Petra for me! It's on my list of "places to visit from Cyprus."

Everytime we try to plan a trip to the holyland - they start a war We've given up now! We will have to take an unplanned trip when we finally decide to do it and surprise 'em

lol and thanks for the reply

I've never been to Jerusalem but visited Petra on a day trip from Egypt in March. It was fantastic. Well worth going to see.

I visited Jerusalem on a trip from Taba..I wanted to go to Petra too on a different trip but it was on the day I was flying home..

Visiting Israel was an amazing experience and something I have always wanted to do..but strangely enough, I would not do it again. it was a nightmare at the border crossing..took over 2 hours and we were treated appallingly everywhere we went by the Israeli's. I found them to be arrogant and rude, most unhelpful and quite clearly could not hide their contempt towards us....telling us at the airport "you are English..you queue here".
I had a gun pointed at me by some bird wanting to search my bag just for walking past a shop never mind going in it!!! She didn't ask..she just jumped up, pointed a gun in my face and shouted "bag".. I absolutely myself!!!

Done both and Petra wins hands down. I agree that Israel isn't a very friendly country

Oh and I were thinking about going to Petra while in Egypt last February. We got talking to this Dutch couple who said they were going the next day. We arranged to meet them after the trip to find out all about it, to see whether it was worth the money or not. They said NOT . The main thing was that apparently they weren't given enough time to see everything, and it was all rushed. They said that all the travelling wasn't worth the amount of time they actually got to spend there . Because of their reviews oh and I decided against it. After looking at this site though maybe we should have given it a go!

Have done both as overland day trips from Taba a few years ago. I think that you now fly to Jerusalem once you've crossed into Eilat which means that you'd miss out on a stop off at the Dead Sea (which is really worth doing as well as a separate trip with a visit to Masada) and the trip we did to Petra went via Isreal so you'll miss the 'experience' of the border crossing and walking through 'no mans land' between Israel and Jordan as I now think this goes by ferry. Both were incredible days out, very tiring but very different so it's difficult to pick one over the other. Jerusalem is an incredible melting pot of cultures and pretty amazing, yes the Israelis do have an interesting approach to foreigners, but if you accept that as part of the experience and try and take it in good humour you'll be alright - but whatever you do DON'T try and joke with any of the border guards, they can be very intimidating - but maybe with good reason. Petra is truly spectacular, but it will be very hot and tiring and you won't get as much tie as you'll want to explore, but on day trips you never do but again it will be an unforgettable experience. There will be other hassles to contend with, but again that's all part of the Middle Eastern experience. Thoroughly enjoyed both and having been to Egypt several times have always tried to fit in at least one adventure, so my recommendation would be to do both if you get the chance sometime. Couldn't recommend one over the other for you as I'm not really sure what you want to get out of your trip.

Frazz

Thanks everyone off to think