Beth Lehem vacation guide  

Transportation
The city of Bethlehem has four major private bus stations from where you can get buses to Jerusalem, Nahalin, Hebron, Beit Fajjar, and Battir. Within Bethlehem, you can travel by taxis although none of them operate by meter. It is always better to haggle before you take a taxi. You can also opt for the service taxis, which are an inexpensive option. These taxis are small Ford vans that operate like a minibus and carry multiple passengers. You will find most of them from the Manger street and the main street of Bab-ez-qaq. If you are traveling from Jerusalem then take the 22 bus route to Bethlehem Bus station.

Attraction
Being a religious place of such high importance, Bethlehem has many historical monuments, churches and museums on the top attraction list. Some of the attractions include:

Azzaitune (Olive Tree) Tourist Village: This is the most popular attraction and has something for everyone from adults to children. It is dominated by beautiful water park displays, stunning swimming pools, all night discothèque, coffee shops, 5-start restaurant, souvenir shop, Olive Wood art gallery and 3000 years old olive trees. The landscape is dotted with Olive Tree statues, water fountains, boats, Olive Tree river, camel, horses, and Bedouin's tent.

The Nativity Gardens: The garden was created by Conservatoire Chaumont-sur-Loire for the commemoration of the passing of almost 2000 years since the birth of Jesus Christ. The Nativity Gardens are located the Pools of Solomon, which has been a source of water for almost 2000 years. The area of the garden is 5000 square meters and has 5 terraces that are 3m high in succession. It was opened to public on November 28, 1999 and is considered to be a symbol of hope.

The Church of Nativity: The Church of the Nativity is like a fortress on whose facade lies the pediment just at the end of the nave and can only be seen from up-close. It is a beautiful place in terms of architecture that highlights the remarkable work of several centuries.

David’s Well: This is situated on the western side of the Manger Road and close to the St Joseph's Church. It is a rock-cut cistern where excavations are being carried out and is surrounded by what is called the David's Wall.

Children places
Marie Dotti Children's Park: This was a special project targeted at children and was started on February 3, 2000. The land for the park was donated by the Latin Patriarchate and the construction of the park was completed by the Pontifical Mission in Palestine with the help of a financial grant from Marie Dotti. Situated in Wad Shami Saka the park has a lot of open space and a cafeteria.

Shopping
There are some great places in Bethlehem for shopping like the Bazaar near Manger Square where you can find clothes, fashion wear etc for cheap. Apart from this there are plenty of souvenir shops and even up-market stores lined across the heart of the city. The major season for shopping is during Christmas when the main street of the city gets a festive look thanks to the shops selling everything from mid-eastern spices to oriental sweets like the backlawa.

Nightlife
Nightlife in Bethlehem is mostly restricted to the hotel bars and restaurants. Of course there are plenty of restaurants in the city that offer both fine dining and local cuisine options but the overall nightlife is not as lively as in other parts of Israel.

Culture
The culture of Bethlehem is dominated by the embroidered clothes especially the ones worn by women. Bethlehem has a strong Byzantine influence that merges with Christianity.

Events & Festivals
Most of the events in Bethlehem are religious in nature. And most of them are Christian.

Cities Close-by
Jerusalem: 9 km
Rehovot: 43 km
Rishon LeZion: 48 km
Petah Tikva: 52 km
Ashdod: 53 km
Holon: 54 km
Bnei Brak : 55 km
Bat Yam: 55 km
Ramat Gan: 56 km
Tel Aviv: 59 km
Herzilya: 62 km
Beersheba: 65 km
Haifa: 126 km