Blog
Tour writeups, reflections on guiding and the occasional practical guide.
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128 articles
The biggest temple in the Roman world was in Jerusalem
Every licensed Israeli guide has to keep training to maintain the licence. On a training day on Roman temples this summer, we learned that the biggest temple complex in the Roman world was Herod's, here in Jerusalem.
Election day in Israel: what it means if you’re visiting
Israel votes on Tuesday 27 October 2026. What election day means if you're visiting: what's open, why the roads are quiet, free trains and intercity buses, and why the parks fill up.
Simchat Torah in Israel: what to expect as a visitor
Simchat Torah ends the autumn holidays with dancing, flags and the Torah paraded through the streets. Here's what the day is about, and what it's like to be in Israel for it.
Sukkot in Israel: what to expect as a visitor
Sukkot is the week-long Feast of Booths, a joyful, hospitable time when sukkahs pop up everywhere. Here's what it's about, and why the middle days are a good time to be touring Israel.
Yom Kippur in Israel: the day the country stops
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year, and in Israel the whole country stops: no flights, no cars, no shops. Here's what it's about, and how to experience it as a visitor.
Rosh Hashanah in Israel: what to expect as a visitor
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year: two quiet days of apples and honey, the shofar and family. Here's what it's about, and what it means if your trip to Israel bumps into it.
What five days on Israel’s culinary tourism course taught me
Five days on Israel’s only culinary tourism course for guides, and one idea that stuck. What the week actually taught me, and how it turns up on my tours now.
The Carmel Market and the synagogue that never was
The last field day of Israel’s culinary tourism course was a morning in Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market with Nurit Goren. How to read a market, why the hummus place with the ark is not what it looks like and what a horse’s saddle has to do with a herring.
The Western Galilee: behind every dish there’s a story
The fourth day of Israel’s culinary tourism course was the long one, north to the Western Galilee. A social-enterprise kitchen, a widow’s olives in a Crusader village, a logistics manager turned baker, the country’s first boutique distillery and a hummus place named for a father who never saw it open.
Zichron Ya’akov: wine, beer and a long lunch
Day three of Israel’s culinary tourism course was billed as a wine day around Zichron Ya’akov. What I remember is a scorned grape, a brisket queue, a bar mitzvah spent in a brewery and a horse farm that turned into a restaurant.
If you are going to Israel, you would be mad not to give him a call.
Amol Rajan, BBC presenter and broadcaster
Having been on trips in Israel with seven different tour guides, Samuel stood above all the rest.
Seasoned Israel traveller
Samuel is one part walking encyclopedia, one part storyteller, one part stand-up comedian.
Berkeley Haas Business School student