When planning your pilgrimage to the Holy Land, please consider these 3 reasons why you should hire a Jerusalem tour guide!

A picture of the old city with text overlay for Pinterest

 

Can you do Jerusalem on your own and without any tour guides? Yes, absolutely. That’s what my husband and I did on our first trip there mostly because we were on a tight budget. After seeing Jerusalem on my own and with a tour, I would say the happy medium is somewhere in-between. I would DEFINITELY hire a Jerusalem tour guide for the day to take you through the Old City. 

See my 3 day Jerusalem itinerary here!  In this Best of Jerusalem Travel – a 3 Day Itinerary, discover the best of what this holy city has to offer and how to see it in in just 3 days!

While you can do the Old City on your own, with a guide it is so much easier. The first time you step into the Old City you might be overwhelmed with sites, sounds, smells, people, and thoughts of “Oh my gosh, how did they get a car up this walkway?!”. When my family and I take a future trip to Israel, we will definitely hire a guide–if anything to help with logistics.

3 Reasons Why you should Hire a Tour Guide in Jerusalem:

  1. Tour guides really know their stuff. Tour guides in Israel have to go through a series of courses and tests to become guides. And they seriously know their history! I learned SO much from our tour guides, including insights that were never mentioned in travel books or on the internet. There is so much to see in Jerusalem, and so much of it is hidden from first glance, the way the city is literally built on layer upon layer of history. Our guides were able to point out details I would have otherwise missed.
  2. You get to skip the line. At a few of the attractions like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, we were able to skip the queue because our tour guide pre-arranged our visit. This is a huge time saver, especially during the busy tour season.
  3. Tour guides take care of all of the logistics. For me, part of the stress of planning a trip is figuring out how to get from point A to B, and what the best and most logical flow of touring is. Tour guides take all the hassle out of travel. A good tour guide will check operating hours, obtain tickets, make reservations, and handle problems when they arise.

Jerusalem Tour Guide

My Jerusalem Tour Guide Recommendations:

  • Yuval Statman. He can be your tour guide all over Israel, not just in Jerusalem. His depth of knowledge outweighs any guidebook or audio guide.
  • Allan Younger. He’s a Jerusalemite whose passion for his city and its rich history permeates his tours.

Have you been to Jerusalem? Do you have Jerusalem tour guide that you love and would like to recommend? If so, then leave a comment below with their information!

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One Comment

  1. Rhianna Hawk says:

    My husband and I are considering going on vacation to Jerusalem to reconnect with our roots, as I have ancestors from there, and I think you’re right that having a tour guide would really help our experience. It’s great that you mention that guides can pick up on things that we otherwise would miss, as I really want to get to know the real city rather than just what you glance at the surface, and being able to skip lines would be really nice as well, for sure. Having someone else take care of deciding where we go and when would save me a lot of stress as well, I agree, especially as I really don’t know the city like they would and wouldn’t know what places are easiest to get to from where.