Active tour specialists, including Genesis Cycling and Gordon Active, are offering bike trips to Christian holy sites in Israel. Tourists to Israel now have the choice of combining their interest in religious pilgrimage travel with bicycling on one of the new "Biking the Path of Jesus" tours. The 12-mile biking routes are available in two-day or week-long tours and depart from destinations in northern Israel, including Nazareth, the town of Jesus' birth.

The tours travel through Mt. Carmel, Mt. Gilboa and Mt. Tabor to the hills and olive groves surrounding Kibbutz Lavi. The two-day tour will leave from Kibbutz Lavi and travel through the Horns of Hattin fort to the Druze pilgrimage sight of Nebi Swe'be, and onto the Arbel Valley, Sea of Galilee and Capernaum. For advanced cyclists, the week-long tour travels from Mt. Hermon in the north to Mt. Carmel near Haifa and through Caesarea, Jerusalem and Masada.

"The new bike tours around the Galilee are a new and innovative way to experience Christian holy sites in Israel," said Haim Gutin, Israel commissioner for tourism, North and South America. The tours are available for beginner to mid-level riders and suitable for children, ages 13 and above.