Highlights of Israel

Upon arrival to airport meet our representative and transfer to hotel in Tel Aviv for an overnight.

Leave Tel Aviv via Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheba to Jerusalem. Have a short visit to the Negev capital then continue via Arad to Masada. Ascend by cable car to the fortress, which was the last stronghold of the Jewish Zealots in their war against the Romans. Visit the excavations, Herod’s palaces, the synagogue, bathhouse, etc. Enjoy the breathtaking view of the Roman camps and the Dead Sea. Descend for a possible “float” in the in the salty water of the world’s lowest place (weather permitting). Continue to Jerusalem via Ein Gedi and Kalya. Overnight in Jerusalem.

Drive to Mount Scopus for a panoramic view of Jerusalem, then go on to the Garden of Gethsemane and Church of the Agony. Continue to Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book with the famous Dead Sea scrolls, then a visit to the beautifully renovated Model of the Herodian city of Jerusalem, dating back to the time of the Second Temple. Continue to Yad Vashem, the memorial to the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. In the afternoon drive to the picturesque village of Ein Karem (the birth place of John the Baptist). Return to your hotel for overnight.

Walk through one of the Gates to the walled Old City: the renewed Jewish Quarter; the Western Wall, the Temple area; the colorful bazaars; Via Dolorosa and the Stations of the Cross ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Drive to Mount Zion and visit the tomb of King David, the Room of the Last Supper and Dormition Abbey. In the afternoon continue to Bethlehem* to visit the Church of the Nativity, then return to Jerusalem for overnight.

*Site under the Palestinian Authority Jurisdiction. Visit subject to situation.

Leave Jerusalem, and drive north via Jericho*, the oldest city in the world, through the Jordan Valley and the new settlements to Beit Shean. Visit the excavations of this beautiful preserved Roman City, then proceed to Tiberias, the old center of Jewish learning. Drive along the shores of the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, to visit the ruins of the ancient synagogue. Continue to a Kibbutz hotel for overnight.

*Site under the Palestinian Authority Jurisdiction. Visit subject to situation.

Drive to the Golan Heights and visit the former Syrian fortifications, and the Druze villages, Via Banias, source of the Jordan River. Proceed via the Hula Valley to Safed, city of the Kabala, to visit a synagogue and the artists’ colony and then to Nazareth to visit the Christian Holy Sites. Return to the Kibbutz hotel for overnight.

After breakfast drive west to Acre for a visit of the old, famous Crusader stronghold and medieval fortifications. Continue to Haifa for a sightseeing tour of the city, including the Bahai Shrine, Persian Garden and Mount Carmel for a panoramic view of the city and the bay. Proceed along the cost to Caesarea to visit the Roman Theater and the Crusader fortress. End the day with a short city tour of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and overnight.

Breakfast and transfer to the airport for departure, or extension tour to Jordan