Our tour of the Herzl Museum was a highlight of our trip as put much of what we were seeing and hearing into perspective in an entertaining and engaging way. The guide was outstanding and left our children deeply inspired.
Herzl Museum – Binyamin Herzl Biography & Museum
The Dream: About Herzl Museum
The Herzl Museum opened in honor of 100 years since the passing of Theodor Herzl and it offers an opportunity to take an in-depth look at the life and activities of the founder of the modern Zionist movement. The museum is situated on Mount Herzl, close to Herzl’s gravesite and the graves of many other leaders of Israel and war martyrs.
Visitors can enjoy the interactive approach of the museum, including an hour long sound and light show which presents Herzl’s vision in relation to the Jewish world. According to the museum’s website, the greatness of his accomplishments go to show the power of his vision, leaving after him a feeling of empowerment to visitors for their part in his heritage.
The museum is split into four exhibition spaces, three of them showing different eras of Herzl’s life, from the beginning of his life in Vienna and the Dreyfus trial, through the Zionist Congresses in Basel until his early death at the age of 44. The highlight of the tour is the fourth room where visitors are given an awe-inspiring view of the accomplishments of the Jewish state, despite the many difficulties and hardships, and it raises the question of whether Herzl’s famous quote, “If you will it, it is no dream,” has come to fruition or is still in the midst of coming true.
Available languages: Hebrew, English, Russian, French, Spanish, German, Amharic,Chinese
Visit Mount Herzl
Named for Theodore Herzl, the visionary founder of modern Zionism, Mount Herzl is Israel’s national cemetery. Read more
TripAdvisor Reviews
Based on 68 traveler reviewsNew
“Very good”
We visited the museum on a very cold day. We preceded our Museum tour by visiting Herzl's simple grave a few hundred metres away where he was reburied almost 50 years after his death. It is in a pleasant garden area on the top of Mt Herzl which is also worth visiting. The museum tour...
MoreWe visited the museum on a very cold day. We preceded our Museum tour by visiting Herzl's simple grave a few hundred metres away where he was reburied almost 50 years after his death. It is in a pleasant garden area on the top of Mt Herzl which is also worth visiting. The museum tour itself was quite different from any museum I had visited before: cleverly engineered scenes and film clips are used to explain what prompted Herzl's vision and how he then set about trying to achieve it. The script keeps your attention, often using Herzl's own words, which as he was a journalist are well written and often inspiring. The various scripts delicately avoid modern day political strife and whilst obviously intended to be positive about Israel and its future, do so in a way that concentrates on Herzl. Our tour was led by a guide called Shoshi who made it enjoyable and seemed able to answer any question asked about Herzl.
LessNew
“An 'Experience' more than a museum”
We really enjoyed our visit to the Herzl museum. They have used innovative technology and creative ideas to share the story of Herzl's life and dreams in a way that is interesting and easy to understand. We had an excellent and entertaining guide - you need to book the tour in advance to get...
MoreWe really enjoyed our visit to the Herzl museum. They have used innovative technology and creative ideas to share the story of Herzl's life and dreams in a way that is interesting and easy to understand. We had an excellent and entertaining guide - you need to book the tour in advance to get a guide who speaks English. I would recommend this for tweens and teens upwards, not so much for younger kids. Israel has some really excellent modern museums, and this is certainly one of them!
Less“Engaging and Informative Experience”