Have you been to the Holy Land?

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PS. A few places I forgot or that opened since my second trip:

Google the Jesus Trail (opened 2008) and Gospel Trail (opened 2011).

Qasr el Yahud, where Jesus may or may not have actually been baptised, reopened in 2011.

I have not been to Neot Kedumim (Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel) but it looks well worth seeing.

Kafr Kanna, possibly the location of the biblical Cana, certainly the leading contender in Christian tradition, if not actual fact.

Something worth remembering if considering a trip to the Holy Land is that many sites are contested and the evidence for certain events happening at particular locations is often scarce or non-existent. You have to go with the understanding that to some extent what you are seeing has significance not because its importance is proven by the latest archaeological or historical scholarship, but because it has been venerated by Christians since ancient times.

Some great non-religious destinations: Ramat Gan Safari Park, Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, snorkelling and swimming opportunities, great beaches.

Best to keep out of the politics of the Middle East, but do remember that a large minority of Palestinians are Christians. Wearing or displaying a keffiyeh is a traditional way of indicating to Palestinians that one comes in friendship. It’s good to meet people on both sides of the conflict (as well as those who aren’t really on either side and are just stuck in between).

It will be interesting to know whether you do go! 🙂

Oh, and remember that it’s seriously hot, especially if you make it down to Sinai. I’ve been in the spring and the middle of summer and would choose spring or autumn again, not summer.
 
After being there twice, I’ve told people that you don’t visit Israel-- you experience it.
 
Londoner said:
Israel does not have a particularly great public transport network, so the main options for the visitor seem to be an organised tour or hire a car.
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I’m surprised you say that. I found the Egged bus services excellent, as good as, or better than, the bus services in any other country I’ve been to. I don’t know about rail travel―I’ve never been on an Israeli train, unless you count the Carmelit, the mile-long underground funicular railway in Haifa, running from the seafront up to the top of Mount Carmel.

For getting around in Galilee, my suggestion would be a car hire. The roads are very good, there’s no heavy traffic, and―an important consideration―the distances are short. The complete circuit of the Sea of Galilee is less than 40 miles. We did it twice, once in each direction. Unforgettable! We didn’t attempt to drive in Jerusalem, though. That’s a place to see on foot.
 
Apologies, that was probably too general an observation. I think it would be more fair to say that I don’t think Israel’s public transport infrastructure is as extensive as Britain’s, especially with regard to rail infrastructure.

Yes, a lot of the main sites that visitors want to see are on bus routes. Some places are impossible to visit by public transport, e.g. there is no bus to Nabi Musa, the supposed tomb of Moses. I think the thing most people say about buses in Israel is that the network hasn’t been designed with tourists in mind. For example, you’d think that buses would stop at Capernaum, but actually you have to carry on to Kfar Nahum Intersection and then walk back. Just looking at the bus schedule from Tiberius (which I guess is a common base for seeing this area) to Kfar Nahum Intersection, there are only six buses a day, which isn’t that helpful if you’re trying to fit in as much as possible in a day. I guess you’d combine it with Tabgha (30 mins on foot). But then it is impossible to get from Tabgha to the Church of the Beatitudes. You are forced to take a bus for literally 2 minutes on Highway 90 because there is no footpath. It seems ridiculous to me, as somebody who doesn’t drive, that it would be barely more than 1 km from Tabgha (where Jesus is reputed both to have performed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes and to have appointed Peter as the rock of the Church) to the site where Jesus is reputed to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and yet it takes half an hour to get there by bus (most of that time actually spent on foot) because nobody thought to put in a footpath! Of course, you can do it in 5 minutes by car.

So, yes, I was probably a bit too hasty in saying that, but I also think that if you’re trying to tour Israel and the West Bank and wanting to see as much as possible in the most efficient way then a car is going to be a lot easier than combining lots of bus routes, and I say that as somebody who can’t drive a car and has travelled everywhere on public transport!
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I’m supposed to go soon. I’m a bit nervous, but two Jewish people who each have visited there multiple times are telling me it’s great and I’ll love it.

I would very much like to go here and get a Jerusalem Cross like the pilgrims used to do, but I don’t know if schedule will permit.

http://razzouktattoo.com/
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I spent 3 weeks there on a pilgrimage in 95. I went everywhere. FANTASTIC !!! One who goes there will not read scripture in the same way again.
 
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Point taken about bus services along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I didn’t even attempt to catch a bus anywhere in that area, because we’d hired a car. But we went by bus from Jerusalem through the territories down to Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea, for example, and across Jerusalem from the Old City to the Israel Museum. Quick, comfortable – no hassle at all.

Which reminds me. A month or two ago, on another thread, I posted this comment:

In a strange city, once, when I was leaving the country after a visit, I got on a bus to the airport with all my baggage. There were no seats available and I was content to stand all the way – it wasn’t far. But near the front of the bus there was a group of army personnel in uniform, about seven or eight of them, and one of them, a young woman, got up and offered me her seat. I accepted gladly, since apart from anything else it meant I had somewhere to put my baggage.

The city was Jerusalem and I’ve always held the IDF in high regard ever since.

https://forums.catholic-questions.org/t/problem-getting-a-seat-at-mass/
 
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The tour group that was used by our diocese Office of the Missions was Catholic Travel Centre in Burbank, CA. I think they put together a package chosen by the diocese based on requests, but I’ not really sure. The trip we were on was a little more modest than some of the ones I read about, but it was perfect for up. Modest hotel in Jerusalem and we stayed at a convent in Nazareth which had an first excavation of first century homes underneath. The nuns originally used dynamite to explore it.

A couple who are friends of ours went with a group Steve Ray led. It was more stylish and visited more sites. Each of us were very with the trip.
 
LittleFlower said:
will do just that, thanks so much for the suggestion. 🌷

What was your favourite place, where did something resonate with you?
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Ther were many places that were great to reflect on the Life of Jesus, and, I think each is affected differently.

For me, the following sequence deeply resonated with me it that it made present the real love and sacrifice of our Lord:
  • Church of All nations at the Mount of Olives, also known as the Basilica of Agony. This is where Jesus went out to pray at the Last Supper. It is purposely somber and dim.
  • Praying and meditating on the Stations of the Cross as we walked the Via Dolorosa to o the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
  • Finally having mass with our priest and small group in Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, where Jesus was laid.
 
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My first trip to Jerusalem was in 1965, when most of the holy sites were in Jordan. Even though we heard a fair amount of gun shots, it was the more peaceful trip. We went on a pilgrimage with Muslim guides, and our priest was a Franciscan Monk, he knew a lot of people in Jerusalem and I think we had a privileged tour.

My lasting memory was walking in the Garden of Gethsemane, it is said the olive trees date back to the time of Jesus. I served mass in several places including inside the tomb at the Holy Sepulchre and the Star of Bethlehem.

We had a tour inside the Dome of the Rock, built on Mount Moriah, the site of the original Temple, where it is said Abraham was sent to sacrifice his son.
The original Temple had the ten commandments, and Jesus recognised this as a most sacred place. It is also said, the Prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven to meet all the other prophets, so the Dome is a most sacred place for the Jews, Christians and Muslims.

As you walk through Jerusalem, there are a number of wells, you look down about five metres and that is where the street was when Jesus Walked. On our second trip in 2009, our Jewish guide pointed out a number of conflicting theories as to where various biblical events may have happened.

The upper room of the last supper was interesting, there were theories as to why it may have been in an upper room above the tomb of King David. There were other theories as to why it may have been in a room that is now a basement. The basement would have been about the right height of the ground from the street level of two thousand years ago.

The biggest difference I noticed in our 2009 pilgrimage were the queues for many of the holy sites. You could wait for an hour to be in the place you want to be, and you are conscious that there is an hours queue behind you, so there was little time for reflection, this was in October.
 
Enjoyed staying in Jerusalem and doing the Friday Stations of the cross. Lots of history in the walled city and there is also a hop on hop off type bus for travelling around outside Jerusalem. Quite a few day trips - Bet Shean was good as was Ein Gedi on the way to the Dead Sea and the Masada fortress. The Sea of Galilee and the Nazarene church were also highlights.
 
And I would like to walk the path to Calvary where Jesus’ blood touched the stones… and see the lay of the land. I know it’s not all the way he saw it, but some of it would be the same.
 
abucs said:
Enjoyed staying in Jerusalem and doing the Friday Stations of the cross. Lots of history in the walled city and there is also a hop on hop off type bus for travelling around outside Jerusalem. Quite a few day trips - Bet Shean was good as was Ein Gedi on the way to the Dead Sea and the Masada fortress. The Sea of Galilee and the Nazarene church were also highlights.
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When the Muslim chant from the Mosques, could be heard all over Jerusalem, 5 times a day, calling them to prayer, I used each occasion as a reminder it’s time to pray 5 decades of the Rosary for conversions, AND all intentions I’ve been asked to pray for …
 
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I noticed that also, and used that time to pray for all the Christians in the Holy Land.
 
One place that is still the same—not part of the path to Calvary, but stones that Jesus certainly walked on many times—is the flight of steps leading up to the gates in the southern wall of the Temple Mount, revealed by archeological excavations that began as recently as the 1960s.

en.wikipedia.org

Southern Wall - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
My husband and I had the privilege of going there last year. We went on our own and took a day tour out of Jerusalem. I have never been anywhere like it before. There is a sign before you enter the Wall, which tells everyone to be respectful of the area because God’s Presence continually dwells there. I must say that I actually felt God’s presence hanging in the air over Jerusalem. His presence seemed to permeate everywhere. I don’t know how else to explain it.

If you’re at all interested in The Tabernacle or The Holy Temple, then I must recommend a museum called “The Temple Institute” in Jerusalem. They only have one or two tours a day in English, so if you intend to go, you may have to find out the times beforehand if you’re on a tight schedule. That was almost the highlight of our whole trip.

We’re hoping to go again next year.
 
Went last year as a surprise birthday trip. Total lapsed Catholic (didn’t know, didn’t care) but really just fancied seeing Israel for tourist sites (“a few sights linked to stories from my Catholic school days” as I put it to a friend. I was much more interested in Jewish places of significance ) Dead Sea/Treks etc. Did it totally independently using buses.

A few days in, I went to Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Went back to hotel room and cried my eyes out for no reason. Couldn’t stop crying for hours. I couldn’t tell you the reason. My husband was totally puzzled.

I wasn’t quite ready to go back to God until 2 months later but something definitely started in Jerusalem.
 
Your testimony brought tears to my eyes. I would LOVE to go to the Holy Land!
 
@Latetotheparty, This is the first time I ever met anyone, either face to face or online, who experienced what you are describing here. Nevertheless, I have to say that somehow it doesn’t surprise me at all.
 
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