What's Included
Our tours are all-inclusive. Always.
Itinerary
Day by Day
- 2
Friday
Tel AvivUpon 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 will tour Joppa then proceed to our hotel on the sea where we will check in overnight.
- 3
Saturday
Tel Aviv, Caesarea, Megiddo, TiberiasThis morning we 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 where Elijah challenged Baal’s priests.
This afternoon, after a Middle Eastern lunch at a Druse restaurant, we proceed to Megiddo to visit the excavations that unearthed 20 different civilizations. This is Michener’s “The Source”. Continue down the road to Nazareth, boyhood home of Jesus where we will go to the look out and view the entire valley. Then, it’s on to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee for dinner and overnight at our hotel. On the way, if there is time we will stop at Harod, the spring of Gideon.
- 4
Sunday
Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, MagdalaThis morning we enjoy a relaxing boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, landing at Nof Ginosar where we will see the New Testament Boat found below the sea. Continue our morning tour with a visit to Capernaum, Tabgha and the Mount of Beatitudes.
After Lunch we will stop at Chorazin and then on to Magdala, one of the oldest synagogues dating back to the first century AD. Home of Mary Magdalena and was the fishing center where Peter would have brought his catch to be sold or processed. Our last stop today will be at the Jordan River where we may have the opportunity to be baptized, then return to the hotel in Tiberias for dinner and overnight.
- 5
Monday
Tiberias, Bet Shean, Dead SeaThis morning 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.
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. After Lunch we head down the Jordan River road and enter the Judean wilderness, on our way to the Dead Sea. We will pass by the Dead Sea as we go to our hotel on the Dead Sea for a swim or a spa as travelers 2,000 years ago would do before dinner and overnight.
- 6
Tuesday
Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran, JerusalemThis morning we drive to Masada where we ascend by cable car to the magnificent ruins of the fortress. It was here 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 on we stop at Ein Gedi where we will walk to the water falls that David would have used while he was fleeing from Saul. After Lunch we continue to Qumran and the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Then to St. George Monastery before heading up to Jerusalem where we check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.
- 7
Wednesday
Jerusalem, Temple Mount, Western Wall, Israel MuseumAfter breakfast we transfer to the Dung Gate, where we ascend to the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, considered the third holiest site of Islam, located on the site of the ancient Temple Mount. Here we will enter by the Western Wall Plaza and go down to the foundation of the Second Temple. We will see a model that will demonstrate where we are in location to the Temple in the time of Christ. Continue along the tunnel as we proceed to the Gateway of the Priests entry to the Holy of Holies. We will continue to the Temple Institute where we will see the making of the instruments for the new temple. We will see how they are following the Bible for exact instructions. We will see a film explaining where the Rabbi believes the Temple and courts could be located.
After lunch we will visit the Jewish Quarter and then we will head to Yad Vashem and see the Museum of the Holocaust. Continue to Shrine of the Book and the model city of Jerusalem at the time of the Second Temple. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.
- 8
Thursday
Mt. of Olives, Shepherd's Fields, Bethlehem"If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace." (Luke 19:42) Our drive this morning takes us past the Chapel of Ascension and Paternoster to the Mt. of Olives for an orientation view of Jerusalem and the opportunity of a group photograph overlooking Jerusalem. We then walk the traditional Passion walk. We descend to the church known as Dominus Flevit ("Our Lord weeps"). After viewing the Golden Gate, we walk downhill to Gethsemane, where we take time to meditate on the Gospel text and view the Church of All Nations. Enter the Old City and and proceed to the Jerusalem Archeological Park where we see the Steps that entered the temple and the Southern Wall. It was here that Jesus would have taught the disciples. See a video that shows the temple as it was at Herod's (or Jesus') time.
"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord". (Luke 2:10-11). After lunch we drive south to one of the possible sites for Shepherds' Fields. We continue into Bethlehem itself, walking through the restored old town to the Church of the Nativity and visiting the manger and see the cave of St. Jerome. We drive back to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight.
- 9
Friday
Old City, Garden Tomb“He has risen!” (Mark 16:6 This morning we visit the Pools of Bethesda (John 5) and St. Anne’s Church. The church is perfectly preserved from the Crusader period – with remarkable acoustics. Continuing on we see Pilate’s Judgment Hall, the Chapel of Flagellation, Lithostrotos, and the Arch of Ecce Homo (Behold the Man). We then follow the Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa) through the bazaars as far as the Holy Sepulcher. From there we walk from the Christian Quarter along the Arab Souks through the Cardo Maximo and past the Armenian Quarter. Continuing on to Mount Zion we visit the Upper Room and the Tomb of King David, and then to the grounds of a church called Peter in Gallicantu, which affords the best view of early Jerusalem from the west. (Here, the Assumptions Fathers suggest, was the house where the High Priest Caiaphas interrogated Jesus). After Lunch we board our bus to the Garden Tomb where we will end our day with a special visit and the possibility of having a private communion on the grounds outside the city walls. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.
- 10
Saturday
Jerusalem, USAWe transfer to the Ben Gurion 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.