OK tour but the transportation is not great. We were told that they would pick us up at 8:30 AM at our hotel. A Taxi pulls up late and tells us he is taking us to the tour start. We get to a location and the taxi drive tells us to get out and the tour will start here. There were lots of groups of people all going to tours in different parts of Israel, so we had to keep asking around for the Bethlehem tour. We found the right person and he put us in a van with a few others and drove us to a hotel in Jerusalem were we waited another half hour for a different van to come get. That van took us half way to Bethlehem where we met another van and a car. The van could only hold six so our group split up between the car and the van. We were wondering if we would ever make it to Bethlehem but we eventually did. We visited the Shepherds field and cave and the Mary's Milk Cave. The guide provided very little information about each of the sites but you did get to see them and walk around. We went to the Church of the Nativity which was in use because our tour was on Sunday. The guide took us in part of the church and initially said we couldn't see any more because the church was in use. We also wouldn't be able to see the birth cave of Jesus because the line was too long, our group of 8 was too big, and the tour of the birth cave wouldn't be able to start until after the church service was open. Our guide found another guide who could take part of our group and we eventually were able to see the cave but we had to tip the other guide at least 20 shekels per person. _br/_ We ended the tour at a store in Bethlehem were the put strong pressure on you to buy things that are expensive and then to eat at a restaurant. I wouldn't do a tour with this group again but we did get to see all the important sites.
Review by: ANDREW G, May 2018
The trip was good and the guide excellent. However, and this was mentioned by our guide, it is NOT recommended to do this trip on a Sunday as the Church of the Nativity is crowded and there are restrictions in place for seeing it all
Review by: michael k, March 2018
There was a lot of chaos in the beginning. For a trip 5 miles away from Jerusalem, we walked 15 minutes to the meeting point and had to take three vans to get to the sights with little explanation.
Review by: corrsplay, March 2018
Low cost. Shopping time in the store is too long.
Review by: Mark J, February 2018
Terrible. More interested in the souvenir shop. We waited an hour there. No one buying but still waited. The had to walk up to Church. Church under renovation. Can’t see much. Catholic Church closed until 2 pm so missed it. Guide no history at all. Said Jesus born lived and died.Well not good enough
Review by: C S V, February 2018
Excellent tour with a lot of knowledge for Bethlehem. Recommend strongly if you only have a 1/2 day.
Review by: trudynlnl, December 2017
Pick-up at hotel and drive to Bethelem went well, but the tour itself was not as we expected. The tour-guide was showing us the important places, but he was rushing us all the time telling us that we had to hurry back to the car/bus to go to the next location. He gave us the relevant information but we didn't see/feel any enthousiasme in his guidance. But at least we saw all the things we expected to see.
Review by: Judith G, December 2017
Our tour guide in Bethlehem was knowledgable and polite. We were nervous about this excursion because we had heard that there were protests against Americans. Our guide assured us that all was well and we felt totally safe. He was knowledgeable, friendly and covered all of the sites we wanted to see. Overall, a really nice tour.
Review by: Patricia D, December 2017
Wonderful and the only way to go without stress. Great tour guide. She really cared that we saw everything and great explanations.
Review by: Helen A, December 2017
We were able to enter the grotto where the inlaid silver star marked the point of Jeus birth in the Church of the Nativity. This tour also took us to the Chapel of the Milk Grotto and the Chapel of the Shepherd's Field. It was a wonderful experience made more memorable since we went 4 days before Christmas. There were not a lot of tourist which was unfortunate since the city depends on tourism. We were treated very well despite the frightening historic news of what can happen in Palestine to tourist. My family and I are catholics and I appreciate being given the opportunity of this once in a life time experience.
Review by: Suzanne W, November 2017
DO NOT use Bein Harim Tourism Service to book this tour!! My husband and I took the Little Town of Bethlehem Half Day Trip from Jerusalem with the Ben Harim Tourism Services 4 weeks ago. The day began with disorganization and poor time management, and ended with bad driving in a harrowing bus ride that resulted in passenger injuries, being dropped off and abandoned at a medical clinic, and total disregard, lack of responsibility and professionalism from anyone at Bein Harim!
Review by: Claire B, October 2017
Lovely trip. Amazing to see the actual birthplace of Jesus, as well as the field where the shepherds were. We were lucky and didn't have to queue for too long 45 minutes to get into the Church, but be prepared for longer waiting times. Our guide was very informative. Lots of changing of coaches but still very enjoyable.
Review by: Virginia S, October 2017
I enjoyed the tour of Bethlehem. I found the pick-ups with all Viator tours to be punctual and easy during the change over of vehicle. It was a fairly fast paced tour but enough time was spent at each site. As the half-day tour was combined with another full-day tour, I was expecting to be back in Jerusalem earlier than we arrived as we were not supposed to be stopping for lunch I thought but we did so because of the full-day tour group were with us sharing the coach. Therefore, I was not back to Jerusalem until about 1:00pm when I expected to arrive back at 1:00pm, to spend the afternoon at the Israel Museum.
Review by: FSM1995@yahoo.com, October 2017
This was an incredible experience, particularly with the transition from the Israeli controlled side of Jerusalem through security to Bethlehem. I can not imagine visiting Bethlehem unguided. It is worth it simply for the access and time saving.
Review by: Mark B, October 2017
For a half-day trip it felt rushed. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. I like the skip the line for the manger site.
Review by: kitty, September 2017
The tour is interesting. The guide was helpful. But working with Viator is a nightmare. They're extraordinarily disorganized, e.g. regularly missing morning pick-ups. We booked five trips with Viator and each time we had a huge problem. They'd forget to pick us up, then send a frantic taxi to get us, as we went careening through the streets in the cab while other the other tourists already on the bus waited for us to arrive. Another day they told us the wrong start time so we missed the tour entirely!
Review by: Courtney S, August 2017
I enjoyed this tour however I booked an English speaking tour and as there were several Spanish speaking people on the tour who had also booked an English speaking tour and could speak English our guide presented the tour in Spanish and then English. She spent the majority of the time speaking in Spanish and also answered all of peoples questions in Spanish, so I felt like I missed a lot of information, which was very disappointing.
Review by: wellnesgrp, August 2017
Great experience. As a Christian, going into Bethlehem is a must if you are in the area, despite the potential danger. I would note that the Palestinian tour guides and drivers are awesome. Despite being victimized by their Israeli employers, they are upbeat and do a great job explaining the area's history. I was most upset at how Israel treats and puts Trump-like walls around the Palestinian towns and how inhumane they treat residents when they build settlements. Imagine some jackass trying to move in his family into your backyard and fencing your home in to protect his family from the backlash you may inflict on him.
Review by: l11jackson, June 2017
This was our first trip of the holiday and it was excellent. Our guide gave us a first class account of everything. Booked a number of trips with Viator and all were very good. Would definitely recommend.
Review by: Kristen R, May 2017
This was a great short trip to Bethlehem. We saw all the important sites. Our guides, Itamar and Nabil, were excellent!
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