You’ve decided to start planning for a Holy Land Tour. You’re looking at different tour groups, their leaders, and their itineraries. They look the same, with a few differences here and there. You can’t decide because you want to know what sites should be on your Holy Land Tour itinerary.
What sites should be on a Holy Land tour itinerary?
- In Galilee: Nazareth, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, Tagbha, and the Mount of Beatitudes.
- In Jerusalem: the Temple Mount, the Israel Museum, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, The Western Wall, the Western Wall tunnels, the Southern Steps, the Via Dolorosa, and the Garden Tomb.
- Around Jerusalem: Bethlehem and the Judean Wilderness.
- In the Rift Valley; Jericho, the Dead Sea, Masada, Qumran, and the Jordan River.
This is a long list. For a ten-day excursion, it’s almost too long, but it can be done. The problem with this list is that it barely touches the surface of what the Holy Land has to offer. But it covers most of the important sites in Jesus’s ministry and the period in which he lived.
Note: All Bible verse links go to biblegateway.com
Tradition.
Before I begin, let’s talk about the concept of tradition. In the Old Testament, Moses routinely marks places where God interacted with His people. Often, he built a stone pile that contrasted the landscape. They were tangible reminders of spiritual events.
Though the tradition of placing a pile of rocks seems to have died with him, establishing a tradition of commemoration did not. Throughout history, both Jews and Christians have sought to commemorate significant events in the relationship between God and His people. Because communities and cultures rise and fall, sometimes these locations are forgotten. Or tribal knowledge inadvertently shifts the location where an event happened. Or commemoration was delayed because of political and cultural influences.
These questions don’t mean that tradition in the absence of definitive knowledge weakens the significance of an event. We must remember that the location is just a tangible reminder of the event. We visit the Holy Land to immerse ourselves in the place where God interacted with His people. And where His Son, Jesus, walked among His people.
During your tour, you will come across many archaeological digs which provide evidence of biblical places. You will also visit numerous sites that lay claim to the same event.
There are TWO Gardens of Gethsemane!! There are between TWO and FIVE sites, which claim to be the location where Jesus was born. Archaeologists have argued for decades over where Golgotha is.
The thing to remember is that competing claims do not lead to a flimsy argument for the existence of God. All these sites have strong arguments in favor of their claims. The arguments have never been over the legitimacy of the events. Rather, they have been over where the pile of rocks should be placed.
Galilee.
Almost every Holy Land tour hits Galilee first. It’s too important for Christians to miss, so it’s usually front-loaded in case scheduling problems arise.
Galilee is important because the majority of Jesus’s ministry happened here. Almost every site you’ll visit has had a church or some kind of worship center built on it. You may feel robbed of an authentic experience because of this. Just think of it as the modern-day version of a pile of rocks.
Nazareth is a thriving city, so there isn’t much to see historically. However, the Church of the Annunciation is where you will most likely go. It’s a beautiful structure, both inside and outside. The church sits on top of the plot of land in which tradition believes the angel Gabriel informed Mary she would give birth to Jesus.
Just to the north of Nazareth is Kanna, better known in the Bible as Cana. John 2 tells the story of Jesus’s first miracle, the turning of water into wine, during a wedding feast at Cana. The Wedding Church in Kanna is the usual tourist stop.
Mount Precipice is on the south side of Nazareth and offers a fantastic view of the Jezreel Valley. Luke 4:29-30 tells the story of when the people of Nazareth seek to throw Jesus from “the brow of the hill on which the town was built.” But he passes through them and disappears. Mount Precipice is the traditional site of this event.
There is no hiking required as the parking lot is right next to the lookout. This is an easy site to visit and can offer a serene atmosphere for an early morning prayer service.
What you will probably miss in Galilee.
The Wedding Church at Cana is nice. But to the northeast of the town of Kanna is something far more interesting. A mound that archaeologists think is the first-century location of Cana sits hidden in the small hills. Ostraca and shards of pottery bearing the name of the city have been found there. Once funding is obtained and approval granted, biblical historians and archaeologists will descend on the site to excavate it.
The site is difficult to get to at the moment. It is off the beaten path and requires a mile hike along a dirt road through some farmland. The road eventually ends, and you’ll have to make your own path to the top of the mound.
There’s nothing of particular importance on top, but you can say you possibly visited the ‘real’ Cana.
Sepphoris was a town near Nazareth and the capital of the Galilee region in Jesus’s time. Under Herod, the city underwent a good amount of construction going. Although not mentioned in the Bible, Sepphoris is a place of interest because of its first-century building projects.
Biblical historians have suggested that Joseph might have worked there as a carpenter. He may have even taken Jesus with him to learn how to build.
The archaeological remains at Sepphoris have been well preserved and offer great insight into life in the first century.
The Sea of Galilee.
Otherwise known as Lake Gennesaret, the Sea of Galilee is home to several important sites.
If your group takes a boat ride on the sea, you’ve chosen wisely. If you’re lucky, you’ll get dropped off in Tiberias next to the Jesus Boat Museum. Inside, the preserved hull of a first-century fishing boat is on display. The boat was found encased in mud off the nearby shore of the lake in the mid-1980s. It will give you an idea of the boats Jesus and the Disciples sailed in.
To the north, Capernaum was the home of Peter and the headquarters of sorts for Jesus’s ministry. At the site, you’ll find a fourth-century synagogue and the ruins of some first-century housing structures. One of the homes is believed to have been Peter’s.
Above the ruins is a church built as a memorial to Peter. Pews are situated around the outside of the sanctuary. The center of the sanctuary floor is glass so that visitors can see the ruins below.
Tabgha is the traditional site of the feeding of the Five-thousand (Matt 14; Mark 6; Luke 9; and John 6). Nothing exists in terms of ruins because the event took place in a field. However, today the Church of the Multiplication stands as a memorial to the event.
The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) is one of the most famous passages in the Bible. It also occurred on an undeveloped plot of land. Tradition and the Bible, place it on the slopes of the Chorazin Plateau overlooking Tabgha and Capernaum. A Roman Catholic church has adorned the landscape of the plateau since the 1930s.
If you chose a good tour group, you will walk along a trail leading away from the Mount of Beatitudes Church down to Tabgha.
What you’ll probably miss at the Sea of Galilee.
To the west of Tabgha is a site that was discovered more recently than the ones above. The name of the town was Magdala. The town of Mary Magdalene, or rather Mary of Magdala. The site is small, but archaeologists have been working on it fervently. A worship center has been built at the site to memorialize the women of the Bible.
Jerusalem.
The list of Christian holy and historical sites in Jerusalem is vast. However, the majority are situated in and around the Old City. Because of this, your time in Jerusalem will be spent walking a lot. So be prepared.
- Israel Museum. Don’t miss the model of the Old City.
- Mount of Olives. Your tour bus will take you there. But if you can hike up for a sunrise alone or with your spouse, you’ll thank me.
- Kidron Valley. Stay with your group!
- Church of All Nations (Garden of Gethsemene)
- Dominus Flavit. Traditional site where Jesus wept.
- Western Wall
- Western Wall Tunnels. Fascinating. You’ll see part of a first-century sidewalk and stones the size of half a football field.
- Temple Mount. A must-see.
- Via Dolorosa. It can be cliché to carry the cross through the stations of the cross. But if that’s on your list, own it and never look back.
- The old City Market. Check out Zak’s for some decent antiquities.
- The Garden Tomb. Probably not THE tomb, but it provides a great look at how first-century tombs looked.
- The Upper Room. The traditional site where Jesus and the disciples had the last supper. ‘Traditional’ is the operative word here.
- The Southern Steps. Here you’ll find pieces of the original temple wall and some original mikvahs.
- Church of the Holy Sepulcher. A church built over the traditional site of the tomb Jesus was placed in. Get in line to see the stone bench. Stay for the door ceremony at the end of the day.
- Church of Saint Anne. Located next to the pools of Bethesda, the Via Dolorosa starts here.
- Mount Scopus Lookout. Another lookout of the Temple Mount from the North East.
What you will probably miss in Jerusalem.
The City of David archaeological dig (Official Website) is something relatively new. At least in the last decade. For centuries the site was covered by houses. As land opened up, archaeologists have been able to dig and uncover parts of the original city from the time of David. The dig is across the street from the Southern Steps.
One of the fascinating finds was the original city wall about halfway up the slope from the Kidron Valley. Even more fascinating is another wall just a little higher up than the main wall. Archaeologists have determined this to be Nehemiah’s Wall.
In the book of his namesake, Nehemiah leads a building campaign to rebuild the wall. The Israelites accomplish the feat in 56 days. Though the book does not say how they built it so fast, because the wall was higher up, its perimeter is shorter.
Hezekiah’s Tunnel (2 Kings 20). When the Assyrians invaded Jerusalem in 701 BCE, King Hezekiah had a tunnel carved that lead from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam. Known as Hezekiah’s Tunnel, tourists can walk through it from the City of David to the pool. If the tunnel is on your itinerary, wear sandals or shoes you don’t mind getting wet. And be prepared for a few tight spaces.
Around Jerusalem.
One site I recommend you put on your ‘must-see, no compromises’ list is the Judean Wilderness. There are a couple of lookout points that are frequented by tourists. It doesn’t matter which one you choose. What you’ll see is miles and miles of untamed wilderness. The exact same wilderness Abraham, David, and Jesus saw.
Some tours skip the lookout points because they can be a bit of a detour. If it’s not on your itinerary and you have a day off in Jerusalem, I recommend finding a way to get out there. The lookouts aren’t far. The whole trip might take an hour or two at most. Your quiet time with God will thank you.
Bethlehem is a bit of a dump these days, but it’s a must-see for any Holy Land tour. You’ll stop at the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherds Field. Both have some kind of claim as the birthplace of Jesus. Beware of the so-called ‘tour guides’ that will bombard you at the Church of the Nativity. They aren’t tour guides, nor is the price worth it.
What you’ll probably miss around Jerusalem.
The Herodian is a palace complex built into a hill. Although Herod was a horrible person, one of the things he did was commission several epic engineering projects. The Temple rebuild was one; another was the port at Caesarea. For the Herodian, his engineers carved out the center of a hill and constructed a fortified compound inside.
Herod knew he was not liked. So, he built several fortified palace compounds where he could escape to during a revolt. The Herodian is replete with all the amenities a rich ruler could want. Including a small theater so he could entertain his Roman guests.
The Rift valley.
The journey east can often be accomplished in a day if done right. The sites you’ll visit are the 1) dig site at Jericho, 2) Qumran, 3) the Dead Sea, and 4) Masada.
Also known as Tell es-Sultan, Archaeologists first dug the ancient city of Jericho up in the 1800s. In the 1950s, Kathleen Kenyon uncovered a great amount of detail, including the Tower of Jericho.
Qumran is where the Dead Sea Scrolls were unearthed in 1948. To date, ten caves have been discovered. The Essenes were a monastic culture that lived and worked at Qumran. They maintained strict rules making new copies of scrolls and properly disposing of old ones.
The Dead Sea needs no introduction. Every tour stops at one of the many tourist swimming spots. Make sure to have your suit and your sandals ready to go. Most places will have gift shops where you can buy Dead Sea mineral lotions as well.
Masada is a mountain fortress built by Herod’s engineers for him. The compound sits on top of a mesa overlooking the Dead Sea. The engineers designed it to be self-sustaining. An intricate labyrinth of gutters and cisterns replenish and hold water year-round. It even had fields for growing crops and tending to farm animals. In 73 CE, a small band of Jewish rebels led by Josephus barricaded themselves on top.
For nine months, the Tenth Roman Legion laid siege to Masada. Jewish slaves built a ramp to the top. Twigs, branches, and grass matting were used to create stabilizing layers as dirt piled up. The weaved vegetation gave structure to the ramp and made it sturdy. The ramp still exists today. If the bus drops you off on the west side of the park, you get to walk up the ramp!
What you’ll probably miss in the Rift Valley.
Ein Gedi (1 Samuel 24) is where David and his band of marauders hid from Saul. We don’t know which cave David hid from Saul in. Today, there is a tourist stop where travelers and city dwellers can cool off in the natural springs. A trail leads from the main pools into a ravine. It’s a short little hike and can give you a great idea for how David and his men possibly lived during exile.
Final Thoughts.
The list above is not exhaustive by any means. And I didn’t even get to Southern Israel or Samaria. Both areas have interesting and significant sites you should see someday.
It’s probably a good idea for you to set some expectations for your tour right now.
If you think this is all you’re going to get, focus on the experience over the site list. Make sure you get a good group leader and group. Any tour with a good leader will make sure you hit the good sites.
The desire to go on a tour of the Holy Land is a great desire to have. Whether this trip will be your only trip or the first or one of many, God has you on the right path. Like the debates about where the pile of rocks should go, you don’t need a hard point to interact with God. he will meet you wherever and whenever He wants. He may even wait until you’re home to have that interaction.
