Nazareth was another place in Israel where I had always wanted to go, so when finally arriving in the afternoon from Tiberias, I was eager to just drop my stuff at the hostel and head out to explore! And that’s what I did. Equipped with a map from the hostel, I first made my way to St Gabriel’s church, Mary’s Well and the pretty square in front of them. The church was nice, but the well a disappointment and I continued my way to the main sight of Nazareth – the Church of the Annunciation.

This church was supposedly built at the location where Mary learned that she’d give birth to Jesus. I must say – I wasn’t expecting much since it’s actually a rather new church being built in 1969 only. It completely knocked my socks off though! It’s a huge and impressive church, built in a modern style with lots of modern art inside and outside. So far, my favourite church in Israel!

Also, St Joseph’s Church nearby is worth a visit. I continued walking through the little streets of Nazareth until sunset when the empty alleys became a little spooky and I returned to the hostel. I stayed at the Fauzi Azar Hostel, which is quite a special place since it’s located in a very old building with high rooms and paintings on the ceilings. It has a lovely courtyard, and runs a free city tour every morning which I joined the next day. It doesn’t bring you to the main sights but rather to some local businesses where owners introduce you to their life and work. While it was interesting, I had expected something a bit different. Quite some of the stops were shops and the owners were clearly interested in selling something to us. Since it was a big group, there were always people taking forever with their purchases. So in the end the tour took 1,5 h longer than expected and I had to forget about my plan of visiting Akko (north of Haifa) the same day. I still made it to Haifa of course, but wouldn’t have had enough time to go and see Akko anymore. In hindsight, I should have skipped the free tour, taken another quick walk around Nazareth myself and then gone to Haifa/Akko – but well!