This tour was not completely what I expected, but I am very glad I experienced Christmas in Jerusalem. This tour made it logistically easy and I always felt safe, so I recommend it. I learned a great deal and am glad I did it. It was not 100% positive, but given the options, I would do it again.
Positives:
- Comfortable buses
- Great guides
- A long tour that covers a lot of ground! We saw the highlights of the old city as well as got to visit Bethlehem.
- We felt safe
- We were fed in a festive, large banquet hall
Surprises and Possible improvements
- Communication was minimal - we were running late, and the person answering the phone at the tour company was not well-informed or informative. Three-quarters of our family jumped out of our car in traffic and sprinted to the meeting point, unsure if my husband would be able to get out of traffic, park and get to the bus in time. Upon arrival, we found a band of fellow travelers milling about, no guides, no signs, no directions. Finally a bus arrived and my husband made it. Possible improvements include (1) sending instructions on parking and traffic in Jerusalem. Having just arrive that day, we did not know. To this day, I have no idea if the 2am walk from the drop-off point to the parking garage was safe. (2) having a better informed person to answer tour-goers queries. We were hardly alone in running late due to traffic.
- There were several tour buses full of people on this tour. They left Bethlehem for Jerusalem and Tel Aviv every half hour starting at midnight until 2am, and you could choose the time to leave. Had I known, I would have been more likely to have my youngest son stay with us. The information I received stated that the return bus was at 2am, which would have been too late for him.
- I contacted the tour company ahead of time to try to secure a car and driver to bring my son and husband home around 9pm. They said they did not offer this service. I separately hired a limo service to drive them from our festive dinner back to Jerusalem. Once on the tour, the guides said they could arrange something easily, but it was too late by then. Again, whoever answers email at the tour company is not as well-informed as could be.
- There was no tour in Bethlehem. We arrived about 2 hours before midnight mass and were left to wander Manger Square.
- There was not much to do in Manger Square, and tight security around it, so you couldn't really go anywhere else. All there was to do was shop at the tourist shops that ringed the square. It was much more commercial than expected. There was one large manger scene on display, but little else. No music, no history, just lights and shops and people selling corn on the cob and coffee.
- Young, male Palestinians enjoy Christmas Eve in Manager Square likely because it brings lots of people into town. However, they are far from "woke" when it comes to dealing with young American women. Small groups of young men felt quite free to scan my daughter's body head to toe making her extremely uncomfortable and upset. She had a long sleeve jacket on, flowing pants, sneakers and a modest top. To "escape" we went into one of the shops where she proceeded to ask me to buy her a shawl that she covered herself with the rest of the night. I travel internationally a lot, so this was not entirely new to me, but it was extreme and frightening to a girl who has not traveled as widely.
- Midnight mass was said in a church we could not access, which we knew. There was one jumbo screen on which the proceedings were shown. However, there was very poor sound and thus it was not engaging.
As I mentioned, this was different than what I expected; however, it was an authentic experience reflecting the current historical and political reality in which Bethlehem currently resides. While it wasn't what I expected, it was very educational and I am glad I didn't miss it. The night ended with the guide on the bus ride home telling us that the census that was supposed to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem didn't happen for 100 years after Jesus's birth, throwing the authenticity of the site of his birth into question. This was icing on the odd experience of spending Christmas Eve on a tour of the place Jesus was born.