Guided Walking Holiday in the Holy Land and Abraham’s Path.
Included in Cost:
• 8 nights Accomm in Hotels, Family Home, Beduoin.
• 8 Breakfast – Dinner each evening. varied selection of local dishes.
• 6 Guided Walks with Packed lunches
• Visit many ancient sites and the Dead Sea.
• Tours of Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Hebron
• Transfers for the duration of the 9 day tour.
• English speaking guides
Cost: €1445pps, Members: €1345pps
Single Supplement €250;
Deposit of €145 required at the time of booking.
Recommended Flights (Not Included in Cost)
Depart: Dublin to Tel Aviv: April 30th – Air France 06:00 – 15:30
Return: Tel Aviv to Dublin: May 8th – Air France 16:40 – 22:40
Walking Holiday in Palestine and the Holy Land
Tour Description
Walking Holiday in Palestine.
Walking along the Path of Abraham
“Discover the ancient wonders of this part of the middle east, the birthplace of many religions and the locations from many Biblical stories from Jericho to Bethlehem. You will be passing through thousands of years of history that is etched in every small town to old cliff side monasteries and monuments. Palestine is a real place of discovery from the dead sea to the River Jordan to vast deserts and deep mountain Gorges.”
On this Walking Holiday in Palestine we will be walking Abraham’s Path. This trail travels north to south through the West Bank of Palestine. Your Journey starts from the Old town of Nablus. This was once once a thriving market place. For centuries many travelers passed through the middle east from the Persians to Romans and the Ottomans. Thee are still many markets here and Turkish Baths from the Ottoman empire.
From Neblus we make our way south through small towns, mountains, open plains and deserts as we follow in the footsteps of Abraham towards his final resting place in Hebron.
Along our way we visit many locations of great historical and religious importance such as the Dead sea, the River Jordan and Bethlehem to name a few. We will also be spending some time in Jerusalem.
Highlights: Path of Abraham | Masar Ibrahim al-Khalil | Nablus | Roman Sebastiya | Auja Bedouins camp | Jabal Awrma | Duma | Ain Samia | Sleep in a Bedouin camp | Wadi el-Qult | Jericho | Dead Sea swim | Mar Saba Monastery | Nebi musa | Rashaydeh desert |Bethlehem | Church of the Nativity| Banksy Hotel | Jerusalem |
Itinerary
Walking Holiday in Palestine and Jerusalem- 9 Day Itineray
Day 1: Fly into Tel Aviv and Transfer from the airport to Nablus
Dinner and overnight stay at hotel in Nablus. Depending on time of arrival there may be time to visit some of this old town and it’s famous market area.
Day 2: Awarta to Duma
Walk Details: Distance: 15.14Km, Elevation Gain: 374m
Transfer to Awarta village and begin our walk along the Masar Ibrahim al Khalil (Abrahams Path). From here we will walk south through Palestine’s northern highlands.
A cultivated Mediterranean landscape of olive groves, wheat fields and limestone villages. There is an interesting exploration of herbal lore and traditional plant medicine to be done along the way.
Walk Details: Distance: 11.06Km, Elevation Gain: 79m (from Kufr Malek)
We leave the village of Duma and head south. We will be walking most of the way towards the Auja Valley. This brings us out in the Jordan River valley just north of Jericho. Here we will spend the night with the Bedouin, whose way of life has remained unchanged for millennia.
They now find themselves forced to the very margins of society. When we reach the Bedouin tent in Auja, there is time to introduce the group and get an insight into how these people live. The Bedouin people are very friendly and social, they are mainly shepherds and have been in this area for hundreds of years.
Walk Details: Distance: 4.56Km, Elevation Gain: 50m (from St George’s monastery)
From our camp at Auja we get a transfer to St George Monastery. The monastery of St George sits built into the cliff face of large gorge and it was originally founded when the early Christians were chased out of this area by the Persians.
After our visit here we then walk toward Jericho City, until we reach the Palace of Herod. the we take a transfer to the dead sea for a dip and then back to Jerihco
Walk Details: Distance: 6.70Km, Elevation Gain: 305m (from Kidron Valley)
Transfer to Nebi musa, we then walk south through the desert landscape that rises to the west of the Dead Sea. The path brings us to the edge of the Kidron Valley or Wadi alJoz, This is a deep limestone canyon, from where we can see the even more remote and spectacular desert monastery of Mar Saba. This monastery was built into the cliff face on the opposite side of the ravine.
After we have explored this area we are then transferred to Bethlehem. We will visit the old city of Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity, Banksy Hotel *The Walled Off Hotel” and many other famous locations.
Dinner and overnight at a hotel in Bethlehem
Day 6: Wadi Jihar to Rashaydeh
Walk Details: Distance: 13.28Km, Elevation Gain: 300m (from Wadi Jihar)
In the morning we are transferred to wadi el jihar. The hike begins in the Jerusalem wilderness and descends into the spectacular Wadi Jihar, a deep limestone canyon. The hike will be from the beginning of wadi Jihar to the entrance of Rashaydeh village.
There will be a choose to continue to walk extra to Beduoin Camp if you choose (+ 7Km)
Dinner and overnight with the Bedouins in Rashaydeh
Walk Details: Distance: 13.31Km, Elevation Gain: 420m
Today we will hike from the Rashaydeh desert area to Bani Naim. This is a mountain area from which Abraham watched the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Jordan Valley below. The terrain is rocky and uneven. After our walk we will travel to Hebron. Here we will do a tour of the old city and it’s famous markets.
Then we transfer to Jerusalem. Once reaching Jerusalem, there will be some time to explore this incredible historical and Biblical city.
We have included an extra day here to really discover this city and do some tours. This is one of the oldest and probably most famous cities in the World. It is considered holy to the three major Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. There are so many important sites here that you need the extra day to explore them.
In Arabic, Jerusalem is most commonly known as القُدس, transliterated as al-Quds and meaning “The Holy” or “The Holy Sanctuary”. For Christians, Jerusalem is also the place where Jesus preached, died and was resurrected.
The Western Wall, Hebrew Ha-Kotel Ha-Maʿaravi, also called Wailing Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, a place of prayer and pilgrimage sacred to the Jewish people.
Tour the old city of Jerusalem in the morning and some free time to explore.
Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem
Day 9: Departure
Free time in the morning and then a
Transfer from Jerusalem to the airport
What to Bring
What to bring along for this walking holiday.
Hill walking Boots.
Walking Trousers ( Not Jeans)
Walking Shorts
Sandals
Sun Hat
Sun Glasses
Waterproofs (Just in Case)
Socks Leggings
Thermal top / T-shirt (Not Cotton)
Sun Cream
Insect Repellent
Travel Insurance:
Travel Insurance is recommend for everyone for walking in Palestine.
FAQs
The Accommodation:
We will be using a mix of 3 star hotels, local families homes and bedouin camps on this tour.
Food:
The food in Palestine is very good and fresh produce. They enjoy a lot of rice and chicken as well as fresh vegetables. The food is generally seasoned with local herbs such as thyme. They also really like their humus and eggplant. They can also cater for vegetarians and gluten free, once we know beforehand.
Breakfasts are included and can range from size depending on accommodation. Packed lunches are provided for the walks Evening meals are included on this tour
Note: There are many vegetarians in Palestine and these dishes are available everywhere.