8 Days: Protestant Christmas in Bethlehem, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Where Christ Was Born
Direct Operator Pricing
Save up to
$700
per person, compared with the same package sold through reseller agencies
Why are our rates lower?
We organize and operate this pilgrimage ourselves, on the ground in the Holy Land. When you book with our local team instead of a third party reseller or overseas agent, your payment goes into your journey, not into middleman commissions. Same holy sites, same hotels, same care.
Serving pilgrims since 2007
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The Route
Your journey, mapped
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For church leaders and group organizers
Considering this journey for your church?
See the group leader terms and inclusions, and how we shape a departure around your church community
Christmas at home is beautiful. Christmas in Bethlehem is something you will never forget. This pilgrimage is timed so that you are in the town of the Nativity for Christmas itself, when the streets fill with carols and candlelight and the whole world's attention turns to this small, holy place.
Around that centerpiece, you walk the fuller story. Jerusalem and its holy sites, the shepherds' fields where the angels sang, the Jordan, and the shores of Galilee where the child of Bethlehem would one day teach and heal. The Christmas story stops being a scene on a card and becomes ground beneath your feet.
You arrive knowing the carols by heart. You leave having lived them, having stood where the shepherds stood and knelt where the manger lay. Christmas will never sound the same again.
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We are waiting for you as you land, and we bring you to your hotel to rest. There is nothing to do tonight but arrive, and let it settle in that you will spend this Christmas in the Holy Land, in the land where the story you have sung all your life first happened.
Your first morning opens on the Mount of Olives, with the whole Old City spread golden below you. You walk down to the Garden of Gethsemane, then into the Old City for the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The whole arc of the story frames the birth you have come to celebrate.
In the afternoon there is time to take in the city that holds both the cross and the empty tomb, before the days turn toward Bethlehem.
"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." (Matthew 28:6)
This is the heart of the journey. In the day you visit the Shepherds' Field, where the angels first announced the birth, and then you come into Bethlehem as Christmas Eve falls. The town fills with pilgrims, carols, and candlelight from every corner of the world.
To be here, on this night, is the experience of a lifetime. Surrounded by believers from every nation singing the songs you have known since childhood, something breaks open in you. This is why you came.
"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people." (Luke 2:10)
On Christmas Day you come to the Basilica of the Nativity, built over the holy cave honored without a break since the earliest centuries of the Church as the place where Christ was born. You bow low through the Door of Humility and kneel at the silver star. To worship here, on this day of all days, is the still center of the whole pilgrimage.
There is no other Christmas like this one. You are not remembering the birth from far away. You are kneeling at the place it happened, on the morning the whole world remembers it.
"She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger." (Luke 2:7)
This morning you descend to the Jordan River at Qasr al-Yahud, the traditional place of the baptism of Jesus on the western bank, across from Bethany beyond the Jordan, where many renew their baptismal vows in the water itself. Then to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, where you float without effort before traveling north toward Galilee.
"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened." (Matthew 3:16)
This morning you sail the Sea of Galilee, visit Capernaum, and climb the Mount of Beatitudes. There is something deeply moving about seeing, at Christmas, the very shores where the child of Bethlehem would one day begin his ministry. A St. Peter's fish lunch by the water ends the day.
"Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people." (Matthew 4:19)
This morning you visit Nazareth and the Basilica of the Annunciation, where the angel first told Mary of the birth you have just celebrated. The story comes full circle, from the promise to the manger, and you have stood in both.
After lunch you return toward Jerusalem, carrying a Christmas you will never forget.
"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus." (Luke 1:31)
The morning is yours until we take you to the airport. You came having sung of Bethlehem all your life. You leave having knelt there on Christmas Day, and the carols will never sound the same again.
Home
Guaranteed best rate when you book directly with us.
✦ Spend Christmas Eve among the carols and candlelight of Bethlehem
✦ Visit the Shepherds' Field where the angels sang
✦ Kneel at the Basilica of the Nativity on Christmas Day
✦ Walk the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
✦ Renew your baptismal promises in the Jordan River
✦ Sail the Sea of Galilee and visit Nazareth
Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. (Luke 2:10)
Included- Warm airport welcome and all group transfers in modern, air conditioned vehicles
- Seven nights of hotel accommodation in Jerusalem and Galilee
- Daily breakfast and dinner throughout the pilgrimage
- A licensed English speaking guide
- Arrangements for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations in Bethlehem
- All entrance fees to the holy sites in the itinerary
- A private boat ride on the Sea of Galilee
- A traditional Saint Peter's fish meal
Not Included- International flights to and from Israel
- Tips and gratuities for the guide and driver
- Travel insurance, which we strongly recommend
- The Israeli ETA-IL entry authorization, roughly eight US dollars
- Lunches and personal expenses
- Anything not listed as included
Pilgrims Who Walked This Road
Tour FAQ
You are welcome to join as an individual, a couple, a family, or a full church group. Many travelers arrive on their own and leave with a whole new family, which is one of the most common things we hear.
There is a fair amount of walking, some of it on old stone and uneven ground, and a few climbs such as Mount Tabor. Most people of reasonable health manage well. If anyone in your group has mobility needs, tell us in advance and we will plan around them.
Yes. Entry requirements for Ethiopian and Eritrean passport holders need more hands-on support, and AJET has long experience guiding travelers through exactly what their passport requires. We coordinate between our teams in Jerusalem and Addis Ababa at every step, so you are never left to work it out alone. Please start the process early, as some steps take time.
You stay in comfortable first class hotels in Jerusalem and on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in Tiberias. A tourist class option is also available if your group prefers. All rooms are clean, well located, and include daily breakfast and dinner.
A deposit of $300 or $400 per person (the amount shown on the tour page, or the stated deposit for your custom journey) is required to secure your booking. A reservation does not hold a seat until the deposit clears into AJET’s account. Final balance payments are strictly due 60 days prior to departure.
One exception: if you reserve a journey online without a fixed departure date and we cannot confirm dates that match your preferred dates, your deposit is returned in full.
If you must cancel your pilgrimage, written notice must be submitted to AJET. Cancellations incur the following tiered fees based on the departure date:
- 61 or more days prior: Full refund of all monies paid minus the non-refundable deposit.
- 60 to 46 days prior: 35% of total package cost is retained (65% refund of balance).
- 45 to 31 days prior: 60% of total package cost is retained (40% refund of balance).
- 30 to 15 days prior: 85% of total package cost is retained (15% refund of balance).
- 14 days or fewer prior / No-show: 100% of total package cost is retained (non-refundable).
Because unexpected medical or travel disruptions can occur, AJET strongly recommends that every pilgrim purchase comprehensive travel insurance covering trip cancellation, medical care, and emergency repatriation.
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