Which tour Jerusalem or Jerusalem and Bethlehem?

[Iceman-007]

Which tour should I take? Jerusalem or the tour that goes Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

 

 

In Bethlehem the Palistein law states that there must be shopping which I do Not care about, I would rather see more sites. In Bethlehem the tour will be there 2 1/2 hours which means less time in Jerusalem.

[paul929207]

We spent 6 days in Jerusalem, and it included an afternoon tour to Bethlehem. I think we spent more time at the shop than at the Church of the Nativity. With a couple of days I would definitely skip Bethlehem. With 4 days like you, it would be a toss up. If you are religious and really want to go to where Jesus was born, go for it.

[Cruzer Two]

Which tour should I take? Jerusalem or the tour that goes Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

 

 

In Bethlehem the Palistein law states that there must be shopping which I do Not care about, I would rather see more sites. In Bethlehem the tour will be there 2 1/2 hours which means less time in Jerusalem.

 

 

Iceman,

 

This is really a tough decision. The border crossing from Israel to Bethlehem can consume lots of time and the lines at the Church of the Nativity are usually quite long. After visiting the church we were escorted to a store to purchase souvenirs, but very few people bought anything so we didn’t stay very long. I would guess that the entire excursion might have taken around 2 1/2 hours.

 

Our land tour consisted of three days in the Jerusalem, so Bethlehem didn’t prevent us from seeing all of the sights that we wanted to see in Jerusalem. It is difficult to cram everything into a one-day shore excursion. I guess that I would have to compare the two excursions and see what would be missed by going to Bethlehem and then make the difficult choice. You could easily spend a week seeing all of the sights in and around Jerusalem.

 

Click on the link at the bottom of my message for information on viewing my youtube videos of Israel. Maybe this will help to make up your mind. As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words”.

 

I hope this help in some small way to help with your difficult decision. Sorry that I couldn't be more help.

 

Ron

[Cruzer Two]

Iceman,

 

My apologies. I see from other comments that you will be in Israel for more than just one day. That being the case, I would certainly plan on going to Bethlehem. You will enjoy the experience of seeing the Church of the Naivety and the border crossing into Bethlehem will give you a glimpse into what life is like in Israel given the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.

 

Bethlehem was once a thriving tourist destination, but you will experience first-hand what the situation is today.

 

Have a great time in the Holy Lands.

 

Ron

[Iceman-007]

Iceman,

 

My apologies. I see from other comments that you will be in Israel for more than just one day. That being the case, I would certainly plan on going to Bethlehem. You will enjoy the experience of seeing the Church of the Naivety and the border crossing into Bethlehem will give you a glimpse into what life is like in Israel given the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.

 

Bethlehem was once a thriving tourist destination, but you will experience first-hand what the situation is today.

 

Have a great time in the Holy Lands.

 

Ron

 

I am in 4 days in Israel but 3 of the days I have other excursion booked.

[cruisemom42]

If you are only going to be in Jerusalem one day on this cruise, I would skip Bethlehem unless it is important to you to see it. I really enjoyed the Church of the Nativity on my land tour, but the associated hassles of border crossing and forced shopping mean that the tour takes more time than it should......and I'd rate many other things in Jerusalem that you would have to skip much more highly.

 

Stay in Jerusalem for the day. That's what I did when I visited by cruise ship, and it barely seemed like enough time to scratch the surface. Even with four days there, I still didn't see everything I wanted.

[Cruzer Two]

Iceman,

 

Since your only have one day in Jerusalem, I would agree with Cruisemom. The amount of time spent in Bethlehem could be put to better use in Jerusalem.

 

Have fun!

 

Ron

[paul929207]

Iceman,

 

Since your only have one day in Jerusalem, I would agree with Cruisemom. The amount of time spent in Bethlehem could be put to better use in Jerusalem.

 

Have fun!

 

Ron

Iceman state that he has 4 days in Jerusalem. He already has tour planned for three of the days and this question is to help him decide on the fourth day

[cruisemom42]

Iceman state that he has 4 days in Jerusalem. He already has tour planned for three of the days and this question is to help him decide on the fourth day

 

No, my understanding is that he has four days in Israel, not four days in Jerusalem -- probably two in Haifa and two in Ashdod, which several Celebrity cruises are doing this year. And he says he has tours (presumably to other parts of Israel) for the other 3 days.

 

At least, that's what I got from reading the posts!

[ORCRUISER]

We are booked on private tours doing one day out of Haifa and one day Masada and Dead Sea. The third and final day is Jerusalem. We are Christian and it is a private tour so what would you suggest we see?

[Keith1010]

Which tour should I take? Jerusalem or the tour that goes Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

 

 

In Bethlehem the Palistein law states that there must be shopping which I do Not care about, I would rather see more sites. In Bethlehem the tour will be there 2 1/2 hours which means less time in Jerusalem.

 

I would do both and I say this from experience. I've done it both ways.

 

No matter what you do you will not have enough time to see everything. It would take days, weeks, or even months.

 

On our last visit we did the combined tour and I am very glad we did.

 

We were taken to one store and we were there for 30 minutes. While we are not big shoppers, the store was actually quite nice and it provided a little time to reflect on what we had seen.

 

Keith