Prague’s Jewish Quarter, home to stunning synagogues, is one of the world’s best-preserved treasures, and exploring it with a local expert makes the experience truly unforgettable. On this tour, you’ll discover the fascinating history of the Jewish community in Prague, as well as its vibrant present-day culture. This educational yet relaxed journey offers a deep dive into Prague’s Jewish heritage. Led by Yvonne, a passionate historian from Charles University, you’ll gain unique insights into the city’s rich past and living legacy on a private or semi-private tour.
Post Tour Tag: Sightseeing
Diamond Exchange Private Tour
The Israeli Diamond Exchange, holds the title of the world’s largest diamond exchange, and we at Tours4U, boast of being the only company that provides tours of this hidden part of the Israeli economy.
The high stakes and sensitive security of the Diamond Exchange means that all guests of the exchange provide passport identification, fingerprints and photos to be used in facial recognition.
The tour guides you through the birth of a polished diamond, by witnessing first hand rough diamonds being polished into the finest of gemstones, in one of Israel’s diamond cutting factories. We see diamond cutters who have been cutting and polishing diamonds for over 50 years, and are of the best cutters worldwide, busy creating their beloved work.
The tour then takes you through to the highly exclusive exchange trading floor. We comprehensively teach you all the particulars of the IDE. We witness the members of the exchange in animated negotiations, buying and trading Israeli diamonds that will then be sent and sold worldwide.
The last stop of the tour is a meeting with a master diamantaire, Mr. Hanan Savranksy. Hanan is a third-generation gemologist, and an exclusive member of the exchange, whose creations are not only ingeniously designed but are of the highest quality and style.
The cutting of the diamond, the jewelry designs and stone settings are done exclusively by Hanan, making Savransky Private Jeweler’s one of the only jewelry designers whose entire pieces are created, designed and crafted by one person alone.
Visit Kedainia
Jews settled in Kėdainiai in the first half of the 17th century. They were proud of the fact that they were protected by the owners of the town, and were not subject to the jurisdiction of the town. In the 18th century, the Jewish Kahal was one of the greatest and most influential in Žemaitija. The future Gaon of Vilnius Elijahu studied Talmud in Kėdainiai. During the interwar period, Jews were the owners of 150 small companies and stores, they managed a bank, had schools, homes for the elder and orphanages, as well as volunteer firefighter and football teams. At the end of the 19th century, Jews comprised more than 60 percent of the entre population. Three former Jewish synagogues, tent festival Sukot house, and buildings that belonged to other Jews remain here. We remember, cherish, promote and talk about the Jewish community legacy. Duration 2 hours. After the tour, we propose Jewish dish degustation in the restaurant “Smilga”.
Kėdainiai Old Town is a State protected urban monument, one of the seven remaining Old Towns in Lithuania. The town was planned rationally since the end of the 16th century by noblemen Kiškos and Radvilas. Here you will find the old road network and a variety of architectural forms: buildings with Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Classicism features. During the tour, you will learn about the most valuable and interesting object of Old Town. Duration 1–1.5 hours.
JeruLita
When we travel and experience the world, the marks left by other people throughout history influence us and inspire new ideas that help us leave our own mark on this world. Jerulita is a tour operator company founded in 1999. Our mission is to help travelers learn about the culture, heritage, and historical value that places around the world have. Our tours are led by friendly passionate and knowledgeable tour guides. They are always happy to answer questions, make you laugh, tell local stories, and little known facts. Whether you’re looking for a city tour, a bus tour, or solo travel we guarantee your experience with us will be memorable.
DelicouShuk
A tantalising taste experience in Israel’s historic food markets. Embark on a culinary journey with a professional chef through the colourful and diverse food culture of Israel. Choose from Israel’s historic markets in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem and learn about the essential local ingredients, savour delicious flavour from the market and learn about the history of the people who have been trading there for years and years.
White City Tour
The ultimate Tel Aviv encounter through the lens of Art, Architecture and food
Get to know Tel Aviv’s History through the perspective of its UNESCO protected architecture, diverse food culture and Street Art. The tour will take us into the heart of the city, the Carmel market , the oldest neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the American colony and the up-and-coming Florentine. The guide will share his knowledge, personal stories and anecdotes and bring his experience both as professional artist and chef. The following is some of the content that I cover in my tours:
Food:
Cultural diversity and influences on local cuisine/ Is there such a thing as Israeli food?/ Hummus – a love story from the bible / Ashkenazi vs Sephardic/ Kosher law
Architecture:
What is Tel- Aviv without Jaffa / From sand dunes to city / Eclectic style, Bauhaus, brutalism, contemporary/ Le corbusier’s five points of architecture / Garden city / White city, city of
balconies, city of kiosks / Yehuda Magidowitch / Zeev rechter/ Arpad Gut / Joseph Berlin Rothchild/ nahmani / ehad haam/ maze/ Allenby / neve zedek
Graffiti:
Florentine history – bourgeoisie to urban decay to hipster to posh/ Gentrification – the good the bad and the ugly / Techniques of street art – stencil, free hand, paste up / Street art vs Graffiti / Graffiti lingo- tag , bomb, masterpiece, etc.
Approaches and subject matter – political, site specific work, protest base, decorative
Sened, Dede, Mihal Rubin, The MissK, ID, Solomon Souza, Nitzan Mintz, Logik, yigal shtayim, hashtag, Sarah Erenthal, Kislev
Wine Tasting by Night in Old Jaffa
An fascinating Journey of Jaffa’s history through local wines!
Step into the ancient streets of Jaffa and explore the old city through sights, stories and the finest local wines. We will start at the American- German colony sampling local sparkling wine, walk past a Well-House to discover Jaffa’s major industry a century ago and climb up a hill to get a glimpse of the shining lights of Tel Aviv . At each stop we will sample some wine and lean about the unique vineyard the produces it. We will conclude at the flea market, the heart of the night life in Jaffa, with our final tasting and a little snack.
Mondays – Saturdays 19:00- 21:00 or 21:00 – 23:00 except Fridays
YIVO’s 2022 Study Tours
Lithuania & Poland
Join YIVO for an enlightening journey to Lithuania and Poland. Examine the life that was lived as you reconnect with your own heritage. Discover the remarkable treasures of old Warsaw, Kraków, Vilnius, and the magical Białowieża Forest.
Literary Tour of Jewish Galicia
Due to popular demand and the success of the 2018 tour, YIVO will host its second Literary Tour of Jewish Galicia, where we will read the works of writers such as Peretz, Bruno Schulz, Agnon, Celan, Babel, and many others in the places that they were written, and travel through the historic landscape that shaped them.
St. Petersburg – Moscow – Prague
YIVO is proud to announce a study tour to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Prague. This tour will explore the history of Russian and Soviet Jewry, as well as visit some of the major attractions of these two Russian capitals. The tour will conclude in Prague, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities and home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in Europe.
Hopla Guide
Hi there! We are Laura et Georges, the team behind Hopla Guide.
We run this project together, and in our spare time, we run our life together. We are an international couple, she’s Argentinian, he’s French, but both “Made in Alsace”.
Travellers, food lovers, culture addicts, wanderers… our lives brought us in many places, from Europe to Latin America.
Every trip, we seek for authentic experiences. We want to discover it all, but freely, spontaneously.
During our trips, we found ourselves with two options: either we had to follow a guided group, losing our independence, or wander around with the feeling of missing out on important places.
What to see ? In what order ? And what souvenirs to buy and bring back home ?
Is there no other way?
What if we could visit a city on our own, with freedom and flexibility, and be sure we are going to see everything, learn about the local culture, and have fun at the same time?
What if we could be guided explorers?
One day, we decided to put our abilities together and innovate. Laura has a master’s degree in tourism specialized in management, marketing and eco-sustainability. Georges has a master’s degree in history of art from Paris-Sorbonne university. We both have professional experience in tourism companies.
That is how Hopla Guide started. We built a solution, reimagined guided tours, and created a complete experience, both physical and digital.
Cultural information had to be accessible to the explorer at any time, so we chose to build a mobile app, allowing interactivity and flexibility.
But we wanted to go further and create something that doesn’t stay on your phone but materialises in the real world. So we selected exciting items that enhance the visit and bring the tour on another level of interaction, using other senses : touch, taste and smell.
We believe in slow tourism, in a respectful and deeper way of discovering. We empower little groups to live a true cultural exploration, not just a quick run in the city to take some pictures and go away without learning anything. Our explorers are meant to get an honest grasp of the local identity.
We invite you to take part in our story and give a chance to another kind of cultural experience.
Jewish Colmar
Part of Germany until 1681, Colmar has a Jewish community that dates back to the mid-13th century. The medieval community, which owned a synagogue, mikvah, and a cemetery, settled between the present Rue Chauffour and Rue Berthe-Molly (then names Rue des Juifs).
We can arrange for you to visit the Colmar Synagogue, originally built in 1840. This neo-Romanesque synagogue was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II and then restored by the local community after the war. You may also tour the Musée Bartholdi, which contains a fine collection of Jewish rituals objects and synagogue furnishings. The museum is located in the house of Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. Another museum to see this year is the newly renovated Unterlinden, listed as one of the notable destinations for 2016.
