving our flight details we had expected that something would have been arranged with the hotel so we could check in as soon as we got off the flight (because we had been traveling for 27 hours);so this gave us a bit of a rough start. The hotel itself was small but cosy, and very close to food places and the beach, so that was a plus. It appeared to be clean and tidy but upon closer inspection was not clean to my standard, and the bathroom had black and red mold growing in the corners & crevices, around the taps and the wall handle, so i didnt like being in the shower and didnt want to touch anything.

- As we had never been on a tour before, we didnt know what to expect in regards to pick ups, and our itinerary said to be ready at 0715. Breakfast was at 0700 so on both days we rushed to eat to be out at reception on time; and both days we were not picked up until 0750. After calling on both days to find out where our ride was, we were told that everyone is told to be ready at that time and it just depends on their route as to who gets picked up first and at what time.

- The tours and tour guides were good and all were very well experienced so well done to Bein Harim in Isreal. The tour guides and tours in Jordan and Egypt were also very good.

- I felt that more information should have been given to us as to how best prepare for the tours that we were scheduled to do:
(Examples: 1. The dead sea was covered in large, sharp salt crystals and we were not informed beforehand that we would need to bring flip flops with us on the tour for that day to prevent us from cutting our feet. Thinking that it was a regular beach, we had left our flip flops at the hotel, and had to buy another pair at the shops which was severely overpriced.
2. The hike up Mt Sinai was in the middle of the night and we needed a flash light, and warm clothes, which we were not informed beforehand to bring). I know it sounds like common sense but we had no idea what the trail or weather would be like, even after researching the weather to try to be as prepared as possible. We were very cold that night and had to buy clothes from the locals who were selling to tourists; and the flash light we bought was not very bright and i much would have rather brought one from home (which i would have done had i known to bring one).
All in all i feel that people should be informed of what they should expect so they can be better prepared. I mean its ok to say that items will be available for purchase, should they not wish to bring the following items.... ect.

- All of the hotels were nice upon first appearance, however with closer inspection we were disappointed with the quality of cleanliness provided by most of the accommodation.

- The hotel in Jordan was by far the worst place we stayed at, as on their brochure it said for every room there was high speed internet (false), a fridge (false), a balcony (false); and the wifi was only accessible if we were at the reception desk AND even then we couldnt access whatsapp or facetime to contact family overseas. There was no bath or sink plugs, and after contacting reception about it they said they would bring one up in 10 minutes but never did. The taps leaked and made noises the entire two days we were there, and the entire place was drenched in cigarette smoke from the staff smoking the whole time, and i had to stand outside on several occasions just to get some fresh air. It even seeped into our hotel room so we couldnt escape it.

- Tips is a must in all three countries (Isreal, Jordan & Egypt) and in Egypt they expect you to even pay to use the toilet. They hold the toilet paper and only give you a few squares and when you are finished they expect you to tip them; even in the dirtiest of bathrooms; it was disgusting.

- Get use to people hassling you to buy things and harassing you when you say no thanks. By the end of the trip i ended up being quite rude to them because when you say no to the same person 5+ times and they STILL keep going, it gets tiring putting up with that all day every day.

- Make sure you get receipts for things you pay for at the hotels. We ate buffet dinner one night and paid for it straight after and thankfully i got a receipt. When we were checking out they said we hadnt paid for the meal so luckily i had kept it and was able to show it to them.

- It wasnt a big deal, but the tour schedule was different to what we were given. The days were not in order so it caused a bit of confusion but luckily it didnt cause any issues.

- And lastly on two occasions in Egypt we were given review sheets to give feedback on our experience and of the tour itself. I wanted to be honest but i felt pressured to give a good review because they were standing there telling us to give a good review. It would be better if we had an opportunity to fill out the form in private so that more accurate feedback could be given.

- ONE good thing i can say about our tour guides in Egypt were that they all went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of and comfortable. They bought us snacks and fruit, accompanied us to shops, and even upgraded our last hotel to a suite because we had got stuck at the airport for 22 hours due to a sandstorm. It wasnt their fault or their responsibility to compensate for this but they made sure they did all they could to help us enjoy our stay while in Egypt. And that is what made it very enjoyable.

This was a great trip. I just have a couple of things to note.
1. There were multiple pickup times listed on my itinerary. That needed to be cleaned up so that I knew when I was actually going to be picked up. It was off by two hours on multiple days and even though I emailed and asked for clarification, the clarification was wrong. They confirmed 8:30 a.m. pickup, but it was really 6:10 a.m. pickup.
2. When the tours picked us up really early (before breakfast was served at the hotel), they should have stopped someplace for us to eat - not stopped at a souvenir shop. They also needed to announce that we wouldn't be eating lunch until 2:30. That first day was rough.
3. As someone else noted, in Israel this was multiple one day tours with a different group every day. I didn't pick up on that when I was reading the reviews. It was actually okay with me. An interesting way to do things.
4. Then it was different in Egypt. Car, driver and guide picked me up at the border, took me to climb Mt. Sinai, drove me to Cairo and took me everywhere around Cairo. I had a different guide from Aswan to Luxor. Both did an excellent job.
Overall it was a great trip. I've never been on one organized like this before (so many moving parts), but most of it went off without a hitch.

Very enjoyable tour. Punctuality and transport were brilliant.
We didn’t like the way the itinerary changed and we weren’t informed by the company, just by the guide when we questioned the days events.
Please be aware there is a hefty charge for border fees between Israel, Jordon and Egypt which needs to be paid in cash with dollars and with no receipt. This is on top of the visa charges.

We had an overall bad experience with a company.
Although our tour giude in Jordan, Ali was great, we expereinced lack of important information about our excursion from booking tours.
Nobody told us in advance that apperantly there are two airports in Tel-Aviv. We didn’t know which one we need, since Arkia airline that we needed for our flight, flies from both. Ended up barely making in to the right airport, having spent extra money on a taxi.
We were picked up late from the airport in Eilat without any notice.( not driver’s fault, he was told the different pick-up time from what we had in our reservation) Also, there were no recommendations on food, day schedule, what clothes and shoes to bring. It would really help since it was our first time in Petra.
Would NOT recommend

Thanks to Edgar at booking tours my trip to Israel has been a memorable one. I have enjoyed everything that was laid out in my itinerary and je went above and beyond to plan my trip just right so that I would be satisfied and I had great tour guys such as Dan Porges who was magnificent!!! Thank you for the great experience!!
Noemi

Shimon was a very knowledgeable and excellent guide on our walking tour of Jerusalem. He was the best of our four tours, highly recommend him!

1. Pic up time was arranged for 8.30am. We received 8.50am a phone call to our Hotel (not to MY cell-phone!), that we have to walk to another Hotel. But that was only a pic-up shuttle to bring us to Mount Scopus were we had to wait another 20 min for the the final Tor bus Nr. 2. The bus was already full and therefore we had to sit on non-adjacent seats.
2. I had booked a tour English. In the Bus we learned, that we had a tour in English AND in Spanish. The entire day we had to listen to TWO languages, which was a huge loss of time, and explanations we could have get we lost due to the second language. The provider must tell such things in advance, because I would never book a tour in 2 languages!
3. In Betlehem, we were brought only to the Church of Nativity. There was nothing else, not even a small sightseeing around the Market-Place.
4. Instead we were brought to a shop, were merchants tried to sell us useless staff for at least 1 hour! Nerve-racked, I was sitting finally outside and even there some Arab guy tried to abuse me and sell me staff. I told him: I DO NOT WANT to buy anything, and the guy got aggressive until I offered him to call the Israeli Military or the local Police. He left swearing at me. The Travel-Guide did not do anything.
5. On our way back we were brought the worst Restaurant in Jerusalem ever. Located somewhat close to the Church of Sepulcher. The place is located at the well-known "MARKET OF THE BAD FOOD" . The food was horrible mass-production, fully overpriced, and no beer or wine was provided to purchase. Moreover, we had to line up with around ca. 200 other people to pic up our food by us self from a buffet.
6. It became already late and so we had to run through the Church of sepulcher, from there just down the via Dolorosa with 1 or 2 other Stations of the Cross, from there to the Kotel, which was very short as well and over the the Hurva-Synagoge and the Cardo. We finished ca. 4.30pm and you can imagine, that was so little time to see anything considering that time was used up for two languages.
Our booth tour-guides (Israeli/Palestinian) were nice and knowledgeable and not blame for the disaster their company was creating.
Overall, that tour is not to recommend and I will definitively not book again from that company. I just want to have my money back!

me & my wife booked 2 day trips from eliat to petra & eliat to Cairo.

both trips were magical as we enjoyed the warmth & hospitality of our guides & drivers.
they were knowledge & friendly & didn't rush us with sightseeing or taking pictures. And took great care of us.

also the restaurants were sumptuous buffet lunches which we really enjoyed 😋

would book another tour with them in the future

Cheers

Made a reservation for 6 adults for the 1 day trip to Petra. We purchased a hotel pick for all 6 of us for round trip from hotel to airport in Tel Aviv and the driver was very punctual. Our flight to Eilat went without incident. And we actually arrived early. We waited for 20 minuets for our transfer to the border to pick us up. I finally called Booking -Tours.com and let them know we were already at the airport, and the person I got said that we arrived early and the driver was on his way. We ended up waiting another 20 minutes for the driver to arrive, which was way past the time we were told we would be picked up.

I don’t know why but it took more than an hour and a half to cross the Jordanian border. It seemed extremely disorganized. Once we were on our tour bus, our guide told us that our day was going to be shortened as we, the group from Tel Aviv, had to catch an earlier flight. This was the first that we had heard about this. This was very disappointing to us as we only had one day in Petra.

Prior to our trip I dealt with Elizabeth, who was very helpful. However once our trip commenced, it seem like the ball was dropped. The late arriving driver and losing an hour at Petra, is the reason I’m only giving this company three stars.

Our guide Allan was very knowledgeable, informative and friendly. We learned a lot about the history of each religion inside the Old City and how they co-exist with each other in this tight space. It was a fascinating tour!