DAY BY DAY ITINERARY
MONDAY AUGUST 30
Depart From New York for your flight to Israel. Beverages and meals will be served on board.
TUESDAY AUGUST 31
Arrive in Tel Aviv and meet our guide. We will drive north along the coast to the Galilee and check-in at the hotel to enjoy dinner and a good night’s sleep.
Dinner and Overnight: – Nazareth
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 1
MEGIDDO / CAESAREA / MOUNT CARMEL / JORDAN RIVER
We will then climb up Tel Megiddo, one of Solomon’s ancient chariot cities, for a view of the Jezreel Valley and future site of the battle of Armageddon. We will drive to Caesarea, an excavated city built by Herod the Great 2000 years ago. It served as the administrative capital of Judea for over 600 years. End the day at the Jordan River and renew your baptism as a true pilgrim!
Dinner and Overnight: – Nazareth
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 2
CAESAREA PHILIPPI / GOLAN HEIGHTS / MT BEATITUDES / CAPERNAUM
We will start our day with a visit to the site of ancient Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus demanded to know of His disciples who people were saying He was. Next we will climb up to the Golan Heights and remember the Road to Damascus, and enjoy the breathtaking view from the Peace Vista. Then you will enjoy a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Next a visit to Mt. Beatitudes where Jesus gave his “Sermon on the Mount” (Matt.5). At Tabgha we will remember the miracle of Multiplication of loaves and fishes (Mark 6) with which he fed thousands of people. Visit Capernaum – known as Jesus’ “own town” (Matt. 9:1) – “walking where Jesus walked” takes on thrilling new meaning. As you sit on the stone benches of Capernaum’s ancient synagogue, you’ll be reminded that right here, Jesus taught (Mark 1:21; John 6:59) and healed a man possessed by an evil spirit (Mark 1:23-27). It was the synagogue on this very spot, whose foundations you can still see, which Luke says was built by the centurion whose servant Jesus later healed (Luke 7:3-5). Jesus also raised from the dead the daughter of this synagogue’s leader (Luke 8:49-53).
Dinner and Overnight: – Nazareth
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3
NAZARETH / HAROD SPRING / MOUNT SCOPUS
After breakfast we will travel to Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus. We will stop at the Basilica of the Annunciation. Continue to Harod Spring which bubbles in a cave on the slopes of Mount Gilboa and from here we can enjoy a fine view of the Jezreel Valley and lower Galilee. We will then stop at Mount Scopus to view what lies ahead, as it is one of the few places from which both the Dead Sea and the Dome of the Rock can be seen.
Dinner and Overnight: - Jerusalem
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4
MT OF OLIVES / UPPER ROOM / DAVID’S TOMB / ST. PETER EN GALICANTU
Begin the day with the glorious view of the Old City of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Take the “Palm Sunday Walk” down the Mount of Olives in the footsteps of Jesus. On the way, stop at Dominus Flevit Church (The Lord Wept), marking the site of Jesus’ weeping over the city (Luke 19: 37-42). At the Garden of Gethsemane at the base of the mountain, you can spend time pondering and praying about the time Jesus spent here with his disciples before his arrest. Visit Mt. Zion and the Upper Room, remembering the Last Supper and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Below we can pray and pay homage to Israel’s famous king and ancestor of the Messiah at King David’s Tomb. Then we enter the compound at the St. Peter en Galicantu Church which is built over the site of the house of Caiaphas where Jesus was imprisoned.
Dinner and Overnight: - Jerusalem
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5
QUMRAN / MASSADA / DEAD SEA
We will depart early today after breakfast and start our drive to Qumran and we will stand among the 2,000 year-old ruins overlooking the Dead Sea on the edge of the Judean Wilderness, we will experience a dramatic view of the cave in which most of the Dead Sea Scrolls, containing the oldest Bible ever found, were discovered. We will then visit the mountaintop fortress of Masada overlooking the Dead Sea. Less than 40 years after Jesus was crucified, Jewish rebels took over Masada. In contrast to Jesus’ instruction to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” (Luke 20:25), the rebels believed in zero-tolerance for Roman rule. The rebels were surrounded by the Roman army, and took their own lives rather than become slaves. This act has made Masada a symbol of the human spirit’s yearning for freedom and gives a greater understanding of this era of conflict that was the backdrop to Jesus’ ministry. Afterwards, we will descend to the lowest point on Earth and take advantage of the hot springs, mineral waters, and mud baths, and enjoy the desert climate, bathe in the healing waters of the Dead Sea, and breathe healthful bromide-filled air at the desert oasis, Ein Gedi.
Dinner and Overnight: - Jerusalem
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 6
TEMPLE MOUNT / WESTERN WALL / JEWISH QUARTER / YAD VASHEM / ISRAEL MUSEUM
First we visit the spot where Abraham offered Isaac in sacrifice on Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount. Prepare to be “Awestruck” at the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Jerusalem Temple Jesus knew, destroyed 2,000 years ago by the Romans. We will walk through the Jewish Quarter and can visit the stores along the Cardo, a typical Roman street built in the 6th century. Next we will visit the Yad Vashem museum Israel’s Holocaust remembrance and education center which is an emotional and heartrending experience, but seeing the exhibits and remembering the Holocaust gives the more than one million individuals, world leaders and dignitaries who pass through its doors annually a meaningful way to commemorate the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. We will end our day with a visit to the Israel Museum, the largest cultural institution in the State of Israel and one of the leading art and archaeology museums in the world.
Dinner and Overnight: - Jerusalem
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 7
RAMPARTS WALK / PRAETORIUM / ST. ANNE’S CHURCH / GARDEN TOMB
After breakfast we will begin the day along the Ramparts Walk of Jerusalem for a unique perspective of the city. Stand at the Praetorium, where Pilate condemned Jesus and Jesus took up the cross (Mark 15:15). A convent now stands over a small part of this huge fortress. In its basement are ancient flagstones, by tradition known as the Gabata (John 19:13), or stone pavement. Continue to the Pool of Bethesda, the site of the miraculous healing of a paralyzed man by Jesus, as recounted solely in the gospel of John, and also the site of the birth of Mary's mother, "Anne". Here over the original pools the purest crusader church in the whole country was built: St. Anne's. Proceed to Gordon’s Calvary and the Garden Tomb. Farewell dinner at an Israeli restaurant before we head to the airport for our overnight flight home.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 8
Arrive in the USA!
PLEASE NOTE! We reserve the right to omit any site and/or change the itinerary
Should it be necessary due to local conditions.
