If Jerusalem is the part of the trip that demands, Galilee is the part that gives. It is green, low and unhurried, and the distances between sites are short enough that a day here does not feel like a march. Groups who schedule Galilee first often arrive in Jerusalem better able to receive it.
The boat ride is the moment people talk about afterwards. Not because it is spectacular — it is a quiet hour on a small lake — but because it is the first time on most itineraries that nobody is being moved along. For a pastor who has not sat still in months, that hour does a great deal.
Highlights
- A boat ride on the Sea of Galilee
- Capernaum and the Mount of Beatitudes
- The Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth
- The Jordan River baptismal site at Yardenit
Best time to go: Spring and autumn; summer is hot, though the lake stays pleasant.
