Margaret Morse Tours

If you want a tour that is fun, informative and filled to the brim with places and things to do, this is your tour. You are treated like family — Wendy comes on the bus and chats and makes sure everything is to your liking. The hotels were beautiful and top notch. Food? More food than you can imagine and good. The guides were amazing, both in their knowledge and their sense of humor (a bit punny but wonderful.) You always feel safe no matter where you go. Everything is taken care of for you and little is left out. You are busy from morning until night. Israel is a beautiful country with so much to see. I hope Wendy does another tour for those of us who wish to return. This trip is worth every penny you pay!

We just returned from a wonderful first trip to Israel with the Margaret Morse Tour group. This has been one of the items in our «bucket list» for a number of years and we finally did it! I could probably write a book about the very meaningful experience my wife and I had while visiting this very special place (and we are experienced world travelers), but I won’t do that right now. However, if anyone who may be reading this is thinking about doing a trip to Israel, I would strongly encourage you to contact this wonderful tour company — Margaret Morse Tours. Their guides in Israel are the best (we had David and he was outstanding). Along with Akiba (probably the best and safest driver in Israel — he was a former tank driver in the Israel Army), we were shown around this amazing country in a way that was enjoyable (and not overly tiring). Both of these professionals were intimately knowledgeable with the history that has brought this small country from what was once an arid desert to what it has become today, an oasis surrounded by warm and beautiful people trying to live in a peaceful and meaningful coexistence with their neighbors. Margaret Morse Tours gave us an experience that we will never forget — the accommodations were top rated and quite comfortable, the food was always fantastic and the people we met were the best.
A big thank you to Wendy (who was with us throughout our journey) and her children back in Florida who set up all the details so that we could really feel safe and comfortable from beginning to end. This is truly a family based company who put their clients’ needs out in front from your first contact with them until the time you return home.
Gary and Bette Webne (Glen Allen, Virginia)

To the Morse Family,
My wife Judy and I want to thank you for the fantastic trip we just returned from. It was the most amazing vacation we have ever taken. Every day was a history lesson. Wendy was the perfect host and our guide Allen and driver Moshe were fantastic. Every hotel was beautiful and every stop was an education. The personal touches that you include in the tour are something we will always remember. You made our trip a lifetime rememberance. Thank you for everything.
Judy and Steve Fineman

Just returned from a Margaret Morse Tour to Israel. I must say that most things were as advertised. Her tour guides and drivers are fantastic with huge amounts of knowledge. But one of the things that is offered is the personal attention of Wendy Morse, who goes on each tour. Wendy is a very personable woman who hands out gifts, treats to a few diners and thanks each person for coming to Israel and wishing that they would tell their friends of the importance of making this trip. However, if something goes wrong with a service and you turn to Wendy for help, don’t count on it. She is extremely loyal to her vendors (having used most of them for 20+ years), and will stand with them instead of hearing your side of the complaint or problem. Unfortunately when this happened, it soured our feelings toward her, and would not allow us to recommend Margaret Morse Tours to any of our friends without mentioning this issue. By all means, go to Israel it is a wonderful country with history galore. Try Tauck…

Wow, I can’t believe noone else has reviewed this company yet. It’s been in business for 30 years, I think. Really? No reviews? Strange…
My cousins in Montréal went on a Margaret Morse tour to Israel a year ago and they LOVED it. I must add that these cousins are very savvy world-​travelers. They don’t have kids and they travel to exotic locales regularly (think: African safaris, the Galapagos Islands, etc.). For them to rave about a tour group spoke volumes, as they don’t impress easily.
Fast forward a year. My family went on a MM tour to Israel last month. My parents, hubby and kids came. My eldest had her Bat Mitzvah up on Masada. It was a 16-​day tour — and it was INCREDIBLE. First, our bus driver was wonderful: super-​safe driver, always friendly and just happy to be there, great disposition, had the bus always immaculate. Our guide, Allen, was exemplary: his knowlege of the country, the sites, the history was mind-​boggling. His sense of humour, wry and on-​the-​mark. He was so engaging, the kids and adults alike adored him (and, as you might know, it’s rare indeed for adults and kids/​teens to agree on anything!).
The schedule was ideal, and we feel we got more than an overview of the country. We feel we saw a lot more of it than we would have exploring on our own. And because of Allen, we understood what we were seeing more.
The hotels were all posh (some, perhaps, a tad more so than others, but all were lovely, with attentive staff, great views and pools). The food was all decadent and we ALL GAINED A LOT OF WEIGHT (darn those rascally MM people for gorging us so!!!). The schedule was truly fabulous (check it out on their website. It would be too lengthy for me to review it all here). My personal highlights? My kid’s Bat Mitzvah on top of Masada (there were folks there without kids, yet they, too, were moved), floating in the Dead Sea, snorkelling in the Red Sea, kayaking down the River Jordan and exploring the Old Quarter in Jerusalem and Shabbat at the Wailing Wall.
My father is a difficult traveller, and I was amazed and impressed how MM accommodated him (he has special needs, as an older man).
We were all given wonderful gifts and mementos by MM, too, which took me aback. I will treasure them, as will my Bat Mitzvah kid. (I don’t want to divulge what these are, so as to save you the surprise if you are lucky enough to go on a tour with this company in the future).
My only gripes are, admittedly, minor: some hotels charged extra to use the fitness facilities in their hotels (as a result, I didn’t work out as I had planned). Also, the tour guides constantly remind us all to stay hydrated (rightfully so) but they charge us for the cold water bottles they sell on the bus. Granted, it’s only, like, a buck or so each, but it adds up, and we all kinda thought, hey, we’re paying enough for the trip and tour, the water should be included, you know? It was kinda tacky to charge for that. And odd, considering how über-​overly-​posh and generous MM was with everything else (the dances and entertainment, the gifts, the food, etc.).
There was one episode I must mention, that caused our family much sadness. The night of the Bar/​Bat Mitzvahs, there occurred a formal dinner and celebration at the hotel. I’m talking SUPER fancy and lovely, with a band and fine foods. The Bnai Mitzvah kids prepared a lengthy and moving presentation before the meal. Unbeknownst to us, our daughter was given the largest speaking part (quite an honour!). There was assigned seating, and our family was relegated to the worst table in the house: it was located at the farthest back corner of the huge room, beside the kitchen. The only other folks at our table were lovely ladies who didn’t have kids on the tour; they had no connection to the Bnai Mitzvah children. The waiters all stood beside us, holding trays, and all we heard were the clatterings from the kitchen. We couldn’t see or hear my daughter, nor could we go up to the front of the room to do so, as we had no indication when she’d be going to the podium or lighting the candles. My folks (the grandparents) are older and were unable and unwilling to navigate through all the tables to go to the front of the hall. So… we pretty much missed this very special celebration, and we felt excluded and upset. The MM folks didn’t assign us this table with bad intent; it was simply a matter of random, bad luck. SOMEONE has to go there, after all. I just think they should have perhaps assigned non-​Bat Mitzvah people, or perhaps, the kids’ cousins or uncles, aunts, neices or nephews, to this awful table — NOT the parents and elderly grandparents of the kids in the ceremony. My folks and I cried, that we missed this moment in my daughter’s life.
All in all, though, this is an unbelievable, top-​notch tour company, and I can’t see how one could get a better, more comprehensive, more enjoyable tour of the most unbelievable, amazing country in the world!