TAKE AN OPTIONAL PRE-EXTENSION TO EGYPT
DAY 1 – NEW YORK / ISTANBUL - Tour members are welcomed at JFK International Airport for our departing flight to Istanbul via widebody aircraft arriving the next day. Meals served on board.
DAY 2 - ISTANBUL / CAIRO -This morning we arrive in Istanbul. We will transfer to our flight to Cairo. Upon arrival we will be met and taken to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 3 - CAIRO - MUSEUM & PYRAMIDS -This morning we visit the Egyptian Museum with its priceless gems from the tomb of Tutankhamen and other world-famous relics. We tour Old Cairo, including the Coptic church of "El Moallaka", dating from the early fourth century and the Mohamed Ali Mosque. This afternoon's excursion includes an exciting camel ride to the Pyramids and visit the Sphinx. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 4 - CAIRO / SUEZ / ST. KATHERINES -This morning we leave Cairo via the desert route to the Suez Canal. Continue through the tunnel under the Suez we arrive on the Sinai. We travel to the middle of the Sinai to the city of St. Katherines. Here is a remote area that has few accommodations and an area that few Christians get to see. We will check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 5 - ST. KATHERINE'S / ELIAT / BEERSHEBA / BAT YAM - Early this morning we climb Mount Sinai for the sunrise. After walking down, we visit the historic monastery. We drive through Sinai to the Red Sea and turn north to the border of Israel, where we cross and stop at Eilat. This afternoon we will continue north through the Sinai to Solomon's Quarries. Continue to Beersheba and visit the ancient artisan wells. Continue to Jaffa, where we will stop and see the ancient port where Jonah left before being swallowed by a whale. We will continue thru Tel Aviv to our hotel on the Sea in Bat Yam. We will check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.
BASIC TOUR BEGINS HERE:
DAY 1 - NEW YORK / ISTANBUL - Tour members are welcomed at JFK International Airport for our departing flight to Istanbul via widebody aircraft arriving the next day. Meals served on board.
DAY 2 – ISTANBUL / TEL AVIV / BAT YAM - This morning we will arrive in Istanbul and transfer for our flight to Tel Aviv. Upon arrival in Tel Aviv we are met by our guide who will be with us for the time we are in the Holy Land. Board our bus and travel through Tel Aviv, the largest city in Israel. We proceed to Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean to our hotel where we will check in overnight. Passengers coming from Egypt will join us tonight for the remainder of the tour.
DAY 3 – BAT YAM / CAESAREA / MEGIDDO / TIBERIAS - This morning we start our day with a stop at Jaffa (Joppa), the city of Jonah, where Peter had his housetop experience at the home of Simon the Tanner. Proceed to Caesarea, capital of the Roman procurators of Judea. Visit the Roman port, Crusader's Moat, Roman theater and aqueduct. Continue to Muhraka on Mount Carmel. This afternoon we proceed to Megiddo to visit the excavations that unearthed 20 different civilizations. Traveling through the Plain of Jezreel, we visit Nazareth, boyhood home of Jesus. Transfer to the hotel in Tiberias for dinner and overnight.
DAY 4 - TIBERIAS / SEA OF GALILEE / BET SHEAN / JERUSALEM - This morning we take a relaxing boat ride on the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, then visit Tabgha, the Mount of Beatitudes and the River Jordan. This afternoon we travel via the Crusader fortress of Belvoir along the Rift Valley to Bet Shean, where King Saul and his sons were pinned to the walls. It became the Decapolis Capital and was traveled by Jesus and known as Scythopolis. See the ancient theater, Circus Maximus and Cardo Maximo. On our way up to Jerusalem our next stop is at Jacob's Well, then continue through the Old Testament town of Bethel and Shilo. Continue to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 5 – JERUSALEM / NEW CITY / BETHLEHEM - This morning we visit the New City of Jerusalem, Mount Zion, the Upper Room, the tomb of King David and Dormition Abbey. We enter the Jewish Quarter of the Old City to visit the Wohl Archaeological Museum, displaying the newly restored Herodian Quarter. Remains of this area of Jerusalem date back to the time of the Herodian Dynasty (37 BC to 70 AD). Proceed to the Shrine of the Book where we see the Dead Sea Scrolls on display then view the Knesset (Israeli parliament) building. Continue to visit Yad Vashem, a memorial of the Holocaust then visit the Model City. This afternoon we continue to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity, the Manger, Crusader's Cloister and the Grotto of St. Jerome. We then visit the cave in Shepherds' Field and view the Fields of Boaz. En route to Jerusalem we see the Tomb of Rachel and other antiquities before returning to the hotel for dinner.
DAY 6 – JERUSALEM / MT. OF OLIVES / OLD CITY - Today we drive to the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of Jerusalem, visit the Church of Pater Noster and the Chapel of Ascension, then proceed to the Garden of Gethsemane. Crossing the Kidron Valley, we pass the tombs of Absalom, Zechariah and St. James, then visit the Pool of Siloam and the Church of St. Peter of Gallicantu (Caiaphas' House). We enter the Old City this afternoon through the Zion Gate and see the Cardo and the remains of Nehemiah's Wall on the way to the Western (Wailing) Wall. We visit the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, the Church of St. Anne, the Pool of Bethesda, Pilate's Judgment Hall, the Chapel of Flagellation, Lithostrotos, and the Arch of Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man"). We follow the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross) to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and end our day in the Garden Tomb before returning to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 7 – JERUSALEM / MASADA / JERICHO / AMMAN - We drive to Masada and ascend by cable car to the magnificent ruins of the fortress where, from 70 to 73 AD, Jewish defenders made their last stand in the Judean revolt against Rome. We see the remains of storehouses, cisterns and a sixth-century Byzantine church. Continuing alongside the Dead Sea, 1300 ft. below sea level -- the lowest spot on earth -- we proceed to Qumran and the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. This afternoon we travel to Jericho, the world's oldest city. From the excavated tel atop the ruins of ancient Jericho we view the lush green Jordan Valley, Elisha's spring and Qarantal, the Mount of Temptation. We will go to the Allenby Bridge for our crossing into Jordan. Transfer to our hotel in Amman for dinner and overnight.
DAY 8 – AMMAN / PETRA / AMMAN - This morning we drive to Mount Nebo, from which Moses viewed the Promised Land. Proceed directly south to a dream-like, unreal world: the " Rose-Red City" of Petra and its incredibly beautiful temples, carved into solid rock and forgotten for 500 years. This is the Mount Seir and the Selah of the Old Testament. This afternoon we view the places of sacrifice, the old tombs dating back to 100 B.C., el Deir Monastery,the Tomb of Aaron and the royal palaces. Return to the hotel for dinner.
DAY 9 – AMMAN / ISTANBUL / NEW YORK - This morning we will transfer to the airport for our flight home with unforgettable memories to cherish always. Knowing we have walked in the footsteps of Jesus and the early Christians on such a memorable tour will bring new meaning to our Bible reading.
OR TAKE AN OPTIONAL POST-EXTENSION TO TURKEY
DAY 9 - AMMAN / ISTANBUL / IZMIR - This morning we will board our motor coach and go to Ben Gurion airport for our flight to Istanbul We will transfer to our flight to Izmir. Upon arrival we will be met and taken to our hotel for check in and dinner.
DAY 10 -- IZMIR / PAMMUKALE -Today we drive to Sardis, a Lydian capital, where the largest Roman Synagogue ever discovered is visited. We will explore the massive scale of the Temple of Artemis and the white marble royal road, the gymnasium and the synagogue. Then visit to Philadelphia (Alasehir - Rev. 3:7-13), "The City of Brotherly Love", which will always be remembered as the church that kept the faith. In the afternoon we stop at Pamukkale ( Hierapolis), a unique, magnificent natural formation, sure to be a highlight of your trip. Over the last fourteen thousand years, calcium rich water from an underground thermal spring has flowed over the mountainside and slowly solidified, creating Shallow White Basins and Twisted Stalagmites. Since antiquity, these thermal pools have been used for their healing powers. Christianity came to Hierapolis via Paul (Colossians 4:13). Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Pamukkale.
DAY 11 -- HIERAPOLIS / LAODICEA / MILETUS / IZMIR / IZMIR -The day starts with a visit to Laodicea, another one of the Seven Churches (Rev 3:14-22), chastised for being lukewarm. Continue to Miletus where Paul predicted his own death. Next we visit Izmir, site of another one of the Seven Churches where we visit the Church of St. Polycarp, the oldest church in ancient Smyrna. Continue to our hotel for dinner and overnight in Izmir.
DAY 12 -- IZMIR / EPHESUS / KUSADASI - This morning a short drive takes us to Kusadasi where we explore Ephesus (Rev. 1:11) the crown jewel of the Seven Churches and one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the world. Visit the Odeon, the marble street where Paul held daily discussions, the Library of Celcus, the Temple of Hadrian and the great theater where Paul causes a riot.Also visit what’s left of the Temple of Diana. Finally, we’ll visit the House of the Virgin Mary where the Apostle John cared for the mother of Jesus. Check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 13 -- IZMIR / PERGAMUM / THYATIRA / BURSA -The sun has risen behind Mount Pagus and the citadel of ancient Smyrna dominates the skyline when we leave this landlocked harbor-city for a day-long excursion. Our first stop is Pergamum, modern Bergama. We visit first its majestic Acropolis and remarkable Græco-Roman theater, steepest in the world; then, its famous Aesculapium, antiquity's nearest equivalent to a modern general hospital. We continue southeast to another city singled out in a letter from John: Thyatira (Akhisar); Paul's first European convert, Lydia, who accepted the Lord at Philippi, was a seller of purple from Thyatira. Continue on to Bursa where we will check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 14 -- BURSA / ISTANBUL- Departing Bursa we begin our drive to Nicaea, site of two ecumenical councils in the Byzantine period and later for its tiles during the Ottoman Empire. Continue on to Bursa, currently the fourth largest city in Turkey and the firstcapital of the Ottoman Empire in the 14th Century, before the Ottomans took Constantinople. Check into our hotel for dinner and overnight in Istanbul.
DAY 15 -- ISTANBUL / BYZANTINE & OTTOMAN -This morning we see the highlights along Istanbul Drive: the Suleymaniye Mosque, the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia and the Grand Bazaar. We go to the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, the Kariye Mosque and the Archaeological Museum. Continue to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 16 -- ISTANBUL / NEW YORK - We will transfer to our flight to the U. S. We will arrive in the U. S. latter in the day and transfer to our flights for home.
