Classic Israel Sample Itinerary

Itinerary

Day 1: USA/Israel

• Depart on your overnight flight to Israel

Full Day Itinerary: Today, depart on your overnight flight to Israel. Aloft, we will have dinner, a little sleep time, breakfast, and the opportunity to praise the Lord for His great creation from the vantage point of 35,000 feet!

Day 2: Tel Aviv

• Arrive in Tel Aviv, where you'll be met and escorted to your hotel
• Balance of the day at leisure

Accommodations: 1 night Dan Panorama, Tel Aviv. Included meals: Dinner.

Full Day Itinerary: Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport. After passing through passport control and customs, meet your guide and transfer to your hotel to check-in. Get a good night sleep tonight to be ready for your Israel adventure in the morning.

Day 3: Jaffa, Caesarea, Megiddo, Mt. Carmel, Nazareth & Tiberias

• Visit Caesarea, Roman capital of Judea
• Tour Megiddo, the site of Biblical Armageddon
• See Nazareth Village, a recreation of Jesus' home town
• View the 1st century “Jesus Boat” at Nof Ginosar

Accommodations: 2 nights Nof Ginosar Hotel. Included meals: Breakfast & dinner.

Full Day Itinerary: After breakfast, take a panoramic tour of ancient Jaffa, then drive north along the Mediterranean Sea to Caesarea, Roman capital of Judea. Here you'll view the beautifully restored theater, and the ruins of the ancient town, its harbor and aqueduct. Travel inland to Megiddo (Biblical Armageddon), then continue to Muhraka on Mount Carmel, where Elijah defeated the priests of Ba'al. Then continue to Nazareth, where you'll visit Mary's Well. This afternoon arrive at Kibbutz Nof Ginossar on the Sea of Galilee, and view the 1st century “Jesus Boat”, found by members of the kibbutz after a drought in 1985 caused the water level in the Sea of Galilee to fall, exposing this ancient boat. Buried in a mud bank for almost two millennia, it is the only ancient boat to be recovered from the Sea of Galilee.

Day 4: Capernaum, Mt. of Beatitudes, Golan Heights & Korazim

• Capernaum and the ruins of the ancient synagogue
• Visit Korazin
• Mount Beatitudes, the site of the Sermon on the Mount

Included meals: Breakfast & dinner.

Full Day Itinerary: Set sail on the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum and visit the ruins of the ancient synagogue. Continue to Korazin, a city condemned by Jesus, and the Mount of Beatitudes, site of the Sermon on the Mount. (Time permitting, visit the Canaanite city rebuilt by King Solomon at Hazor or Tabgha, the site of the Multiplication of the Loaves & Fishes), then proceed via the Hula Valley with its spectacular panoramic views of the fertile fields of the Galilee to the Golan Heights. Visit the former Syrian fortifications, then drive along the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee.

Day 5: Yardenit, Beit She'an, Jericho & Dead Sea

• Take part in a baptism at Yardenit on the Jordan River
• Tour Beit She'an
• Drive through the Jordan Valley to reach the Dead Sea

Accommodations 1 night Daniel Dead Sea. Included meals: Breakfast & dinner.

Full Day Itinerary: Begin your day at Yardenit, a special site on the Jordan River, for a Baptism service. Continue to Beit She'an, an ancient city which has been extensively excavated and is considered the best preserved Roman-Byzantine city in Israel, with beautiful, colonnaded streets, bath houses, and magnificent mosaics. Continue driving south through the Jordan Valley to Jericho, the oldest known city in the world. It is near Jericho that Jesus was baptized by John. Arrive at your Dead Sea Spa Hotel where you'll have the opportunity for a dip in the buoyant waters of the Dead Sea and to enjoy the beautiful spa facilities.

Day 6: Masada, Ein Gedi, Qumran & Jerusalem

• Visit Masada, the last stand against the Romans
• Enjoy a hike through Ein Gedi Nature Reserve to David's waterfall
• View the Qumran Caves

Accommodations: 3 nights Leonardo Plaza, Jerusalem. Included meals: Breakfast & dinner.

Full Day Itinerary: Ascend this morning by cable car to the fortress of Masada, where Jewish defenders made their last stand against Rome in AD 73. Continue along the shore of the Dead Sea to Ein Gedi, David's waterfall and a wonderful nature center and the Qumran Caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Later this afternoon, begin the ascent up to Jerusalem and the highlight of your visit to Israel.

Day 7: Old City of Jerusalem

• Mount Zion and the Upper Room
• Garden of Gethsemane
• Walk the Via Dolorosa
• Pray at the Garden Tomb

Included meals: Breakfast & dinner.

Full Day Itinerary: Today, enjoy a full day of sightseeing in the Old City of Jerusalem, exploring your Christian heritage and its Jewish roots. Begin your day with a visit to the Mount of Olives, Mount Scopus, Mount Zion, the site of the Upper Room, and the Kidron Valley. Walk the Palm Sunday path to Dominus Flevit Chapel and visit the ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. Enter the Old City within the walls and walk the Via Dolorosa, the agonizing route Jesus walked with the cross on the way to Golgotha. Visit the restored Jewish Quarter, the Western (Wailing) Wall, the Temple Site on Mount Moria and the Garden Tomb.

Day 8: New City of Jerusalem & Bethlehem

• Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum
• Yad Vashem, the Memorial to the Holocaust
• Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity

Included meals: Breakfast & dinner.

Full Day Itinerary: Today you'll visit the new city outside the walls, including the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed and the Memorial to the Holocaust at Yad Vashem. This afternoon visit Bethlehem, with Shepherd's Field and the Church of the Nativity.

Day 9: Jerusalem/Evening Departure

• Day of leisure in Jerusalem
• Transfer to the airport with dinner en route

Included meals: Breakfast & dinner.

Full Day Itinerary: Enjoy a full day at leisure in Jerusalem. Stroll the busy streets of downtown Jerusalem, shop in the Old City "shuk", and explore the many amazing facets of the world's most desired and coveted city. Enjoy a farewell dinner with your fellow travelers before your late evening transfer to Ben Gurion Airport to board your return flight home, departing shortly after midnight.

Day 10: USA

• Arrive in the USA