What to Wear and Bring on a Jerusalem and Bethlehem Tour

For a Jerusalem and Bethlehem tour, cover your shoulders and knees, carry your passport, wear shoes for a day on stone, and pack food: lunch is not included and can come late. Every one of those comes from the tours themselves, from UK travel advice, or from people who did the day.

What to wear

Modest dress is required on Bein Harim Israel Tours’ Jerusalem and Bethlehem Guided Day Trip. The other tours spell it out:

• Rent-a-Guide | est.1985’s Jerusalem & Bethlehem Full-Day Tour from Tel Aviv: “Modest dress (no shorts or sleeveless shirts) and head covering are required for visiting holy places”.
• The half-day Bethlehem tour from Jerusalem: modest dress is required for church visits (covered shoulders and knees), and comfortable shoes are recommended for the walking and standing.
• UK travel advice: the FCDO’s Palestine page (updated 27 October 2026) says that “In Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, clothing should cover your shoulders, upper arms, and legs above the knee.”

In practice that means long trousers or a skirt below the knee, a top with sleeves, and a light scarf for any head covering a site asks for. Much of the day is on foot, so wear comfortable shoes.

What to bring

The day trip lists four things to bring: a passport, sunglasses, a sun hat and sunscreen.

• Passport. “A valid passport is required on the day of travel.” Bethlehem is part of the day, and that part is subject to Palestinian Authority regulations.
• Food. Food and drinks are not included. The lunch stop in the Christian Quarter is optional and costs extra, and a guest on 7 November 2025 wrote that they “didn’t have access to food until 2:00 p.m.” Bring something to eat.
• A warm layer in winter. “Do check the weather before you go as it can be chilly. It was freezing the day when I was there” (24 January 2026). Another guest saw everything “even with the rain” on 16 November 2025.
• Money for tips and shopping. Tips are not included (recommended), and the day has half an hour of shopping time in Bethlehem.

If the list holds no surprises, the dates for the day trip are here:

Limits worth knowing before you book

• Saturdays. A guest who travelled on a Saturday in June 2025 met “some limitations such taking no pictures in Jerusalem (wall)”. The FCDO’s Palestine page defines Shabbat as “from sunset on Friday to nightfall on Saturday”.
• Israeli passport holders are not permitted to join the half-day Bethlehem tour from Jerusalem. The US State Department’s Israel page says Israeli citizens “in most cases, cannot travel to parts of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority (called Area A), including Bethlehem and Jericho.”
• Children and mobility. The day trip is not suitable for children under 4 or wheelchair users; the half-day tour is not suitable for people with mobility impairments or wheelchair users.
• The Grotto of the Nativity. On the day trip a visit down to the Grotto might not be possible because of the schedule. The Christian Information Centre gives its hours from 21 October 2026 as 12:30 to 2:30 PM every day and 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Sundays.

The travel advice itself, from the UK, the US and Australia, is quoted with its dates on can you visit Bethlehem now. If you are staying in Jerusalem, the half day is on Bethlehem tour from Jerusalem.