Heritage of the Holy Land Tour

8 days, 7 nights
Thursday Arrival

Day 1 – Thursday
Tel Aviv
Your adventure begins when you arrive at Ben Gurion airport where you will be met by one of our representatives and transferred to your hotel. Spend the evening at leisure in bustling Tel Aviv, you’ll sleep here tonight.

Day 2 – Friday
Tel Aviv • Sea of Galilee • Tiberias
We’ll begin our exploration of Israel in the ancient port of Jaffa, beloved for its winding, gallery-filled alleyways, the traditional home of Simon the Tanner and magnificent views of the sea. From the city, we’ll drive along the coast to Caesarea, “Herod’s Masterpiece by the Sea”, and take in the spectacular Roman and Crusader era ruins including a working theatre, hippodrome and a very photo-worthy aqueduct. Leaving the coast you’ll head inland to Megiddo, thought to be the site of Armageddon. You’ll learn the site’s impressive 5,000 year history as you visit the archaeological excavations, including a temple once one of the largest in the Near East and a water system built to withstand siege. After our tour we’ll drive about an hour to Tiberias, a centre of Jewish learning on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and our destination for the night. (B)

Day 3 – Saturday
Sea of Galilee
We’ll begin our day with a tour of Tiberias, both a resort and one Judaism’s holiest cities, burial place of scholars and sages. You’ll drive on to Capernaum, central to the early church, where you’ll visit a Roman-era synagogue and the House of St. Peter, and Tabgha, the site of Christ’s miracle of feeding the 5000, where the Church of Multiplication boasts 5th century mosaics depicting loaves and fishes. At the Mount of Beatitudes you’ll stand at the site of the “Sermon on the Mount” and the place Jesus selected his twelve disciples before ascending the Golan Heights for panoramic views of Mt. Hermon, the rugged Golan and the lush Hula Valley. On our way back to Tiberias, we’ll visit the popular Yardenit Baptismal Site on the Jordan river before we return to our hotel for the night. (B)

Day 4 – Sunday
Nazareth • Jordan Valley • Beit Shean • Jerusalem
This morning we’ll drive to Cana to visit the Wedding Church, where Jesus performed his first miracle, the turning of water into wine, and continue to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation, Joseph’s Workshop and Mary’s Well. Driving south we’ll stop at the Roman city of Beit Shean. Destroyed in an earthquake in 749, the ruins are extensive, foremost a newly-restored, functioning amphitheatre . We’ll make our way along the beautiful Jordan Valley to Jerusalem, and our hotel for the night. (B)

Day 5 – Monday
Masada • Dead Sea
Today we’ll drive through the Judean hills to the Qumran Caves, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, and continue along the shores of the Dead Sea to Masada, last stronghold of the Jews after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D. You’ll ascend Masada by cable car and tour the mountain fortress built by King Herod, inspired not only by the walls, cisterns and palace, but by unforgettable views of the Roman camps and desert below. Continuing to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, you’ll have the opportunity to float in the dense water and cover yourself with the mineral-rich mud, believed to have therapeutic effects. We’ll return to Jerusalem for the night. (B)

Day 6 – Tuesday
Jerusalem
We’ll start the day at the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book, home to the oldest scriptures extant, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and a fascinating model of Herodian Jerusalem which portrays the city as it was during the time of the Second Temple. We’ll visit Ein Karem, a picturesque village on the outskirts of Jerusalem held to be the birthplace of John the Baptist and site of the Visitation, before taking in Yad Vashem, the nation’s memorial and museum dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. From Jerusalem we’ll drive to *Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus, visiting Shepherds’ Field, Manger Square and the remarkable Church of the Nativity. We’ll return to Jerusalem for the night. (B)

Day 7 – Wednesday
Jerusalem
This morning we’ll enter the Old City; you’ll walk the ancient Roman road to view the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, walk along the Via Dolorosa and the Bazaar to visit the Church of Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of the Crucifixion and Tomb of the Resurrection. From the Old City we’ll drive to the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of the city, visit the Church of All Nations, King David’s Tomb, the Room of Last Supper on Mt. Zion and the Garden of Gethsemane, were Jesus prayed with the disciples before his walk to the cross. Tonight you’ll stay in Jerusalem. (B)

Day 8 – Thursday
Departure
Today you’ll bid farewell to Israel and transfer to Ben Gurion airport for your departure. (B)

The program above can be extended or customized for groups.

Please note that the sequence of the tour and sites visited may be amended due to circumstances at the
company’s or the guide’s discretion.