Corona Virus Outbreak Crisis

Corona Virus Outbreak Crisis

Israel government announced on March 9th 2020 that because of the Corona Virus outbreak, as of March 12th 2020 at 20:00, all visitors who desire to enter Israel from everywhere worldwide, must attest that they can go into self-quarantine for 14 days. This cannot be arranged at a hotel or any other accommodation which is not a private residence.

Until March 12th 2020 at 20:00, tourists can enter from the designated countries allowed, and entry will be denied to the designated countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Macau, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria and Egypt.

Tourists who are already in Israel or arriving before March 12th 2020 at 20:00, can continue their travel route as usual, as they keep the following guidelines: If the tourist doesn’t feel well, then the health responders must be called; Proper hygiene measures should be made; Public areas that are crowded should be avoided; The agent or guide should keep an account of all sites visited.

Land crossings to Jordan will be closed immediately. Tourists in Israel who have flights from Jordan or vise versa, tourists in Jordan who fly out of Israel – must go to the border 6 hours before the flight with a proof pf flight tickets. Please try to avoid use of border crossings, as there may be difficulties in permission for passage in the near future.

The actual meaning of the above announcement is that because of the Corona Virus outbreak, since March 12th 2020 at 20:00, Israel is closing all its borders until a further notice, and there will be no tourists in Israel at all.

The entire tourism business in Israel, travel companies, airlines and hotels will suffer a huge downfall, because of the Corona Virus outbreak.

We at Mantis Tours & Travel wish all the people worldwide good health, and a quick recovery to anyone who got infected in the Corona Virus. All our tours are automatically canceled without any cancellation fees (there is no need to send us cancellation requests). We really hope that there will be a cure and a vaccine to the Corona Virus, and the outbreak crisis will end soon.

Please take care of yourself and your families, and book your tours with us again, once the Corona Virus crisis will be over! ?

Book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem

Why not Book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem via Hotel?

The easiest way to Book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem is to go to the reception of your hotel in Eilat, Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, and ask the receptionist or the concierge to book the tour for you. Yet, is it your best option?

The receptionist or the concierge at your hotel will gladly recommend you on a “good tour”, and help you to book a Tour to Petra or a Tour to Jerusalem. They will even do all the bookings for you, and save you a lot of headache.

So why don’t trust the receptionst or the concierge at your hotel to book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem for you? Well, it’s obvious that the hotel doesn’t really operate the tours that it offers. They just resell these tours to some tour operator for a big commission. This is very normal, and you surely won’t mind the hotel to have some profit for helping you to book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem. However, the big question is which is the tour operator that the receptionist or concierge at your hotel recommended to you, and booked the tour for you. Is it really an unbiased recommendation on a good or even just a decent tour? The answer to this question is probably not!

Some tour operators offer to hotels and motels a commission for book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem with them. The receptionist and concierge at the hotels don’t care about the quality of the tours that they sell, and they carry no responsibility about these tours. So, they just send you to the tour operator that offers them the highest commission, which is probably not the best tour operator. Actually, it might be the worst tour operator, and in some cases just a local that has no license.

In some hotels there is an attractions desk that offers tours and attractions. These attractions desks are rented by the hotel to local agents that resells tours for commissions. So, when you see an attraction desk with a big sign that says ‘Best Tours’, then just ask yourself if they really sell the best tours, and verify with them to which tour operator they resell their tours.

If you book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem at your hotel, then the minimum that you should do is to insist to know which tour operator will actually handle the tour. Check the testimonials of people on TripAdvisor, in order to make sure that it’s really a reputable and recommended tour operator.

The best option of Book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem is to do a quick search on Google and on TripAdvisor, and book your tour online with a reputable tour operator. Luckily for you, you already found the best tour operator that allows you to Book Tours to Petra and Tours to Jerusalem.

Book now our Best Petra Tours in a business class!

Have a great trip! 🙂

Best Petra Tour Guide

Best Petra Tour Guide

Petra is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, which must be in the Bucket List of every traveler.

You may travel to Petra Tour by yourself. However, since that the visa to Jordan and the entrance ticket to Petra are so expensive, and there is so much to know about Petra, it’s very recommended to travel to Petra from Eilat in an organized tour using a reliable tour operator.

There are many Petra tour guides. Some are more knowledgeable, and some are less. Our best Petra tour guide is Ma’moun Al Nawafleh who is actually a professor at the university. He has researched and studied Petra for over 25 years now, has a vast knowledge about Petra, and he delivers his knowledge in a most interesting way. In fact, Ma’moun turned the research of Petra to a science – Petraeology, and wrote books about the subject.

If Ma’moun is not the best Petra tour guide, then he is most definitely one of the best!

Continuing Ma’moun’s legacy, his son Sami, who is also one of our Petra tour guides, is also considered as one of best Petra tour guide.

You can read the wonderful testimonials about Ma’moun and about our other best Petra tour guide on TripAdvisor.

Book now our Best Petra Tours in a business class!

Have a great trip! 🙂

Cheap Petra Tour

Cheap Petra Tour

What is the cheapest way to travel to Petra?

Petra is the most expensive national Park in the world! The only park that is more expensive is the Jurasic Park. However, unlike Petra, the Jurasic Park is fictional.

Yet, like the Pyramids of Giza, Petra in Jordan is one of the Seven Wonders of the World that must be in the Bucket List of every traveler.

So, you may ask yourself what is the cheapest way to travel to Petra.

Will it be better to take a taxi or rent a car, and have a cheap Petra tour by yourself, or maybe just book an organized tour to Petra with one of the many agencies or tour operators?

It’s not allowed to cross the border from Israel to Jordan by a rented car. So, you should take a taxi from your hotel in Eilat to the border, another taxi from the border to Petra and again from Petra to the border, and one more taxi from the border back to your hotel in Eilat. Another option is to let a local Petra tour operator to take care of all these arrangements.

How much costs to travel to Petra from Eilat?

Let’s calculate the total price of a tour to Petra.

Taxi from your hotel in Eilat to the border: $15-$20

Israeli departure tax: $30 per person

Visa to Jordan: $60 per person

Taxi from the border to Petra: $100-$150 each way

Entrance ticket to Petra: $130 per person !!!

Local guide in Petra: $100-$200 (upon availability)

Lunch at a local restaurant in Petra: $15-$25 per person

Jordanian departure tax: $15

Taxi from the border back to your hotel in Eilat: $15-$20

So, the total price of a Cheap Petra Tour for two people is $365-$430 per person (WITHOUT a guide). I’d say that this is quite expensive!

How much costs an organized tour to Petra from Eilat?

Most of the tour operators offer you an organized one day tour to Petra for $185-$215 per person (not including the border fees and the visa fees). However, the two biggest Petra tour operators that most the thousands agencies work with require you to pay extra money for a taxi from your hotel in Eilat to a meeting point, and another taxi from the meeting point back to your hotel in Eilat (after they promise you that there are no hidden fees). Also, the biggest tour operator to Petra from Eilat doesn’t even offer you lunch in Petra.

We offer you the best possible Petra tour from Eilat for just $200 (not including $65 border fees and $75 visa fees). We organize for you the entire tour to Petra from ‘A’ to ‘Z’, including all transfers from your hotel in Eilat to Petra and back to your hotel in Eilat, lunch at a superior restaurant in Petra, and one of the best tour guides in Jordan.

So, the total price of our one day tour to Petra from Eilat is $340 per person (including the border fees and the visa fees) – this is a cheap Petra tour!

Yet, I strongly recommend you on our business class Petra tours in small groups, which costs just $250 per person (not including $65 border fees and $75 visa fees) – total $390 per person, accompanied by probably the best tour guide in Petra.

Why the tour operators charge more money for the border fees and the visa fees?

The Israeli departure tax costs $30, the Jordanian departure tax costs $15, and the visa to Jordan costs $60. So, why do the tour operators charge $65 for the border fees and $75 for the visa fees?

Well, the fees are calculated as follows:

Border fees: $30 for the Israeli departure tax + $15 for the Jordanian departure tax + $20 for the transfers in Eilat.

Visa fees: $60 for the visa to Jordan + $15 for the Jordanian representative.

By the way, all the tour operators charge these extra fees, even if the declare that their price has no hidden costs (just check the small letters in the bottom of their page), and it doesn’t matter if they give you extra services like us or not.

I don’t need to pay for the visa to Jordan!

Since January 1st 2016, all nationalities need to pay for the visa to Jordan.

The only nationalities that are exempt of the Jordanian visa fees are: Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, South Africa and Turkey.

Some nationalities, like Colombia, India, Philippines and some other need to get a visa to Jordan in advance at the Jordanian embassy.

So, why does it written in my embassy website that I don’t need a visa to Jordan? Well, the answer is that you do need a visa to Jordan. But, you can get your visa at the Jordanian border, and you don’t need to arrange it in advance, like Colombians, Indians and Philippinians.

Will it be better to book a cheap Petra tour at my hotel?

Almost all the hotels in Eilat, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem offer you to buy a tour to Petra, either at the reception, at the concierge, at an attractions desk or from a receptionist/bellboy (also an agent of your tour operator). Yet, this is absolutely the worst possible option! It doesn’t matter if you have a great tour operator, or if you stay at a 5-star hotel. If you buy a tour to Petra from your hotel or from the agent of your tour operator, then they will definetly send you to the cheapest (and worse) local Petra tour operator that offer them the biggest commision for a cheap Petra tour.

It is best to choose your Petra tour operator by yourself online, after checking the testimonials of their clients, and making sure that it’s really a tour operator and not an agency.

Have a great trip! 🙂

Star Wars 2020: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars 2020: The Rise of Skywalker

The film ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ featured Wadi Rum in Jordan (AKA “Valley of the Moon”) as the fictional moon of Jedha.

Jedha is a small desert moon located in the Jedha system of the galaxy’s Mid Rim. It is considered as the spiritual home of the Jedi, and it is the first place where individuals began exploring the nature of the Force.

People usually travel in Wadi Rum by jeeps or camels. But, Star Wars really took it up a notch!

If you consider a tour to Petra, then we definitely recommend to add also one day in Wadi Rum with an overnight at a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum, enjoying a special Bedouin dinner and a jeep tour in the spectacular landscapes of Wadi Rum nature reserve.

When you go to Wadi Rum Tours, you can take a photo like this, and pretend that you are on Jedha.

Book our two days tour to Petra and Wadi Rum or our three days tour to Petra and Wadi Rum!

Petra Tour Mini Group

Our Petra Tours are usually in small groups of up to 18 people (i.e. minibus). These Petra Tours are consisidered as VIP, like a business class. Yet, we charge for these tours the same price (or lower) that other companies charge for a regular tour in a big bus and without a lunch (our tours to Petra include a very special lunch at an authentic Jordanian restaurant).

However, we don’t just do the best, but aim to above and beyond. Therefore, we decided to launch a special Semi-Private Petra Tour Small Group from Eilat, in order to accommodate the need of people who are looking for a private tour to Petra, but are willing to share their tour with few other people to cut the costs. This Petra Tour Mini Group offers you a Semi-Private Petra Tour Small Group with up to 10 people in a group, and in a reasonable price that is close to the price of our regular group tour to Petra from Eilat.

Please note that when you book a private tour to Petra or an one day Petra Tour in other companies, then you’ll be in a big bus with about 50 people and only in Petra tour you might be divided into smaller group. Not to mention that you’ll have to pay for a taxi from your own pocket in order to meet the bus at the meeting point in Eilat.

Mantis Tours promise you a Petra private tour, and gives you a private Petra tours from Eilat hotel and back.

The price of our one day tour to Petra from Eilat is only $200 per person (not including border fees and visa fees). You can book a private Petra tour from Eilat for $350 per person (not including border fees and visa fees), or add just $50 for a Semi-Private Petra Tour Mini Group (I mean, a tour to Petra in a mini group) for only $250 per person (not including border fees and visa fees).

Book now your Semi-Private Petra Tour Mini Group with us!

Have an amazing trip! 🙂

Best Petra Tour Operator

Petra from Israel

How to visit Petra from Israel?

The best way to cross the border from Israel to Jordan, in order to visit Petra from Israel, is to visit Petra from Eilat (the southern resort city of Israel).

Some companies will offer you tours to Petra from Tel-Aviv or from Jerusalem. However, their tours will just include a very long 4.5-5 hours drive by bus from Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem to Eilat. You will pay a lot of money for just sitting in a bus all day (about 15 hours) and have just 2 hours guided tour in Petra. This is really not recommended! It’s much better to stay overnight in Eilat or in Aqaba, and start the tour fresh on the next morning. Another option is to arrive to Eilat by flight.

Which best Petra tour operator to choose?

There are 6 main tour operators that operate tours to Petra from Eilat, including us. There are also literally hundreds of agencies that just resell tours to another tour operator for a commision.

Two of these tour operators are very reputable companies that operate really good tours, and they also have excellent reviews. However, their tours are very expensive, and you won’t be able to find the prices of their tours on their websites or book your tour online on their website. Actually, the reason why they have many good reviews is that most of their tours are private. You need to be a good company, in order to make good private tours. But, in order to operate good group tours, you need to be a really excellent company. You can easily find these two tour operators by searching the reviews, or continue reading this article to find a better alternative.

“Fun” Petra tour operator

There is one tour operator that do “FUN” tours. I won’t mention their full name. This company has more than 60% very negative reviews. So, I’m sure that you won’t want to travel with them, even if you plan a very economic  tour. The bad news is that many agencies send their clients to this tour operator, because that they offer a very big commision to agencies, and unfortunately most agencies care just of their commisions and not to the quality. So, if you wish to avoid this tour operator, then you need to find a reliable tour operator that actually operate tours to Petra, not an agency. I really have know idea how a company can not care of their clients. Maybe it’s because that they get almost all of their clients from agents.

There is one small tour operator that have a good service in Israel. But, they use in Jordan the same agency as the infamous “FUN” company. So, I’m not really sure about the quality of their tours. Anyway, they get all their clients just from several agents who resell their tours for a commission.

“Tourist” Petra tour operator

There is another big tour operator that you can find in some “TOURIST” websites. They used to be  an agency that resell tours to other tour operators, including the above infamous “FUN” company. Only very recently they started to operate tours by themselves, so they are a very young company and their knowledge in operating tours is probably limited. I must say that their current tours are much better than the tours that the “FUN” company used to operate for them. So, you can take your chances with an unexperienced company that offers tours in very big groups (usually 40-60 people in a bus), pick-up from only 4 locations in Eilat and doesn’t even offer lunch, or book a tour with another reputable tour operator for the same price, but be in a small group and also get lunch.

Mantis Tours & Travel – Best Petra tour operator

Then there are us – Mantis Tours & Travel – a boutique tour operator with about 10 years of experience in operating tours to Petra. According to the reviews of our clients, our tours are “outstanding above and beyond”. Well, this is because that we aim high. I can honestly say that our group tours to Petra are much better operated and executed than the private Petra tours of our most reputable competitors. In our private tours to Petra we offer even higher level of service, as much that it can even possible. Yet, although that we offer the best Petra tours in small groups, we charge same rates as the cheap tour operators, only because that we don’t need to pay salaries to a big and inefficient staff, and we also don’t have to pay commissions to agents. You can read more about our services in the following article: Why booking with Mantis Tours.

Other Petra tour operator

There are also some small unofficial tour operators that join their clients to a big pool bus. However, you won’t be able to find reviews about most of these tour operators, and you won’t know what you will actually get.

Regarding the other hundreds of agencies, they are not tour operators. These agencies are just resellers of other tour operators. There are some agencies who care about their clients, and send their clients to a reputable tour operator. However, most of the agencies just send their clients to the tour operator that gives them the biggest commission, which unfortunatelly is the infamous “FUN” company. If you book a tour with an agent, then you won’t be able to know in which tour you will end up. The price of the tour isn’t an indication, because that some agents take a small commission, while other agents take a really big commission. But, they may send you to the same tour operator.

You can also book your Petra tour at the hotel in Israel where you stay. However, the receptionists at the hotels (no matter if it’s a hostel or a 5-star hotel) will definelty send you to the cheapest tour operator for a commission, except for few hotels that will give you the details of the tour operator and will allow you to check it out and book the tour by yourself without any commission.

So, for a conclusion, it’s better for you to do some homework before you book a Petra tour. Yet, since you already got to our website, you can be sure that you are in good hands.

Have a great trip! 🙂

TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2019

TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2019

Today we got our Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor for the year 2019!

In the photo, you can see our CEO, Lior Lev, holding the framed certificate proudly on the beach of Eilat.

This is the 4th year in a row that we get the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, and we are very thankful to our clients who appreciate our great efforts to give you the best possible service, and be the #1 tour operator in Israel for Jerusalem tours, Petra tours and Cairo tours.

Please read our amazing testimonials on TripAdvisor and on YouTube!

We recommend you to book our private tours to Petra and our flagship tours – the one day tour to Petra from Eilat and the two days tour to Petra and Wadi Rum from Eilat.

Best Tours to Petra from Tel Aviv

Best Tours to Petra from Tel Aviv

How much costs a tour to Petra from Tel Aviv?

The price of an one day tour to Petra from Tel Aviv is $200 per person (not including the border fees and the visa fees) plus 112 NIS (about $35) for a round trip by Egged bus from Tel Aviv to Eilat and back. We will pick you up from Eilat central bus station, and drop you off back at Eilat central bus station.

Another option is to book a Petra Tour from Tel Aviv for $300 per person (not including the border fees and the visa fees) from your hotel in Tel Aviv or from some online agency, without knowing which is the tour operator that will actually operate the tour. You’ll take a taxi in the middle of the night from your hotel in Tel Aviv to a meeting point in Tel Aviv, where you’ll wait for your transfer bus. you will spend about 4.5 hours in a drive from Tel Aviv to Eilat, about 1.5 hours in crossing the border and 2 hours drive from the border to Petra. You will have about 2 hours in Petra, and than return back to Tel Aviv through Eilat spending about another 6.5 hours in a bus (not including the time at the border crossing and the waiting time), arriving to Tel Aviv late in night, and then find a taxi that will take you from the dropping point in Tel Aviv back to your hotel in Tel-Aviv.

Both options don’t look very appealing. Although, the first option is cheaper, and at least you will know with which tour operator you travel.

How to travel to Petra from Tel Aviv?

The best way to travel to Petra from Tel Aviv is first to arrive to Eilat. You can arrive to Eilat from Tel Aviv by Egged bus or by Arkia/Israir flight.

Please avoid shady shuttle companies that offer you uncertain transfers ftom Tel Aviv to Eilat. The only reliable bus company that operate guaranteed transfers from Tel-Aviv to Eilat is Egged.

Yet, we don’t recommend to drive from Tel Aviv to Eilat overnight. If you choose to arrive from Tel Aviv to Eilat by Egged bus, then we recommend you to book our tour to Petra with overnight in Aqaba. We will pick you up from Eilat central bs station, transfer you to Aqaba where you will have hotel with dinner, and on the following day join our group tour to Petra.

In case that you have just one day, then the best thing to do is to book the 06:30am flight from Tel Aviv to Eilat and the 21:00 flight from Eilat to Tel Aviv. We can pick you up from the airport in Eilat to Petra Tour, and drop you off at the airport in Eilat after the tour.

There are companies that offer you a tour to Petra from Tel Aviv including transfers from Tel Aviv to Eilat and back to Tel-Aviv. However, these tours are not guaranteed. Also, you will be picked up from a meeting point (not from your hotel) in Tel Aviv around 03:00am at night, travel to Petra in a bus with about 50 passengers and arrive to Petra very tired for a mere two hours tour, then return back to Tel Aviv arround 02:00am at night.

It’s much better to plan your tour properly with Mantis Tours by using flights or a bus with overnight in Aqaba. So, you will really enjoy your Petra Tour in our relatively small groups.

Eurovision 2019

Eurovision 2019

Tonight will start the Eurovision 2019 in Tel-Aviv, after that Israel had won the Eurovision last year for the 4th time.

Out of 42 times that it participated the contest, Israel won the Eurovision 4 times on 1978, 1979, 1998 and 2018, and it located on the 6th place, together with Netherlands, in the all times winnings table of this contest.

On this year, Lior Lev will represent Israel in the Eurovision contest that will take place in Expo Tel-Aviv with the hit song ‘Hai Beseret’ (Living in a Movie).

All the citizens in Israel cross fingers to Lior Lev, whom we hope to get Douze Pua, and will hopefully get Israel to win the Eurovision 2019 contest on the second year in a row.