Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of guiding four Americans visiting Israel as part of their Mediterranean cruise. In two days we packed in visits to the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem's Old City, the Sea of Galilee, and Nazareth. In the picture you can see us standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, next to the Church of the Primacy of St Peter. It was a great tour, and happily they made it back to the boat before it sailed off to its next destination! A private tour is

Israel has a number of great "off the beaten path" destinations, like Ramle, Jish, and Umm el-Fahm. And now, Jisr az-Zarka has made it to the holy of holies - the Lonely Planet. Named for the stone bridge over the adjacent Al-Wadi Az-Zarka (the Blue River), it is one of the poorest towns in Israel. Now, though, local residents are taking advantage of the town's surroundings to transform it into a tourist destination. They've set up a 'Jisr Trail' leading to the fisher's hamle

I'm excited to launch the Israel with Alex blog. Here you'll be able to find updates about my tours, as well as stories about tourism and culture in Israel. This first post is about a fascinating story in Al-Monitor about the Israel Trail, a 1,000 kilometer walking route from Mount Hermon in the north to the Red Sea coast. It opened twenty years ago, and thousands of people have already walked the entire way. One hiker said: "The trip changed my life. It redefined me. I walke