A Village to Village Guide to Hiking the Jesus Trail and Other Biblical Walks in the Galilee [Paperback]

I've spent quite a bit of time hiking and backpacking in Israel and know my way around it. This book is what got me started. It covers the Jesus Trail, which is about 65 kilometers, but also a couple hundred more kilometers of hikes in the lower Galilee, and for all of them it has easy-to-use maps, interesting and concise descriptions of the sights you'll find along the way, and all sorts of educational blurbs about everything from some species of flower to an abandoned village to the history of a kibbutz.

The book is set up so that you can hike continuously for a couple of weeks on the trails it describes without having to buy any other maps; and you'll have some reading material for your breaks so you can learn about the places you're walking through. It's very visually attractive, with plenty of photos and a straightforward layout and organization by day or half-day sections.

Having hiked all or almost all of the routes in this book, and countless other trails in Israel (including the Israel National Trail) I can easily say this is the best hiking guidebook available for Israeli trails.

Of course, the book only covers the lower Galilee. But that's in the nature of what it is, and you can hike for several weeks straight with this as your only map and guide. In my case, it helped me learn the ropes of hiking here before I started using topographical maps to trek around the rest of the country.

Incidentally, the Jesus Trail is meant to be both a pilgrimage route, a form of alternative tourism, and an experience of inter-religious and inter-cultural encounters; if the name brings to mind a touristy product intended only for evangelical Christians, you couldn't be further from the truth. I think just about anyone who enjoys hiking and learning about new places and people would enjoy the trail and this book. Highly recommended.

The pocket-sized Israel guidebook "Hiking the Jesus Trail and Other Biblical Walks in the Galilee" (published in April, 2010) was co-written by a husband-and-wife team (who were married shortly after this book was published). There are many existing footpaths within Israel, but the idea for a "Jesus Trail" is a completely new trail in commemoration of the biblical account from the Gospel of Matthew about how Jesus left his hometown of Nazareth and travelled to the village of Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus gathered his first disciples. The trail was marked out with a white/orange/white trail blaze in 2009 by the public Israel Trails Committee which works in conjunction with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

The American Christian co-author David Landis is co-founder or co-initiator (along with his Jewish Israeli partner) of the newly marked hiking path which is referred to in English as the "Jesus Trail" or in Hebrew as the "Glad Tidings Road" or "Gospel Road." The book "Hiking the Jesus Trail" is a complete hiking and backpacking guide to all aspects of the new trail. The authors have extensive experience in backpacking the world over, and bring that knowledge and experience to the book.

The concept of a "Jesus Trail" fits in with a burgeoning modern rejuvenation of the historic Christian pilgrimage route in France and Spain called the "Way of St. James" or in Spanish, "El camino de Santiago," as well as the first official trail going the whole length of Israel which was established in the 1990s, which was in turn inspired by the 2,000 mile (3,500 km) trail along the eastern mountains of America called the Appalachian Trail established in the 1920s and 1930s.

The book covers the basic, most symbolically laden trail which involves a four-day walk from the hills of Nazareth down to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, as well as covering a walk to make a large circuit back to Nazareth, and another walk along the ridge above the Jordan Valley, in addition to a further trail going through the central region of the Galilee.

The book is very practical with maps of an overview, further extremely detailed maps of the trails, along with detailed lists of guest houses, camping sites, and thorough public transportation timetables and routes to get the potential hiker or backpacker to and from the Jesus Trail. The book is also lavishly illustrated with color photographs. The illustrations alone make the book worthy to obtain.

The tips and recommendations make this book suitable for a novice as well as for the more experienced hiker.

The book is filled with a goodnatured camaraderie of love and respect for Jews and Arabs one would meet along the way, as well as being sensitive and alive to the beauty of nature in the countryside, and has rich references to biblical culture and history.

I hiked the Jesus Trail in 2008 following recommendations of one of the authors, David Landis. The guide would have been extremely helpful for a walk on the trail. The Jesus Trail passes through a variety of historical sites in the Galilee. This guidebook offers practical information on the culture of the region, the trail itself, places to stay, what to pack, what to expect, context of historical sites, etc. This would be a great tool for any adventurous spirit hoping to walk where Jesus walked and to experience the sites by foot.