The four areas follow the Gospel. Nazareth is the Annunciation and the hidden years of the Holy Family. Bethlehem is the birth of Christ. Galilee is his public ministry: Capernaum, where he lived and taught; the hillside of the Beatitudes; Tabgha, linked with the multiplication of the loaves; Cana, the first miracle; and Tabor, the mountain of the Transfiguration. Jerusalem is the Last Supper, the agony in the garden, the way of the Cross, and the empty tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Most groups begin in Galilee and end in Jerusalem, so that the journey finishes where the Gospel does. Many of the Catholic shrines are in the care of the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land.
Whether a pilgrimage can go is a separate question from where it goes. As checked on October 10, 2026, the U.S. State Department rates Israel and the West Bank at Level 3, Reconsider Travel, in advisories dated August 26, 2026, with Level 4, Do Not Travel, for the area within 7 miles (11.3 km) of Gaza, part of the north above Route 85, and a strip within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the Egyptian border. Bethlehem is in the West Bank. Advisories change, so read the current one before paying a deposit.
Good to know before you go: plan on about ten days including flights for a first visit, with several nights in Galilee and more in Jerusalem. The days are spent on old stone, with steps and uneven ground, and the churches ask for covered shoulders and knees. The places are small and often crowded, so the best moments tend to be early in the morning, before the day’s groups arrive.