Getting to Israel from North America or really anywhere outside of Europe is a haul. You’re looking at double-digit flight hours, tight connections, and usually a pretty solid case of jet lag by the time you land at Ben Gurion.
A lot of people just want to power through and get it over with. But if you have a little flexibility in your schedule, breaking up the trip with a stopover is actually a really smart move. You get to stretch your legs, adjust to the time zone a bit, and see a completely different city for a day or two.
Plus, because so many different international carriers fly into Tel Aviv, you actually have some really cool options for where to spend that layover.
Istanbul
If you look at flight routes, Turkish Airlines handles a massive amount of the traffic going into Israel. Their hub in Istanbul is gigantic, and they actually encourage people to stick around for a few days.
Istanbul is one of those places that genuinely straddles two continents, and you can feel it walking around. If you have two or three days, you can easily hit the Grand Bazaar, see the Hagia Sophia, and eat some incredible street food. Even if you just have a long daytime layover, the airline sometimes runs free quick tours of the city for transit passengers. It’s an intense, busy city, but it makes for a highly memorable pit stop.
Frankfurt and Munich
Lufthansa is another major carrier running constant flights to Tel Aviv. Because of that, you’ll see a lot of itineraries routing through either Frankfurt or Munich.
Frankfurt is largely a business and financial hub, but the downtown area has some great historic spots and solid places to grab a beer and a pretzel. The best part is that the train runs directly from the airport into the city center in about fifteen minutes, making it incredibly easy to get out of the terminal.
Munich has a bit more of that classic Bavarian charm. If you can route through there, spending a day walking around Marienplatz and checking out the local beer gardens is a fantastic way to kill the jet lag before the final four-hour flight down to Israel.
Athens
If you want to start the Mediterranean vibe a little early, looking for flights through Athens is a solid strategy. Aegean Airlines runs a lot of routes here, and the flight from Athens to Tel Aviv is practically a puddle jumper at under two hours.
Athens is a relatively easy city to manage for a two-day stop. You can hike up to the Acropolis, wander through the Plaka neighborhood, and load up on fresh Greek food. It’s also usually a bit cheaper on the ground compared to stopping in major Western European hubs.
The classic European hubs
If you’re flying British Airways, Air France, or even Iberia, you might find yourself looking at connections in London, Paris, or Madrid.
These are massive tourist destinations in their own right, and honestly, trying to see Paris or London in 48 hours is nearly impossible. But if you’ve never been, or if there’s just one specific museum or neighborhood you want to check out, it’s a great excuse to stop. Just know that these cities are sprawling, so you’ll spend more time navigating transit and getting back to the airport than you would in smaller hub cities.
Madrid is highly underrated as a stopover. The airport connects nicely to the city, the food scene is ridiculous, and life moves at a pace that is perfect for someone just trying to recover from a transatlantic flight.
Booking it the right way
If you decide to do this, don’t try to buy two completely separate, unlinked tickets just to force a layover. If the first flight is delayed and you miss the second one, the airline isn’t obligated to help you since they are separate reservations.
Instead, book a multi-city ticket through the same airline. A lot of European carriers have built-in stopover programs that let you extend a layover for a few days without jacking up the ticket price too much. Some even offer discounted hotel rates for transit passengers.
It takes a little more planning up front, but landing in Tel Aviv actually feeling rested makes a huge difference in how your trip starts off.