After the last blog post about saving money while you're here in Israel, here's some tips on how to actually get to the country for cheap. Obviously the flight prices change according to time of year and where you are coming from, supply and demand, but with enough research and flexibility you can come to Jerusalem cheaply and have enough money left over to enjoy yourself while you are here:

http://www.touristisrael.com/best-ways-of-getting-to-israel-cheaply/6278/ 

I recently spent a full day walking the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, the ultimate journey for Christian pilgrims around the globe. For those who don’t know, the Via Dolorosa is the general path that Jesus walked, taking you past fourteen stations. It starts at the sight of his condemnation from Pilate, taking up the cross, consoling the women of Jerusalem and ending at Calvary, the place of the crucifixion. It is also known as the “Way of Suffering”.

Everyone wants to see as much as possible in a new country, and to spend as little as possible at the same time. Sometimes it's hard to balance the two. Check out this list of tips to save money and still have a great time travelling in Israel.

http://www.touristisrael.com/10-ways-to-see-israel-on-a-budget/5919/ 

Shalom, y’all. It’s Hannah again, and I’m here to let you in on a little secret. We at Abraham Hostel are pretty good at a few things – booking you in the room with the snorer, encouraging you to eat salad for breakfast (no, your mom didn’t call us), pulling you out of bed to see the sunrise in Masada, hosting beautiful volunteers from Alabama, just to name a few. We are the Number One Hostel in Israel after all. There is one area, though, that we are especially talented in – throwing (and finding) a great party. Whether it’s at the Toy Bar on Wednesday nights, impromptu dance contests by the reception desk, strutting down Jaffa Road, or in the hostel lounge, you never have to take your dancing shoes off when you come to stay with us. Recently we hosted one of our famous parties to celebrate a special day in Jewish history - Purim. A day to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from destruction, as told in the Book of Ester, Purim is a holiday for everyone and Jerusalem is the place of all places to celebrate. Everyone - secular and religious, young and old, woman and men, tourists and natives - grabs masks and bottles of wine and floods the streets filled with the aroma of hamantashen (or here in Israel - oznei haman). I wouldn't have wanted to spend my first Purim anywhere else!...

I really never know what to expect from a hostel, but Abraham Hostel is now the benchmark I will use when comparing others across the globe. Jerusalem itself is a beautiful city, a city with history and majestic beauty around every corner. No matter where you go in the city, or in Israel for that matter, everyone has stayed or at least heard of Abrahams. It’s in the center of the city and it truly makes you feel like you are in the center of everything. No matter what night you stay, there is always something going on. It’s either party night out, open mic night, Shabbat dinner or simply a casual night of trivia and games. Every time you stay, you meet amazing people from all over the world - fellow backpackers always greeting you with a smile, telling you their latest stories from deserts in India, the mountains of Peru or the horn of Africa...
 

In case you haven’t already heard, the international ice festival is in Jerusalem for the next few months.  For the first time, Jerusalem now has an ice city made up of over 90 tonnes of sculpted ice, all of which was transported from Ashdod by road.  All of the ice was sculpted by a group of 50 craftsmen, artists and technicians who flew in from China over a one month period. The exhibition is located in the Old Train Station Plaza in David Remez Square, Jerusalem and all of it is contained within a 1500 square metre arena brought in from Belgium, which has it’s own electrical supply to ensure that the arena stays at a constant -10 degrees Celsius.  Although this sounds like a very cold experience, all visitors are supplied with warm coats upon entrance, which work perfectly to keep you warm as you drink vodka...

Check out this blog by Gal, one of the owners here at the Abraham Hostel, about how Jerusalem has managed to secure the World Hostel Conference (WHC) in November 2012.

"While Israel is the largest exporter per capita of backpackers to various destinations around the world (mostly due to post army Israelis needing a break), it's still a very small market when it comes to incoming backpackers coming to tour the Holy Land.

As a large hostel owner in Jerusalem, Abraham Hostel, and an operator of tours geared towards the backpacker crowd, otherwise known in the industry as "budget independent travelers" or budget FIT's (foreign incoming tourists), growing this market is a key interest to which I and my partners devote a good amount of time and effort."

Click here to read on.

Shalom Shalom,



My name is Luke, and I am a volunteer at the Abraham Hostel in Jerusalem. I have seen a lot of Israel and the West Bank as an individual traveller as well as on tours, however my favorite tour so far was the Masada, Ein Gedi and Dead Sea Tour which I was recently lucky enough to go on, and I think it would be worth sharing my experience.



I'm not much of a morning person usually, so the 7am start was quite a shock to the system. The weather in Jerusalem was rain with a chance of more rain, and to be honest I was expecting this weather to follow me for the rest of the day. Umbrella in hand, and rainjacket on, I got on the bus, prepared for a cold and windy day, not really knowing what to expect from the tour.



Immediately upon getting in the tour bus, I met a range of people from all over Europe, the Americas and even Australia who, like me, were not in a talkative manner so early in the morning. Then came our tour guide Alon, and within a few minutes he...

Shalom, ya’ll! I’m Hannah – the newest volunteer here at Abraham Hostel. When I’m not out wandering around the world, I call Alabama (in the dear old US of A) home. It’s been a while since anyone has written here, so it’s time to sweeten this thing up like we Southerners do our iced tea.* “Because there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it’s swept away.” – Sarah Kay Isn’t this a lovely sentiment? Well, I have one friend that would say it runs along the lines of something a stalker would say, but I like it nonetheless. I put it here because I think it captures the life of a traveler quite nicely. You leave the place you once called home, weighted down with nothing but a delicately stuffed backpack and a dog-eared travel guide, bound and determined to taste, touch, smell, and experience everything you can in each new place. We travelers are searchers, but what we search for is never what we find. What we find, as unique for each...

Just to let you know about a great event happening this Wednesday, 7th of December. All the restaurants, bars, market stalls and vendors of the Machane Yehuda market, are getting together to provide a night of entertainment and cheap food and drinks. The facebook event page is only in Hebrew, but we've translated the list of special deals here to English.