How to pack
Hello everyone, we are getting ready to do the Israel/Jordan tour in April. For those of you who have done this tour before, I have lots of questions about packing for this trip. Will there be anytime during the trip where shorts (to the knee) will need to be worn? I don't want to pack anything that will not be absolutely necessary. Are there many mosquitoes which would require us to take repellent? How about dresses and sport coats for the men, are they a must? I plan on taking one casual dress. My husband is not planning on taking a sport coat unless it is necessary.
It is hard to pack to much of anything when one is limited to one bag no more than 50 pounds. My husband and I travel a lot. This will be our first trip with Tauck. From what I have read, their tours appear to be over the top. Any advise?
Comments
Welcome to Tauck! I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I was on this trip in March 2020, which was cut short by Covid. The trip is casual. Your husband won't need a sport coat. I didn't bring any shorts on the trip. I had a light-weight jacket (sort of the weight of a sweatshirt, but it was a zip-up jacket with pockets) and a fleece jacket, and wore both. I don't know whether you'd need fleece in April. I didn't bring any dresses; just casual slacks and a pair of dress slacks. I had a couple of nicer (but not really dressy...no sparkly things) tops to go with the dress slacks that I could wear at dinner. I had a couple of pairs of closed-toe Sketchers and a couple of pairs of Naot sandals. (I love Naot sandals, which happen to be Israeli. I could walk all day in them, if it's warm enough.) We were told that we would need water shoes at the Dead Sea, so I bought some crocs in Jerusalem. Turns out that high winds closed the beach at the Movenpick Resort, so I never got to go into the sea, but the very friendly lifeguard let me put my foot in the water, and gave me a chuck of salt from the sea. There were no mosquitos, or any other bugs, on our trip.
I was on this tour in Nov 2019. One of my favorites. I'm male and wore shorts in Israel and at the Dead Sea. In Jerusalem, at the Dome of the Rock, they gave me something to cover my legs while at the site. I'm glad I wore shorts though because it was hot. I've been on a number of Tauck Tours and never brought a sports coat. It was never an issue.
There were no mosquitos (arid climate), but there were flies at the Dead Sea and Jerash.
One large suitcase per person is more than enough for this trip.
Thank you both for the insightful details. MCD you were extremely helpful with my packing. I will take nice slacks and top for evening dinner. I'm glad I had not planned on taking any expensive or custome jewelry. Your information was very helpful for me.
BKMD, Thank you as well. I was telling my husband he would have to take a sport coat and he told me he had no plans on taking one. He won't be taking any shorts either. So he should do just fine. I wanted to check with people who have been there just in case certain things were needed. I didn't want to feel out of place.
I have heard lots of very good things about Tauck. Next I would love to do the trip to Antartica. We did a cruise to the cape horn in South America. Came close to Antartica. We loved it. Waters out there were extremely choppy. We said we would go to Antartica next time. We loved South America. Oceania Cruise did an excellent job with the pre-cruise trip to Machu Picchu.
I have no doubt we will be traveling with Tauck again. Too many wonderful are said not to want to use them again.
Thanks again!!
BKMD's mention of the Dome of the Rock reminded me of something that occurred on our trip. One of the women had worn tight-fitting pants -- like yoga pants -- there, and the WAQF police made her put a skirt on top of them.
I had a similar experience as BKMD did, but in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. Excuse the improper rotation, my editing skills are reduced when I’m on an iPad.