For travellers going to Israel

Israel possesses a number of diverse regions, with landscapes varying between coast, mountain, valley and desert landscapes, with just about everything in between. Beyond the towns and cities, each region of Israel holds its own unique attractions. The metropolitan areas of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv form very much their own regions; from north to south, however, Israel’s regions are as follows:

The Upper Galilee — from Dan at the base of Mount Hermon down to the Beit haKerem Valley in south, and from the North Coast across to the Sea of Galilee
The Lower Galilee — the hills immediately north of the Jezreel Valley
Golan Heights — Mountain area north-east of Sea of Galilee. Occupied in 1967 by Israel, annexed in 1980, but still claimed by Syria.
The Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) — diverse landscapes and settlements around the lake, many with connections to the life of Jesus
The North Coast — sometimes called “Western Galilee”, extends along the Mediterranean shore from Haifa to Rosh Haniqra and the Lebanese border
The Jezreel Valley — an extensive inland valley, largely rural, extending inland from east of Haifa to the Jordan Valley
The Beth Shean Valley — the core of the north Jordan River valley
The Carmel Range — a small yet diverse region of hills just south-east of Haifa
The Sharon — broadly speaking, the coastal plain north of Tel Aviv, south of the Carmel Range
The Shephelah — the fertile, hilly hinterland between the coastal plain and the Judean highlands
The Southern Coastal Plain — location of the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon
The Dead Sea — the lake and immediate surroundings forming the lowest point on Earth
The Negev — desert covering much of the south of Israel, including Machtesh Ramon

In getting around Israel, be aware of the Sabbath: from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown, train and bus services are not available in Israel (except in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Eilat, and limited sherut services - shared taxis, see below). Unless you have a car, or are willing to pay for a taxi (not shared), if you’re daytripping on a Friday, you should start thinking about how to get back by noon at the latest, and you should plan on staying near your lodgings on Saturday.

Also note that both youth and students usually get discounts at buses and trains. Showing a valid student ID will usually entitle you for 10% discount for one-way long-distance travel, while for short distance bus travel those below the age of 18 can usually get half-priced Kartysia - a punch-card valid for 20 rides. Each bus driver has a hole-puncher which makes a unique shape on the card. Both the card and or reciept must be kept until the end of the ride as there are random checks by bus officials.

Public transport is used heavily by soldiers returning to/from their bases, so a bus or train packed full of soldiers (some armed) is a common occasion and does not indicate any special occurence. One can expect higher crowding on Thursday evening and Friday morning (due to weekend leave) and on Sunday mornings (due to soldiers returning to their bases).
Israel is host to a huge variety of accommodation options, from camping and hostels through to 5-star luxury hotels. Accommodation in Israel is similar to Western standards in general both in terms of price and what you can expect as service. Hotels in Israel do not currently possess star ratings, so beware that where these are seen, they are awarded by the hotels themselves. A good way of finding good hotels in Israel is by looking through reviews on websites such as Tripadvisor, although the links below act as good starting points.

See Israel hotels, country lodging and Kibbutz guest houses in High Definition Virtual tours at 3D Israel
The Israel Hotel Association (IHA)  is the umbrella organization for Israel’s hotels and also represents them. About 350 hotels, from Metulla in the North to Eilat in the South, are members of the IHA.
Israel Youth Hostel Association  runs a thriving network of youth hostels.
ILH - Israel Hostels [17] network of private hostels.
A large number of kibbutzim  now include bed and breakfast accommodation amongst their activities.
A number of private residencies (popular in northern communities) offer a room to let (commonly known as “zimmer”, from the German word for room).
Isralet - Holiday Apartments  is a large index (in English) of short term Holiday villas. About 130 fully furnished vacation apartments are indexed, from almost every location in Israel.
Israel has a number of 3-4 star hotel chains.