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Bethlehem, Jericho, and Qasr El Yahud Day Trip from Tel Aviv
Badge of ExcellenceTel Aviv, Israel
From $135.00
Select Date and Travelers
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
- 11 hours
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Step back to biblical times on this full-day tour to Jericho and Bethlehem from Tel Aviv. With an expert guide to provide informative commentary throughout, travel to ancient Jericho, dubbed the ‘City of Palm Trees’ down the ages. Gaze at Mt. Temptation and see some of Jericho’s biblical sites, including Zacchaeus’ tree and Elijah’s Spring. In Bethlehem, explore the spellbinding Church of the Nativity, and stop at Shepherds’ Field, identified with one of the Bible's most important tales—the shepherds who saw the Star of the Nativity.
- Full-day trip to Bethlehem and Jericho from Tel Aviv, with an expert guide
- Travel through the Judean desert and pass the Inn of the Good Samaritan
- See Jericho’s fabled biblical sites, including Mt. Temptation and Zacchaeus' tree
- Visit Bethlehem’s Church and Grotto of the Nativity, where Jesus is believed to have been born
- View Shepherds’ Field
- Learn the biblical narratives and history behind each site from your guide
- Travel by comfortable, air-conditioned coach
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Professional guide
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Food and drinks, unless specified
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Start time
06:40 AM
Pickup details
Please note that our pickup/drop-off is available from a few central hotels only. Please select the hotel closest to your address from the drop-down menu on the tour page. If you are not sure which of the listed hotels is a good fit, please choose the option “I don’t see my pickup location” and insert enter your accommodation address. After the booking is approved by the local tour operator, a confirmation email from Bein Harim will be sent to you mentioning the final pickup point closest to your address. Please read the email with the attached booking confirmation carefully to make sure you are waiting for the pickup at the correct location. Please make sure to wait for the pickup at the hotel entrance.
What To Expect
Board an air-conditioned coach at your central Tel Aviv hotel and set out on your day trip to Bethlehem and Jericho.
Travel through the Judean Desert to your first stop, the ancient city of Jericho. On route, pass the site of the Inn of the Good Samaritan, the location linked to the biblical parable.
Admire views of the Jordan Valley, and as you near Jericho, hear the Old Testament story of how the trumpets of the Israelite army brought down its city walls. Hear, too, how Jericho was described in the Hebrew Bible as the ‘City of Palm Trees,’ for its lush palm groves and oases.
Stop for photos of the rocky cliffs of nearby Mt. Temptation, and then head into the palm-filled city to explore some of its ancient and biblical sites.
Visit the Tell es-Sultan mound, home to the remains of the earliest city settlements; see Elisha’s Spring, an ancient water source mentioned in the Bible; and gaze at the sycamore tree from where, according to the Bible, the tax collector Zacchaeus gained a better view of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago.
Back aboard your coach, continue to Bethlehem, the holy city traditionally held to be Jesus’ birthplace. Walk around Manger Square, the hub of religious activity in the city. Head inside the revered Church of the Nativity on the square and visit the Grotto of the Nativity, where a star marks the place of Jesus' birth.
Then, view the Church of St. Catherine. Finally, see Shepherds’ Field, where a church marks the place fabled as where shepherds saw the Star of the Nativity.
Your trip concludes with drop-off at your Tel Aviv hotel.
Travel through the Judean Desert to your first stop, the ancient city of Jericho. On route, pass the site of the Inn of the Good Samaritan, the location linked to the biblical parable.
Admire views of the Jordan Valley, and as you near Jericho, hear the Old Testament story of how the trumpets of the Israelite army brought down its city walls. Hear, too, how Jericho was described in the Hebrew Bible as the ‘City of Palm Trees,’ for its lush palm groves and oases.
Stop for photos of the rocky cliffs of nearby Mt. Temptation, and then head into the palm-filled city to explore some of its ancient and biblical sites.
Visit the Tell es-Sultan mound, home to the remains of the earliest city settlements; see Elisha’s Spring, an ancient water source mentioned in the Bible; and gaze at the sycamore tree from where, according to the Bible, the tax collector Zacchaeus gained a better view of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago.
Back aboard your coach, continue to Bethlehem, the holy city traditionally held to be Jesus’ birthplace. Walk around Manger Square, the hub of religious activity in the city. Head inside the revered Church of the Nativity on the square and visit the Grotto of the Nativity, where a star marks the place of Jesus' birth.
Then, view the Church of St. Catherine. Finally, see Shepherds’ Field, where a church marks the place fabled as where shepherds saw the Star of the Nativity.
Your trip concludes with drop-off at your Tel Aviv hotel.
Judaean Desert (Pass By)
Jericho
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Zaccheus' Tree
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Mount of Temptation Monastery (Pass By)
Bethlehem
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Church of the Nativity
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Qasr al-Yahud Baptismal Site
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
- When visiting Bethlehem, you will be met by a Palestinan guide at the boarder and may require a change of vehicle
- Due to visitors overload a visit down to Nativity cave is not always possible
- Please note this tour is not suitable for children under the age of 4
- Near public transportation
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
- Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
Traveler Photos
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Featured review
Sofia_C
Itamar, our excellent guide made this tour unforgettable. from my experience he is one of the best guides, knowledgeable, caring ready to answer all our questions. I was really impressed with his deep knowledge of the subject.
Reviews
4.5
99 reviews
Steven_O, Nov 2022
The tour is offered from Tel Aviv but you have to go to Jerusalem to pick up people from there, then from Bethlehem you'll have to go back to Jerusalem to drop off people from your tour going to a different tour wich is a huge lost of time.
Response from Host, Nov 2022
Yes indeed on this tour there are transportation logistics.Since covid we are still.in a process, and volumes of travelers is what dictates time management and bus transfers etc
We are trying our utmost to re create smooth operations and transport for all travelers. but cannot please everyone.however much we try.
Sofia_C, Oct 2022
Itamar, our excellent guide made this tour unforgettable. from my experience he is one of the best guides, knowledgeable, caring ready to answer all our questions. I was really impressed with his deep knowledge of the subject.
Response from Host, Oct 2022
Thanks so much for sharing your immense satisfaction with our guide Itamar.He sure is worthy of such praise for his efforts,wealth of knowledge and great engaging manner.
casey_a, Jun 2022
I am catching a corona virus now. I want to cancel all my day trips after Bethlehem Jericho day trips . Thank you!
Response from Host, Jun 2022
Dear Casey,
We are sorry to hear you have fallen ill with Covid. Could you please contact the Viator Operations team directly to cancel the tours? This is a review area and Viator's Operations team does not read it.
We wish you the soonest recovery.
Sincerely,
Bein Harim's team
Diane_S, May 2022
The Palestinian guide was good. The Israel guides not so good. Because the Israel guide was so slow along with several on the tour, we missed entrance to a cave. Also not happy the 1/2 Tel Aviv not available as advertised. Full day tour very expensive and not worth additional cost over 1/2 day.
Response from Host, May 2022
Dear Diane,
we are happy that you were satisfied with the tour to Bethlehem, Jericho, and Qasr El Yahud. Find it hard to understand that the guide was slow, or rather the group's management required this.
Regarding your complaint about the half-day tour of Tel Aviv which is obviously not a part of Bethlehem, Jericho, and Qasr El Yahud Day Trip from Tel Aviv.
Some of our Tel Aviv tours run with a minimum amount of registrations. Clearly, if the Tel Aviv tour you were trying to book was not available, this was the case, not enough travellers registered in order to operate it. We have no control on this! Our prices are completely the market going rate.
Sincerely,
Bein Harim team
Nidhi_S, Dec 2020
It was memorial day to visit this place.
Felt so great visiting church .tour guide was very nice humble and good care taker.
Jacqueline_V, Feb 2020
Really disappointing but this was more to do with the coach and organisation of the company than the things you will see. Firstly we were picked up from Tel Aviv assuming that we would head straight for Bethlehem but this was not to be. We had to go to Jerusalem (1 hour away) to drop off some people for other trips and pick up some people. We actually didn't get going to Bethlehem 2 1/2 hours after we were picked up (pick up time 7.30am, set off for Bethlehem 10 am). The guide although very good, spoke too close to the microphone and because the coach was old the sound system had seen better days. Consequently we could only catch some of the explanation which was a shame because the guide was obviously very knowledgeable. We got to Bethlehem but the queue to the tomb was so long that we just looked around the church itself, which to me was fine but to others it might be a problem. There were several stops on the journey to Bethlehem itself but we didn't have lunch until 2.30 and this was at a place in Jericho which served a set buffet for either 39 shekels or 49 shekels. There was no choice for anything cheaper and frankly it was really substandard food. Put it this way they made a quick buck out of us. The area of Jericho is actually a mount right outside the restaurant where the guide explained about the area, our main problem was that it was hazy and we didn't see that much. I did complain about this trip straight after I returned but so far have received no reply.
Ophelia1616, Oct 2019
I have always wanted to go to Bethlehem and this didn’t disappoint. The actual cave where Jesus was born has a real impact but there are two sides to it (Catholic and Orthodox) and whilst we got into the Catholic side ok, that is apparently only possible when services are not going on in the church. However the Orthodox side is where they have a manger and star - both are replacements according to our guide. The original manger is in Rome and the original star was stolen. For that side, the queue was stretching right round the church and would have taken several hours so sadly wasn’t possible in the time we had.
I found the Orthodox and Armenian sides of the church did not really feel like churches or prayerful at all; they are not set up as churches and feel like only tourist attractions with hundreds of people milling around. It didn’t help that there was construction work going on while we were there so it was noisy too. The Catholic side is clearly a working church and I would have loved more time to look round that and spend some time there but due to the tour timetable we didn’t get time. I really loved this experience though. For those wanting to shop, there is a stop along the way in a lovely shop which has amongst other things olive wood items and Bethlehem stars. You do have to walk down a lot of steps to get to the smaller minibuses which take you there though.
The second part of the trip was in Jericho which from both an archeological and religious perspective is fascinating. The bus does go past the site of the Good Samaritan on the way but it’s blink and you’ll miss it. If you want a photo, maybe ask the tour guide to tell you in advance as by the time they mentioned it, it had flashed past. We did see the site of Zacchaeus’ tree though and had time to stop for photos there - they believe it’s the right tree because it’s the only sycamore tree in Jericho!
It was very hot when we got to Jericho and there isn’t much shade. You do have to walk for about 5 mins or so up the side of a hill which can be difficult for those with mobility problems but for me it was worth it for the views and the archaeological sights.
Our guide for this tour was Daniel and he was excellent, he gave us some interesting information and he made sure he could be heard by everyone throughout.
Altogether definitely worth doing this trip and for me it was very special to see Bethlehem.
ManfredPaul_R, Oct 2019
Tour was advertised as English but ended up being bilingual English/Spanish. Of the 11 hours only about 2-3 hours at sites Church of Nativity, Shepard’s Valley, Jericho ruins. The rest of the time was at lunch, a gift shop, on a bus or waiting. The tour guides Itamar and Meriam and the driver Abraham were all very good.
Linda M, Mar 2018
Thank you so much for a wonderful experience! Picked up at my hotel exactly on time. Very comfortable Mercedes Vans. Tour guide was fabulous. We were lucky to get a 2nd tour guide in Bethlehem who was very knowledgeable in holy sites. I was in awe and highly recommend this company!
Rosa N, Feb 2018
I love this tour! Bethlehem and Jericho were incredible beautiful!Very well organized.
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Bethlehem, Jericho, and Qasr El Yahud Day Trip from Tel Aviv
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