ОПИСАНИЕ ЭКСКУРСИИ

This tour starts on any day of the week. The order of the tour may be changed, according to which day you start on.  It is made up of 6 daily tours with hotels, and all transportation included.  A professional guide will be on hand at all times to explain what you are seeing and to answer any questions that you may have.  The package includes transportation and 5 nights hotels.  There is an option for an upgrade if you wish.  If you would like to add lunch you are welcome to do so.  The following is the basic intinerary for the tour.  After booking you will receive the fine details, as to pick up times every day, and hotel names.  Most of the pick up times occur between 7:00 a.m. and 08:30 a.m.

 

Day 1:  Jerusalem Old and New

Start the tour in the morning, by being picked up from your hotel.  Drive for a view of the Old City and Jerusalem.  Enter the Old City through the Zion Gate, pass the Armenian Quarter, and walk through the Byzantine Cardo.  Arrive at the Western Wall, that is the holiest sites for the Jewish people.  Continue on walking by the Via Dolorosa, where you will see many pilgrims walking the Stations of the Cross.  Finally arrive at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  Tour the church that was built over the place where the crucifixion took place, and it is said Jesus was buried.  Take a walk through the Old City market.  Continue on to visit Yad Vashem, which is the Holocaust Museum, commemorating the destruction of the lives of six million Jews, and those who tried to save them.  Back to your hotel for overnight.

Day 2:  Bethlehem and Jericho

After breakfast we will leave Jerusalem and drive down towards the Dead Sea, we will pass the Inn of the Good Samaritan.  Continue to Jericho, which is the oldest inhabited city in the world.  Above Jericho view the Mt. Temptation, the place where Jesus fasted for fourty days and nights.  Return to Jerusalem to continue on to Bethlehem, which was the home of Jesse, King Davids’ father, and where Jesus was born.  Walk across Manger Square to arrive at the Church of Nativity.  Travel down to the Grotto of the church to see the star, which indicates the spot where Jesus was born.  See the Manger and the three Wise Men alter.  Next to this is a Crusader Church that is dedicated to St. Catherine.  Leaving Bethlehem pass the Milk Grotto and Shepherd’s Fields.  Back to hotel for overnight.

Day 3:  In the footsteps of Jesus

Start the day after breakfast in your hotel.  The first stop for the day will be on the Mount of Olives, where you will find the Church of the Ascension.  Jesus is said to have gone up to heaven from this place.  Close to here, a Crusader cloister and grotto called the Pater Noster, commemorates where Jesus preached the Lord’s Prayer.  As we are walking, stop at Dominus Flevit, where it is said that Jesus cried as he envisioned the destruction of Jerusalem.  Continue on to the Church of all Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane.  We will cross the Kidron Valley and enter the Old City through the Lions Gate.  Stop at the Church of St. Anne to visit the pools of Bethesda.  Continue to the cellars in the convent of the Sisters of Zion, to view the water cistern from the Second Temple.  There are engravings on the stones of the street. Entrance fees not included.

Day 4:  Masada and the Dead Sea

Breakfast and then we start the drive toward the Dead Sea.  Drive through the Judean Desert, and pass the Inn of the Good Samaritan.  You can see Jericho in the distance.  Continue on to Masada, go up in a cable car, all the while your guide will explain what you are seeing around you.  Tour the 2 palaces, the well preserved bath house, the ancient synagogue, the Roman barracks, and more.  Driving on pass by Ein Gedi to the Dead Sea for a swim like no other.  The waters are very therapeutic for the skin and the soul.  Return to hotel for overnight.

Day 5:  Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee

Breakfast, and start the drive traveling North through the plain of Armageddon, where you can see Megiddo.  Stop at the Mount of Precipitation, and arrive in Nazareth. Start touring the Church of Annunciation, and next to it the Church of St. Joseph.  Leaving Nazareth, we will pass Cana (the site where Jesus turned water into wine), and make our way to the Sea of Galilee.   At the foot of Mount Beatitude, visit Capernaum, which was the home of Peter.   Tour the Benedictine Church that commemorates the miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fish.  At the Sea of Galilee, there will be a chance to be baptized in the Jordan River waters.  Returning pass Mount Tabor, and return to hotel for overnight.

Day 6:  Caesarea, Acre, and Haifa

Breakfast and then start the day driving along the coast of the Mediterranean.  Arrive in Caesarea, that was built by Herod and dedicated to Caesar.  There were many luxurious things to be found as a Roman city.  Tour the theater, that is still in use today with the hippodrome beside it.  There is even a Roman temple to tour.  Our next stop is Haifa, where you will see the beautiful Baha’i shrine and gardens.  Continue on to Rosh Hanikra for a cable car ride down into the Grottos.  The final stop for this tour is Acre.  Acre is the largest crusader city in Israel, and very well preserved.  On top of the city is the Turkish prison, complete with gallows.

This completes the six day tour.  If you would like to add days to this tour, or hotel nights please let us know.