Nebi Samuel National Park
Nebi Samuel National Park
4.5
About
Nebi Samuel Park is a fascinating combination of antiquities, agricultural terraced landscapes, mountain spring, and orchards. At the heart of the site is a large building from the Crusader period, containing the tomb of the prophet Samuel
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingFull view










Top ways to experience nearby attractions
The area
Best nearby
Restaurants
28 within 3 miles
Attractions
353 within 6 miles
See what other travelers are saying
- Ronnie P59 contributionsSamuel - The Prophet who anointed King DavidI'm a Tour Leader to Israel and have brought many to this Holy Land. One site I strongly recommend to by all means visit is the Tomb of Samuel. You will experience a very beautiful spirit and anointed presence on this place as you pray at the Tomb of Samuel and commune with His God who is OUR God. I will always visit this site as I return to the Land I love most!Visited January 2020Written February 13, 2020
- Dan MaarekTel Aviv, Israel15,902 contributionsRecently became a National Park, not only for the stunning viewsMy first time there as it is relatively new as a National Park. People drive a lot by this place from Tel Aviv or Giv'at Ze'ev to Jerusalem but few stop there. Many religious people come here to pray and this makes this place special. Besides this religious aspect and the archeological findings, the views on Jerusalem and all the surroundings, 360 degrees, is absolutely beautiful and only for this it is well worth your time. Just look at the pictures, I believe they'll convince you.Visited October 2021Written September 29, 2022
- Raymond Roberts1 contributionThe experience was absolutely an act of God as I have always wanted to be a man after God's own Heart, as David was.Raymond Roberts /Miami Fla. As I was asked by Israel Auerbach and his wife Efercine to help guard Hanna's spring and the property that they own around it in Nov 1996, it was my honor to do so. I was in Israel for Forty-five days and guarded the property at night for Israel for approximately twenty-four of those days. What a great honor for a gentile boy. Israel and Eforcine own the stone house next to Hanna's Spring, Samuels Mother.Visited September 2019Traveled soloWritten August 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Contribute
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
24 reviews
Excellent
13
Very good
9
Average
2
Poor
0
Terrible
0
I visited this place🇫🇷🇨🇭🇬🇧🇳🇱🇺🇸
Israel14,710 contributions
May 2020 • Family
This place has been venerated as the birth and/or home location and/or burial ground of Samuel the Biblical Prophet, annointer snd proclaimer of Kings Saul and David. It been a holy site since antiquity. I’ll leave the veracity of this assertion to the experts’ opinion.
We came as a group- Log Bomer (log as a reminder of the wood burned on that day) and 28 Iyar (Jerusalem Day, which is also one of his two traditional death dates).
The place is a two minute drive from the end of the Jewish neighborhood called Heights. It is clearly marked.
Vehicular access to the entrance is negligible and atrocious- very narrow and congested, with only a handful of parking spaces (as in one handful). Otherwise- one tries luck by parking in the neighboring village, which does not seem friendly at all to visitors.... and if the rare tourist bus approaches, that could create an impossible situation.
It’s a place of Jewish (and Moslem) pilgrimage. Both groups are at the place at the same time, cautiously eyeing and ignoring each other. There is a mosque and a synagogue. I don’t know of a Moslem connection, other than the Jewish one.
So there is a medieval Arabic appearing building with two domes- that’s built over the burial place. One can climb very steep narrow steps (high as in the Roman Coliseum- see my review of that) and go outside for the panoramic view of Jerusalem and the surrounding area, as it the highest point (see my photos).
Inside is a mosque and I looked inside- it’s a mosque.
Downstairs at the burial cenotaph (whatever that is), one finds a small crowded synagogue filled with praying supplicants. Many were leaning and kissing the plastic cover over the huge edifice- certainly an activity not recommended in the corona era (see my photos).
There is a lot of excavations with minimal if any explanations. It’s a place for little children to run around unsupervised.
We witnessed and even participated in the hair cutting ritual of the “hair cuttery”: that’s called the “challah Ka,” and it is a combination reference to the twisted Sabbath loaf bread and a Jewish religious respectful way of describing the Almighty Deity. The ritual is in memory (or in honor) of this Biblical prophet who was a Nazarite who never cut his hair from birth (as we learned from this week’s Scroll of the Law reading).
All-in-all, it was a most mediocre visit- the place is not designed to accept, accommodate, service, lead, instruct and educate the tourist masses. Too bad- since this is an important and sacred Jewish site of one of our true Biblical hero personalities. Too bad, for sure.
I invite the Israel National Parks Authority to get their act together.
See my many photos.
Everything I’ve written is true because.... well-
I visited this place
We came as a group- Log Bomer (log as a reminder of the wood burned on that day) and 28 Iyar (Jerusalem Day, which is also one of his two traditional death dates).
The place is a two minute drive from the end of the Jewish neighborhood called Heights. It is clearly marked.
Vehicular access to the entrance is negligible and atrocious- very narrow and congested, with only a handful of parking spaces (as in one handful). Otherwise- one tries luck by parking in the neighboring village, which does not seem friendly at all to visitors.... and if the rare tourist bus approaches, that could create an impossible situation.
It’s a place of Jewish (and Moslem) pilgrimage. Both groups are at the place at the same time, cautiously eyeing and ignoring each other. There is a mosque and a synagogue. I don’t know of a Moslem connection, other than the Jewish one.
So there is a medieval Arabic appearing building with two domes- that’s built over the burial place. One can climb very steep narrow steps (high as in the Roman Coliseum- see my review of that) and go outside for the panoramic view of Jerusalem and the surrounding area, as it the highest point (see my photos).
Inside is a mosque and I looked inside- it’s a mosque.
Downstairs at the burial cenotaph (whatever that is), one finds a small crowded synagogue filled with praying supplicants. Many were leaning and kissing the plastic cover over the huge edifice- certainly an activity not recommended in the corona era (see my photos).
There is a lot of excavations with minimal if any explanations. It’s a place for little children to run around unsupervised.
We witnessed and even participated in the hair cutting ritual of the “hair cuttery”: that’s called the “challah Ka,” and it is a combination reference to the twisted Sabbath loaf bread and a Jewish religious respectful way of describing the Almighty Deity. The ritual is in memory (or in honor) of this Biblical prophet who was a Nazarite who never cut his hair from birth (as we learned from this week’s Scroll of the Law reading).
All-in-all, it was a most mediocre visit- the place is not designed to accept, accommodate, service, lead, instruct and educate the tourist masses. Too bad- since this is an important and sacred Jewish site of one of our true Biblical hero personalities. Too bad, for sure.
I invite the Israel National Parks Authority to get their act together.
See my many photos.
Everything I’ve written is true because.... well-
I visited this place
Written May 31, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Avi L
Jerusalem, Israel83 contributions
Oct 2019
Nebi Samuel is one of the few holy sites to Jews and Moslems. It is a very well preserved Crusader outpost with excavations from Byzantine and earlier periods.
If you go on a clear day, probably in the winter, you can literally see Tel Aviv coast on the Mediterranean in the west to Aman, the capital of Jordan on the other side of the Jordan rift valley to the east. And also see Jerusalem to the south and Ramallah to the north.
If you go on a clear day, probably in the winter, you can literally see Tel Aviv coast on the Mediterranean in the west to Aman, the capital of Jordan on the other side of the Jordan rift valley to the east. And also see Jerusalem to the south and Ramallah to the north.
Written October 27, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ido R
Modiin, Israel89 contributions
May 2019 • Family
We held the first hair cut (HALAKE) ceremony at this place. This is a tradition to perform that event near this kind of place. The view is wonderful and the atmosphere was great, very recommend ed. Access to people with disabilities, very clean.
Written May 10, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ann C
Nashville, TN3,207 contributions
Jan 2017 • Couples
The Park Ranger was very helpful. He did not have an English brochure however he was very kind to print one off on his computer for us...you might want to do this yourself ahead of time...there are Hebrew brochures available.
This is a small site. There are some good ruins to explore.
There is a spring here where apparently some men enter nude...the sign reads not to do this...personally I do not understand the significance of this spring nor why anyone would enter it as it was stagnant water full of mosquito's.
I recommend that you enter the tombs building...go up the stairs for a panoramic view.
Opening hours for prayer: Sun-Wed around the clock except 2-4am/Thursday-Friday 4am to Fri. before Sabbath begins...On Rosh Hodesh the site is opened from 4am-2am the following morning.
Hours of archaeological site: 8am-4pm (summer until 5pm). On Friday's and Holiday eve's the site closes one hour earlier.
Last entrance is hour hour before closing.
This is a small site. There are some good ruins to explore.
There is a spring here where apparently some men enter nude...the sign reads not to do this...personally I do not understand the significance of this spring nor why anyone would enter it as it was stagnant water full of mosquito's.
I recommend that you enter the tombs building...go up the stairs for a panoramic view.
Opening hours for prayer: Sun-Wed around the clock except 2-4am/Thursday-Friday 4am to Fri. before Sabbath begins...On Rosh Hodesh the site is opened from 4am-2am the following morning.
Hours of archaeological site: 8am-4pm (summer until 5pm). On Friday's and Holiday eve's the site closes one hour earlier.
Last entrance is hour hour before closing.
Written January 22, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
David Ha'ivri 🇮🇱
Israel478 contributions
Jan 2020
It is located on a high point north of Jerusalem. It is considered a holy place to Jews, Muslims and Christians.
The site is administered by Israel's National Parks association and is open to the public at no entrance fee. There are public restrooms, picnic area and access ramps for wheelchairs.
Amazing 360 view from the roof of the building, long a very steep steps lead to the roof, no access for wheelchairs to that area.
The site is administered by Israel's National Parks association and is open to the public at no entrance fee. There are public restrooms, picnic area and access ramps for wheelchairs.
Amazing 360 view from the roof of the building, long a very steep steps lead to the roof, no access for wheelchairs to that area.
Written January 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mosh l
22 contributions
Mar 2018 • Friends
The site is fully excavated.
Shows all the layers of the ancient periods. There is a beautiful synagogue which is open 24/7.
Nice olive and almond trees and green. There is also a spring which creates a nice cold water small pool
Shows all the layers of the ancient periods. There is a beautiful synagogue which is open 24/7.
Nice olive and almond trees and green. There is also a spring which creates a nice cold water small pool
Written March 4, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
tensi78
Lod, Israel2,383 contributions
Oct 2017 • Friends
the ruins,the history,the panorama,little kittens you can feed))bit of windy,so take some hoody.small shop,great views of Jerusalem
Written November 25, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
David-Miriam-Cohen
Israel292 contributions
Oct 2017 • Couples
We took a free tour offered by the Israel Parks Department on Holidays. The guide was excellent. The Tomb has two entrances- one for Muslims, leading into a Mosque, and one for Jews, leading into a Synagogue. Outside, everyone gets along fine together. The place is well excavated and has beautiful views of the surrounding area.
Weather or not Samuel the Prophet actually is, or ever was, buried there, is impossible to know (Look it up, and decide for yourself). But the place is beautiful, either way.
Weather or not Samuel the Prophet actually is, or ever was, buried there, is impossible to know (Look it up, and decide for yourself). But the place is beautiful, either way.
Written October 23, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rob
Oosterhout, The Netherlands8 contributions
Nov 2021 • Business
Very interesting place with great historic story. And beautiful view of surroundings amoung which Jeruzalem. Plan 30-45 minuts for a visit
Written November 1, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
illinois travelere
1,760 contributions
May 2019 • Friends
Samuel the prophet lived during the time of the Judges and anointed both King Saul and King David. His traditional burial site is on the heights north of Jerusalem. Climb to the roof for the best views (which are spectacular).
We were nearby, and had enough time, so we made an unscheduled stop. It was definitely worth while.
We were nearby, and had enough time, so we made an unscheduled stop. It was definitely worth while.
Written June 3, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
devorah436
Cardiff4 contributions
Can you stay here
Temper43 - Alfredo
Panama City, Panama1,321 contributions
no, there is no accomodation in this site,....I doubt you are allowed to camp, but it is not far from town.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listingNebi Samuel National Park - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)
Frequently Asked Questions about Nebi Samuel National Park
- Hotels near Nebi Samuel National Park:
- (4.11 mi) The American Colony Hotel
- (4.09 mi) Bezalel Hotel - an Atlas Boutique Hotel
- (3.43 mi) Caesar Premier Jerusalem
- (4.15 mi) Arthur Hotel - an Atlas Boutique Hotel
- (3.99 mi) Gordonia Hotel
- Restaurants near Nebi Samuel National Park:
- (4.21 mi) Sarwa Street Kitchen
- (4.73 mi) Roots Restaurant
- (4.14 mi) Margo
- (4.56 mi) Happy Fish Restaurant
- (4.47 mi) Deja Bu
Nebi Samuel National Park Information
Excellent Reviews | 13 |
---|---|
Very Good Reviews | 9 |
Nebi Samuel National Park Photos | 118 |