ISRAEL · THE HOLY LAND
Holy cities, Mediterranean coast, the lowest sea on earth.
Jerusalem’s Old City, Tel Aviv’s beaches and markets, Masada and the Dead Sea, the Galilee and the Red Sea down at Eilat. Plus the classic day trips out to Petra and Bethlehem.
The unmissable three
Three experiences you can only have here.
Beaches, old towns and good food turn up on any trip. Floating on the Dead Sea, walking the Old City where three faiths meet, and standing on the shore of the Galilee do not. One in the south, one in the centre, one in the north. Plan the rest around them.
The lowest place on earth
Float on the Dead Sea
The saltiest water on the planet, so dense you bob on the surface like a cork. Smear on the black mineral mud, rinse it off in the warm shallows, and look back up at the Judean cliffs and the fortress of Masada above them. The shore sits 430 metres below sea level, the lowest dry land anywhere on earth.
- 1 From Tel Aviv: Masada & Dead Sea Full Day Tour with Pick Up
- 2 Masada and the Dead Sea Day Trip from Tel Aviv
- 3 Tel Aviv: Jerusalem, Bethlehem & Dead Sea
Three faiths, one walled mile
Inside the Old City walls
The Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Dome of the Rock stand a few minutes apart, inside a single square kilometre of pale Jerusalem stone. Nowhere else on earth holds the holiest ground of three religions at the same address.
- 1 From Tel Aviv: Jerusalem Old & New City Bus Tour
- 2 From Tel Aviv: Jerusalem Old City & Dead Sea Guided Day Tour
- 3 Jerusalem: Guided Walking Tour of the Old City
Where the Gospels are set
The Sea of Galilee
Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes, Nazareth and the freshwater lake the stories are set on. This is the green, hilly north of the country, an easy day out of Tel Aviv or a slow couple of days based in Tiberias on the water.
- 1 From Tel Aviv: Guided Day Trip to Nazareth & Sea of Galilee
- 2 From Jerusalem: Nazareth and Sea of Galilee Tour
- 3 Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee Day Trip from Tel Aviv
The classic day trip
Start with the day everyone takes.
If you have only one day to give the country, take this one. The desert-and-Dead-Sea run most first-timers book before anything else.
The classics
Israel’s Most Popular Tours
Masada and the Dead Sea, the Old City, Bethlehem and the Galilee. The days most travellers come to Israel to take.
By region
Pick a region.
Each one is its own trip. Jerusalem for the holy sites. Tel Aviv for the beaches and the bars. The Dead Sea for the float and Masada. The Galilee for the green north. Eilat for the coral.
Plan the trip
Base yourself in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv?
Almost every tour leaves from one of these two cities. They sit an hour apart but feel like different countries, and most travellers pick one as a home base and day-trip out from there. Here is how they split.
By tour type
Or pick how you want to explore.
Day tours if you want the big sights handled for you. Walking and food tours if you want a city up close. Private drivers, cycling, shore excursions and the rest.
Beyond the wall
Bethlehem and the West Bank.
Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity and the graffiti on the separation wall, half an hour south of Jerusalem. Three trips that handle the crossing and tell both sides of the story.
The white city
Tel Aviv and old Jaffa.
Bauhaus streets, the beach promenade, the Carmel Market and the old stone port of Jaffa right next door. The three we would pick to see the modern half of the country.
Across the border
The great escape to Petra.
The rose-red city carved into the cliffs, and the Martian sand of Wadi Rum, over the border in Jordan. If we had a spare day out of Eilat, these are the three we would take.
Roman ports and green hills
The run up north.
Roman Caesarea on the coast, the Bahai terraces tumbling down Haifa, Crusader Akko and the Sea of Galilee inland. Three long days that open up the green north of the country.
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