Back in high school, I dreaded social studies class. I found it dull and boring. The people and places we studied were just names and lists of facts I learned for tests and soon forgot. So, when I traveled in my 20’s to Israel with my synagogue, I anticipated a similar experience. But our tour guide, Zvi Harpaz, with his dynamic personality and passion for history, helped me find a new appreciation for social studies. Nineteen years later, when my husband, sons, and I returned to Israel, I knew we had to hire Zvi as our private guide. Zvi is incredibly knowledgeable about the sites to which he brings his clients. Sometimes he brings along additional media, such as books or his smart phone, to add interesting elements to the tour experience. His knowledge of many different religions can be incorporated into the stories of the sites you will visit with him, making him an excellent guide for people of all faiths. Wherever he takes you, he knows someone, be it a guard at the highway checkpoint in the West Bank, the cashier at a museum, or the man who lends women scarves to cover their shoulders outside the Church of the Agony. More than once, such individuals told us, unsolicited, that we had hired the best guide in Israel. Zvi’s vast knowledge of the region helps him tailor your tour days to your interests. Our 12 and 14 year old sons loved the museum and bullet factory he scheduled for us. He also has been known to crack jokes while driving from site to site, so don’t fall asleep! Furthermore, he will share interesting anecdotes about the roads and countryside as your drive, making the drives part of the guide experience. The fact that he speaks five languages fluently (soon to be six) makes him even more unique compared to other guides. We were all very impressed with how smoothly he speaks English, with barely an accent, making him very easy to understand and converse with.
Everything in our tour went very smooth. Zvi arranged everything and we didn't have to worry about a thing. Zvi was very attentive to the kids (A 13 year old boy and a 10 year old girl) and managed to tell them thiings in a way that kept them interested. We enjoyed the jokes that kept us laughing and were very impressed by his knowledge of the history of Judaism and Christianity and his explanations about all the sites we visited. We will gladly recommend him to anyone thinking of coming to Israel. Zvi really made the difference. Nancy and Eli Kreis
Zvi is an excellent tour guide! My husband and I traveled to Israel and Zvi was recommended to us by our travel agent -Thankfully so! He was extremely knowledgeable about the area, giving us not only the well-known facts but also many ins and outs of the culture, traditions, and daily life. He paid close attention to our needs and wants and made sure we saw the things we were most interested in, skipped the things we were not, and provided spot-on recommendations about what he felt may make our trip that much better! He has a fantastic personality, making the tour so much fun, as well as he is thoughtful and kind (- my husband didn’t feel well one day and he went above and beyond to be sure he had everything he needed). Needless to say, we not only left Israel with great insight and knowledge of the area, but we also found a friend. I highly recommend Zvi for your next trip to the area, you will not be disappointed!