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Mt TABOR - tourist atraction

9. 10. 2022

 

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to traveling in Israel is to time your arrival to top attractions right.

Mount Tabor is open daily from 9 AM to 12 PM and 2 PM to 5 PM, except for Sundays.

However, holidays or other events can affect the opening hours, so be prepared that the site can be closed in the worst-case scenario.

Several bigger events are held at Mount Tabor throughout the year, so it's better to avoid them.

When we were leaving, we could even see a police car on a crossroad, and officers were turning arriving cars back because the church on the mountain top was about to clos

Parking

There are two free parking lots at Mount Tabor. The Church of the Transfiguration parking was slightly larger, but it was completely full when we arrived there.

So we headed to Greek Orthodox Monastery parking, where we could find an empty spot.

The situation was quite hectic on Saturday at the site, and many people were parking on the side road as there wasn't enough designated parking for everyone.

 

Where to Stay

Nazareth and Tiberias are the nearest cities with the best hotels you can find before or after going to Mount Tabor.

You can also find plenty of small family accommodations, usually in the kibbutzim scattered around the countryside of Galilee.

Recommending the best accommodation near Mount Tabor is not an easy task, as it all comes down to your travel itinerary.

Nevertheless, here we found a few places that are worth considering when staying overnight in the are

 

Is Mt Tabor worth visiting?

 
 
Most people arrive at the summit by car, but Mount Tabor is also one of the best places to visit in the area for hikers. The trail up the mountain to the summit offers more views and an opportunity to savor the tranquility of the forested slopes before joining the crowds of visitors at the church complex.Mar 9, 2021
 
 
Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 46 min to complete. This is a very popular area for birding, hiking, and mountain biking, so you'll likely encounter other people while exploring. The best times to visit this trail are March through December. Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.
 
About 15km
 
Mount Tabor is in the far east of the Jezreel Valley (otherwise known as the Valley of the Armageddon) in the Lower Galilee region of northern Israel. About 15km west of the Sea of Galilee, Mount Tabor stands alone, and is therefore particularly striking, despite its relatively low height of about 600m.
 
 
 
In spite of its proximity to the Nazareth mountains, it constitutes a separate geological form. At the base it is almost fully surrounded by
the Arab villages of
Daburiyya, Shibli, and Umm al-Ghanam.
Mount Tabor is located off Highway 65, and its summit is accessible by road via Shibli.
 
Can you drive to the top of Mount Tabor?
 
It's a long winding route up to the top, with many switch backs, but it is certainly worth the drive. We visited the Catholic Church of Transfiguration and walked around the church grounds. There is also a Greek Orthodox Church there.
Pinnacle, Height
The name Tabor is primarily a gender-neutral name of Hebrew origin that means Pinnacle, Height. In the Bible, Tabor is a place name - Mount Tabor is a mountain that stood between northern and southern Israel.
 

Mount Tabor is a biblical mountain, a pilgrimage site, and a top tourist attraction in Israel's Jezreel Valley.

With 588 meters and its nearly perfect sphere shape that dominates the landscape in Lower Galilee, this site is hard to miss.

It's also often regarded as one of the must-visit places when visiting the Galilee area, so we didn't hesitate to include it in our Israel itinerary.

But why is Mount Tabor so famous? We'll get right to the point.

From the Christian point of view, Mount Tabor is the site of Jesus's transfiguration, while the Hebrew Bible says that this is the place where the Battle of Mount Tabor between the Canaanites and Israelites happened.

The history of Mount Tabor (also known as Mount Tavor, or Har Tavor) is quite interesting as it was shaped by the Biblical Era, Roman Era, Byzantine, Crusader, Mamluk, Ottoman periods, and finally, the modern-day State of Israel.

And it was during the Byzantine Era when the pilgrims started to travel here, and the tradition survived till today.

Additionally, the famous biblical battle between the Israelites led by Barak and Deborah the Prophet against King Jabin's Canaanite forces led by Sisera took place here.

King Jabin oppressed Israelites for twenty years. Then Deborah summoned general Barak and told him to march on Mont Tabor.

When the Sisera learned about it, he gathered the forces in Wadi Kishon.

Meanwhile, God created a big storm that trapped the heavy chariots, and the Canaanites fled in panic while being pursued by Israelites who followed and killed many of them.

 

Driving to the Mount Tabor

We started our day by exploring Beit Shean National Park and then made a quick stop at Beit Alpha Synagogue.

Before we reached Nazareth, we made a short detour to Mount Tabor.

After tackling several hairpins and bends on the way up, we took the right fork at the top to get to the parking that's closer to the Church of the Transfiguration.

It was Saturday late morning, and people and cars were swarming the area.

 

It was Saturday late morning, and people and cars were swarming the area.

We should have known that when people leave the cars at the empty spots along the way, the parking situation at the top will be a disaster.

Unsurprisingly, the upper parking lot was packed, and we couldn't even find an empty spot on the side road.

It reminded us a bit of notorious Moraine Lake but on a smaller scale.

So we decided to try the other parking lot in front of the Greek Orthodox Monastery, which is a bit farther from the Church of the Transfiguration (take the left fork back at the junction).

 

 

 

Mount Tabor is also mentioned several times in the Old Testament.