Baibars
Baibars was the 13th-century Mamluk sultan who broke Crusader power in the Levant and left a chain of bridges, khans and fortresses across the country. Discussed here as part of a tour-guide course day on Mount Hermon.
4 articles
4 articles
Safed / Tzefat
A return to Tzefat, where I spent three months on my gap year, this time as a guiding student. Akhbara, Mt Canaan, the kabbalists' synagogues of the Old City and a sunset over the Crusader citadel.
Campus Golan Day 3: Mount Hermon
Day 3 of our Golan Heights course: up the Mt Hermon chairlift for views into Syria and Lebanon, then the Druze tomb of Nabi Hazuri, the Nimrod Fortress, the waterfalls at Banias and a sombre stop at the Helicopters Memorial.
Ramla and Lod
A field trip to two adjacent cities in central Israel: the Karaite Centre, White Tower, Arches Pool and Great Mosque in Ramla, plus the Church of St George in Lod. A surprisingly rewarding day for return visitors.
The Sharon Plain
A day on the Sharon coastal plain, off the regular tourist trail: viewpoints at Tzur Natan, an Ottoman tomb on a Samaritan synagogue, the Crusader ruins of Kakun, a soft-shelled turtle hike along Nachal Alexander, the Cheftzi-ba farm, and the cliff-top archaeology of Apollonia.
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