Helpful Travel Links

Sites of Special Interest to Those Who Travel
in Foreign Countries.

The last thorough update of this page was in December 2015
in preparation for my final organized tour.

Special Links

Passport Information. The State Department also has tips for traveling abroad.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Information for international travelers and returning to the U.S. after a trip.
Global Entry. This card allows passing through airport security without taking laptop and liquids out, leave belts and jackets on, enter USA from foreign country without standing in long line at Passport Control. Application is easy to complete, but getting an appointment may take a while. I was able to arrange my interview at JFK the day of departure for a tour. All you need when returning to the USA is your passport and fingerprints. Cost is $100.
SWISS International Air Lines. SWISS uses Terminal 4 at JFK.
New York and Newark. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. For information about the airports, airlines, hotels, etc., click here.
Hilton Garden Inn Queens/JFK Airport. This small hotel is minutes from the terminals. I take a taxi from the terminal (about $12 to $15), but use the hotel shuttle on the return.
NYC Tourist. Includes map and location of airlines at JFK.
Metric System. The Metric system is used almost everywhere in the world except the USA.
XE.com The Universal Currency Converter. Check the exchange rate for $US and ILS (Israel New Shekels). For Jordan the currency is the JOD (Jordan Dinars). For the Ancient Crossroads and Steps of Paul and John you should check Turkey New Lira (TRY), and the Euro (€) for Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Greece and the Greek islands.
Currency $ite. This is my favorite site, because a Cheat Sheet can be printed for travel.
Israel Exchange Rates. Bank of Israel site.
National Geographic Magazine. A 100 year index to article dealing with biblical geography, archaeology, and Middle Eastern history. There have been numerous articles on Israel, Jordan, Turkey, and Greece. PDF.
Seat Guru. Check the seating on any airline.
Seat Expert. Another site for checking seating.

Weather (the third link is an excellet one to check the cities we visit)

Accuweather: Weather.
Weather Worldwide. Check normal for any month. World Climate; World Weather at USA Today.
World Weather and Climate Information. Choose your country and city.
Jerusalem at Weather Underground.
Jerusalem at Weather.com.
Tiberias at AccuWeather.
Jerusalem at AccuWeather.
Netanya, Israel at Weather.com.

Ankara, Turkey at Weather Underground.
Istanbul, Turkey at Weather Underground.
Antakya, Turkey at Weather Underground.
Antalya, Turkey at Weather Underground.
Izmir, Turkey at Weather Underground.
Amman at Weather Underground.
Amman at Weather.com.
Cairo at Weather Underground. Also, search for Luxor and Aswan at the same site.
Athens, Greece at Weather Underground.

Digital Camera Reviews

DP Review. Digital Photography Review. Possibly the best site for information on digital cameras. Check the sample photos for cameras that interest you.
Ken Rockwell. Ken Rockwell provides wonderful help for users of digital cameras. His manuals are much more informative and easier to read than those provided with the cameras. You can read online all you wish. I have purchased (and downloaded) his manual for my newest camera.
Steve's DigiCams. Another good site to help you evaluate digital camers.
Lens Rental. Lens Rental is located near the Memphis cargo airport and this allows them to provide fast service to all parts of the country. They carry an inventory of more than 2500 lenses, as well as cameras and accessories, for rent. I rented a $1500 wide angle lense for a trip a few years ago, and have a friend who rented a telephoto lense. Satisfied.

General Information

Traveler's Health -- CDC Travel Information. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
City Guides. Information on several major cities. Includes Tel Aviv.
Currency $ite. Cheat Sheet can be printed for travel.
Distance Calculator. Calculate air and route distances from one place to another.
Distances. How far is it from one place to another?
BibleWorld. Bible study material by Ferrell Jenkins.
Biblical Studies Info Page. Bible study tools provided by Ferrell Jenkins.
Med Jet Assist. A really good service to consider. Brings you home if you need hospitalization. Price becomes extremely high after age 75 without regard to your health.
Subway Page. Transportation maps of world cities. Includes Istanbul
Telephone. I have used the Net2Phone Calling Card in the distant past. Click "Low-cost calling cards," then Net2Phone. Service to and from Israel is cheap. A call from the USA to Israel is 5 cents a minute. From Israel to the USA is 19 cents a minute. Service is NOT available from Egypt, Jordan or Turkey with this card. Calls from the USA to Egypt are 19 cents a minute, to Jordan calls are 22 cents a minute; to Turkey, 18 cents a minute. The best plan is to have this card for your family in the USA with a set time for them to call you at the hotel in the foreign country.
CallerSmart - International Dial Code Directory.
Using Your Own Cell Phone. Some (most?) of the cell phone providers have International Plans that can be added to your account. We use T-Mobile. For an additional $20 a month
Internet Telephone. See below under Internet.
Time and Date. Build your own world clock for the places you visit.
Travel Insurance. Our tour operator makes travel insurance information available for those enrolled on our tours. Details will be sent to each tour member. If you are traveling on your own you might check AIG Travel Guard for information. Check InsureMyTrip also. I think I saw this ad on one of Peter Greenberg's programs.

Internet

General Information. Use of the Internet and cell (mobile) phones for Email and texts has become almost indispensable for travelers and has replaced expensive phone calls. Many hotels now have a computer available for checking Email.
If you carry a computer. More hotels are now offering wireless Internet (WiFi) service for their customers. Some provide it free; others may make a charge. Skype is a great service if you tote a laptop computer or a smart phone. This free service allows users who are connected to the Internet to talk free of additional charge. We used it for several years and have been generally pleased with it. You must have high speed Internet. There is also a service called SkypeIn which provides you with a personal number in your area code. This allows persons to call you from their home phones. The cost for this service currently is $18 for 3 months or $60 for a full year. Your friends talk over their land line and you talk over the Internet, or they can leave a message on your Skype Voicemail. Headsets and telephones that may be used with Skype Internet service are available online, at Radio Shack, and at some Wal-Mart stores. Click on Skype for more information.
You must have access to a web-based Email account in order to take advantage of the Internet cafes or computers in hotels. You can get a free account at Gmail or Yahoo. My favorite is Gmail.

Travel Intelligence

U. S. State Department. Travel information including warnings & currency rates.

Travel Supplies

Amazon. It is amazing what you can find at Amazon, including Tilly Hats. Check out the Eagle Creek packing cubes.
Columbia. Good clothing for travel.
Magellans. Anything you could possibly need on a tour (and more).
Tilley Endurables. Travel clothing, including the famous Tilley Hat. I am currently wearing the LTM3 Airflow.
Travelsmith. Great links to travel info, packing, etc.

Keeping in Touch. Communicating to/from Outside the USA.

Keeping in Touch. Information for individuals traveling outside the United States. (Especially prepared for our tour members.) Note: the cell phone with an international plan has changed much of this info.

Photos of Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Greece

Ferrell's Travel Blog. Use the SEARCH to find posts about specific places in Israel, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Turkey, etc.
BiblePlaces. Click on The Sites and select the area in which you are interested. There are several photos with info for each site listed. Every church should have a set of this material available for teachers and classes.
Bible Places Blog. Todd Bolen's informative blog about Bible places and current happenings.
Bible Land Photos. David Padfield has photos made on several of our tours.
HolyLandPhotos' Blog. Carl Rasmussen has posted numerous articles about sites in Turkey.
Holy Land Photo Archives. Now has more than about 4200 photos of about 425 sites by Professor Carl Rasmussen. This site keeps getting better.
BibleWalks.com. Site by Rotem covers many sites all over Israel. Good info and photos.
Check Biblical Studies Info Page, under Scholarly, then Photos, for more links.

Links to Turkey and Greece on the Internet

Magic City ISTANBUL. Fabulous web site. Look to right of page for Labels and click away. Try Bosphrus; Bridges, Historical Points, Mosques, Museums, etc.
Wonderful Greece. Maps, photos, brochures, and publications may be downloaded.
Turkey. Turkish culture and tourism. Brochures may be downloaded. (Currently under construction.)

Excellent Book on Biblical Sites in Turkey

Biblical Turkey: A Guide to the Jewish and Christian Sites of Asia Minor Mark Wilson. My favorite book for the area.

Links to Israel, Jordan, and Egypt on the Internet

Visit Bible Places on the Biblical Studies Info Page. Look to the buttons on the left. Click on Bible Places. Then select Israel, Jordan, Greece, and Turkey. You will find numerous links to the places on our itinerary.
Jesus Trail. The ancient road from Nazareth to Capernaum.
Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet guides are primarily intended for individual travelers, but you can find good information. You may download a book, or individual chapters, in PDF.
Egyptian Tourist Authority.
Go Israel. Excellent site with information, booklets for download, maps, etc.
Israel Wonders.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: Tourism.
Jordan Pass. Buy in advance of travel to cover entries fee and park entrances.

Biblical and Archaeological Information

Biblical Studies Info Page by Ferrell Jenkins. Check the Bible Places page for various countries. We have a long list of sites in Israel listed.
Ferrell's Travel Blog. This site contains over 1800 posts dealing with the Bible lands and customs.

Travel Offices

Tourism Offices Worldwide Directory.
Israel. Lots of helpful information.
Egypt.
Turkey. General information about Turkey. Click on Travel & Tourism.

Tour Operators in Greece

More Airline Information

Air France.
Airline Quality. Rating of airlines. Access to airline websites.
American Airlines.
British Airways.
El Al Airlines.
Jet Blue.
SWISS International Air Lines. SWISS is a Star Alliance member, using Terminal 4 at JFK.
United Airline. Star Alliance member.
Star Alliance. As a member of the United or U.S.Air reward programs, your Lufthansa miles can count.
Lufthansa. Star Alliance member.
Turkish Airlines. Turkey now has several good domestic airlines. I have also used Atlasjet and Pegasus (crowded seating).
Southwest.
Seat Guru. Check the seating on any airline.
Seat Expert. Another site for checking seating.

Travel Information About the Alpine Region of Europe.

Return to top.

Back to Tours.Biblicalstudies.info.
Visit our Biblical Studies Info Page.
Visit our BibleWorld page. Here you will find a list of National Geographic articles on Bible Lands including Israel and Jordan.
Travel Blog: Ferrell's Travel Blog.

Updated: 12-07-15