Tour of Jerusalem - how to do better?

Excursions in Jerusalem with different sonorous names – “Christian Jerusalem”, “Jerusalem of the Three Religions”, Jerusalem is still something extraordinary. Everyone walks in the same old town on the same streets.

The widespread tours of Jerusalem in my opinion are poor, and this has its rational explanation. Besides the simple and superficial explanation that the sights and holy places are always the same and stand in the same places.

I will try not to mention the mass organized and regular excursions, which simply do not have enough time to delve into the topic. Even private guides on individual tours of Jerusalem often follow the same paths without changing anything. It's easier.

The main objective reason is the lack of time. When a person has only 4-5 hours net on a tour of the old city, it is difficult to break out of the usual programs. Two days for a tour of the old city of Jerusalem is often not enough.

I try to “go deep” by not eating lunch (which is not for everyone). I drive people longer. Not in every case there is such an opportunity. There are limits to perception. Jerusalem is a very powerful experience. High concentration of important and interesting objects. Lots of guides – guides, locals and taxi drivers who just lead people from one attraction to another through the intricate streets of the old city. They cause the righteous wrath of licensed guides, but sometimes they are the only way out for people who don't have $250 for a tour with a professional.

Another reason that programs are superficial and monotonous is the entrance fee in some places. Tours in Jerusalem usually take place at no additional cost. So it is easier to sell the tour - reduce the price to a minimum. Outside of such excursions, there are objects requiring payment. The ticket price per person is from 5 to 25 shekels in different places. You can pay another 20 - 30 shekels to the price of the tour and get literally into the second, underground layer of the city. I’m not talking about the famous Hasmonean tunnels under the Temple Mount wall, the Davidson Center, or the City of David. There are still a lot of interesting dungeons located right on the routes of most excursions. It is necessary to take only two steps to the side, and you from a noisy and cramped street get into another world. You don’t have to spend all day in archaeological parks. Thematic tours of the dungeons are for tourists who can spend a week on Jerusalem. Then you can visit the museums of Jerusalem, leisurely drive through the monasteries, climb the bell towers and go down to the caves.

A small section of the Arab market, through which the Via Doloroza street, the Church of the Resurrection, the Wailing Wall, sometimes the Alexandrovskoe metochion, the Tomb of the Holy Family and the Garden of Gethsemane pass. This is the usual set of any excursion program.

An individual tour can be made deeper and more interesting. On the Mount of Olives, or Olives, I like to go to the Ascension Monastery. It's a magical transition to another world. From the noisy and dirty Arab quarter you get into the silence and beauty of well-groomed alleys. I recommend everyone to go to Lifostratos or Lifostroton. Only 8 shekels per entrance, and you get to 19 centuries back in time. The ancient stones of the forum of the city of Elia Capitolina. In the Armenian Catholic Church there is a crypt – the lower floor dedicated to the meeting of Jesus with his mother. In the Coptic Church of St. Helena for 5 shekels you can see a real catchment - a huge cavity of rock under the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, preserved from the time of King Herod.