Sukkot 2027

Why people travel then

Sukkot remembers the forty years in the desert. Families build a sukkah, a booth roofed with branches, and eat in it all week; the festival closes with Simchat Torah, dancing with the Torah scrolls.

It is the autumn twin of Pesach for travel: a week off school in Israel, the first cool days after the summer, and every trail and guesthouse in demand.

What you will see on the routes

• Jerusalem: A Walk Through the Old City's Four Quarters

  On Chol HaMoed tens of thousands gather at the Western Wall for the Priestly Blessing, and the Jerusalem March brings groups from around the world through the city. Sukkot fills the Jewish Quarter’s courtyards.

• Israel National Trail: Five-Day Highlights

  Mid-October is when walkers start the National Trail again after the summer; Sukkot week is a good time for a few days on its northern sections.

• The Banias: Spring of Pan to the Waterfall

  Water is at its lowest in October, but the shaded trails of the Banias and Tel Dan are the most popular in the north on Chol HaMoed. Book entry ahead.

• Makhtesh Ramon — Rim to Crater Floor

  The desert season opens in October. Mitzpe Ramon’s guesthouses fill for Sukkot, and the nights on the crater rim are clear and cool.

How it changes travel

• In Israel, public transport stops from the afternoon of 15 October to Saturday night, 16 October, and again from the afternoon of 22 October to nightfall on 23 October.
• Nature reserves often require advance booking on Chol HaMoed, and guesthouses in the Galilee and the Negev charge holiday rates all week.
• October can still be hot in the desert and at the Dead Sea: start before sunrise.

Travel window: 15 to 24 October 2027. Israeli schools are off for the whole festival; Chol HaMoed (17 to 21 October in Israel) is the busiest week of the autumn on the trails.