Magnes first visited Ottoman Palestine in 1907, growing a beard in solidarity with the Jewish colonists. At Jaffa he was told of the plans for a Jewish-only town, north of Jaffa, to be called Tel Aviv. He was sceptical that it would ever come about. He made an extensive tour of the region, travelling on horseback and camping at night. The tour included reaching the summit of Mount Hermon. He returned to America by way of the seventh Zionist Congress in The Hague. His wife accompanied him on his second visit in 1912. They stayed in Jerusalem where there was some discussion of establishing a Hebrew University. They also visited Merhavia and Degania in the Galilee.