Day 1 / Mon Apr 12
Overnight flight to Tel Aviv

Day 2 / Tue Apr 13
Jerusalem
Arrival is at Ben Gurion airport, the main gateway to Israel. We will then travel to the outskirts of the Old City in west Jerusalem and check into hotel Har Tziyon (Mount Zion Hotel).

We will gather for a reception and dinner in the evening. Everyone will have the opportunity to become acquainted and meet our tour staff.
D

Day 3 / Wednesday April 14
Jerusalem
We will begin our journey of in the City of David. Deep underground, the City of David reveals some of the most exciting archaeological finds of the ancient world. Above ground the city is a vibrant center of activity. You will begin on a breathtaking observation point overlooking Jerusalem that will send you back in time to the days of Abraham. You will then journey underground to some of the more recent archeological excavations. The tour through the City of David brings us face to face with personalites and places of the Bible.

We will enjoy a fascinating tour of the Western Wall Tunnels – a source of longing and inspiration for the Jewish people.

Our journey then takes us to Ammunition Hill, the main official memorial that symbolizes the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem. Here is an underground museum that commemorates the soldiers who fell in the battle and an exhibit that displays the stages of the battle of the three brigades, the Air Force and the Central Command who liberated Jerusalem.
B, D

Day 4 / Thursday April 15
Jerusalem
We embark upon the tour of the Old City where you will immerse yourself in history and regard the shrines holy to three faiths. We will walk along Via Dolorosa and go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, an important destination for pilgrims since the 4th century A.D. It is considered the holiest Christian site in the world.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher commemorates Golgotha, the hill of crucifixion and the tomb of Christ’s burial.  

We will continue with a visit to the Israel Museum. This is the largest cultural institution in the State of Israel and is ranked among the leading art and archaeology museums in the world. The most popular part of the Israel Museum is the Shrine of the Book. Its distinctive onion-shaped roof was designed by American architects Kiesler and Bartos to resemble the jar covers in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947.
B, D

Day 5 / Friday April 16
Jerusalem
After an early breakfast, our guide will take us to Yad Vashem, the Jewish people’s living memorial to the Holocaust. Yad Vashem safeguards the memory of the past and gives meaning to the Holocaust for future generations. Established in 1953, as the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is today a dynamic and vital place for all generations, nationalities and religions.

Enjoy a free afternoon and evening for shopping and exploring on your own.

Optional tour on your own to Bethlehem, average cost per person is $70.00 - $100.00
B

Day 6 / Saturday April 17
The Dead Sea
We will drive down from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. At 1385 feet below sea level, it is the lowest elevation on earth.

We drive to the caves at Qumran a remnant of the days of the Second Temple on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. It s modern fame came about in 1947 when a number of ancient manuscripts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, were found.

We continue on to Masada (Hebrew for fortress), atop an isolated rock cliff at the western end of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. It is a place of stark yet majestic beauty where 15,000 Romans laid siege to the fortress and its 1000 Jewish Zealots (including women and children) in 66 A.D. In a hopeless situation, the Jewish defenders chose suicide rather than capture and death at enemy hands.
B, D

Day 7 / Sunday April 18
The Sea of Galilee
Early breakfast and check out. Drive north along the Jordan Valley. We stop along the way to visit the Monument to Eretz Hamirdafim “the land of pursuits.” In the late 1960’s and early 70’s the Fatah (from the PLO) used this area for refuge and hiding from the Israeli Defense forces.
We will visit Tel Beit Shean, a part of the National Park on the site, contains 15 distinct layers of habitation that occurred through the ages. Among the most important are from the Egyptian occupation of Canaan during the Bronze Age and Scythopolis, the city that existed during the Roman occupation.

We drive on and visit the Star of Jordan (Belvoir) Kohav Hayarden, located in southern Galilee on the crest of a steep ridge that overlooks the Jordan Valley. Today Kochav HaYarden is the best preserved and completely excavated Crusade era fortress in Israel.
B, D

Day 8 / Monday April 19
The Sea of Galilee
We begin the day by visiting the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (also known as the Church of the Multiplication) on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. The church is modern but stands on the site of 4th and 5th century churches.

A few miles north of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee is the “Jesus Boat, “ a recently discovered fishing boat dating to the 1st century AD. This boat is the type of boat used on the Sea of Galilee for both fishing and transportation across the lake. Most likely Jesus and his disciples (many of whom were fishermen) used this sort of boat. Capernaum, an ancient fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee is home to a celebrated Byzantine synagogue, the house where Jesus healed a paralytic and the home of St. Peter’s mother-in-law.

We stop on a small hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee near Tabhgha, the Mount of the Beatitudes. This is the traditional site of Jesus’ delivery of the Sermon on the Mount, possibly the most famous sermon of all time.

We continue on to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. In this picturesque setting for Kursi (Gergesa), we will see a Byzantine community that thrived here for over two centuries.
B

Day 9 / Tuesday April 20
The Sea of Galilee
We will spend the day focusing on military history. We drive to Ramat Hagolan (Golan Heights) the strategic plateau and mountainous region that remains a highly contested land straddling the border of Syria and Israel.

The decisive victory in The Six Day War resulted in extensive areas of captured territory, particularly Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Golan Heights, as well as the unification of Jerusalem.

We continue with discussion of the Yom Kippur war that started October 6, 1973, with an assault by Syrian military forces against Israeli positions in the Golan Heights.

The city of Gamla was a walled city dating back to the time of Joshua Bin-Nun.

In 66 A.D. the residents of Gamla joined the Jewish Revolt against the Romans. In 68, Three Roman legions laid siege to the city. Initially the defenders succeeded in turning this battle into an overwhelming victory over the Romans. However, later the Romans seized the city.
B, D

Day 10 / Wednesday April 21
Haifa
We drive along the northern border and discuss the crises with Lebanon en route to our visit to Acre. We see the ruins of the once splendid Montfort Crusader castle, located on a precipitous rock crest and surrounded by an immense natural forest. The Knights Templar built the castle in the early 12th century. We then stop in Acre, an ancient seaport city visited by such historical luminaries as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Francis of Assisi and Marco Polo. Napoleon Bonaparte laid siege to Acre and failed miserably. We stop for the night in Haifa.
B, D

Day 11 / Thursday April 22
Tel Aviv
We journey to Megiddo an ancient city dating back to 1800 B.C. The city was a strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. According to the Book of Revelation troops were to assemble here for the last battle at the end of the world. We continue along the Mediterranean Coast to Tel Dor whose recorded history dates back to the Bronze Age.

That afternoon we head for Caesarea, an ancient city and archaeological park located on the Mediterranean Sea. Herod The Great dedicated the city to Caesar Augustus. Caesarea is also an important site in Christian history. This is the place where Pontius Pilate governed during the time of Jesus. In the 4th century, the region converted to Christianity and became a major center in the then Christian Roman Empire.

We continue to Tel Aviv, the largest city in Israel. It is a cosmopolitan, major economic hub and the wealthiest city in Israel – the “Mediterranean metropolis that never sleeps.”
B, D

Day 12 / Friday April 23
Tel Aviv
After breakfast we drive over to Latrun and go to the Armored Corps Museum. The museum features about 120 armored battle vehicles, ranging from WWII French Hotchkiss tanks to the latest model of the Israeli Merkava tank.

Before lunch we will drive south to Latrun, the site of many historic battles. Here is where Joshua commanded the sun to stand still and in later times, the Maccabees, Romans, Crusaders, Arabs and British marched on the way to Jerusalem. In Israel’s 1948 War for Independence, some of the fiercest fighting of the war took place here.

We spend the rest of the day at Beit Guvrin, one of the most amazing archaeological digs in Israel. You will have the opportunity to witness and take part in a dig with Ian Stern.
B

Day 13 / Sat Apr 24
Tel Aviv
We begin the day after breakfast visiting the Museum Hapalmach. The museum is located in Tel Aviv. Having opened in 2000, the Palmach Museum commemorates the contribution of the Palmach to the creation of the State of Israel. The museum itself is an underground series of multi-media experience chambers.

We then proceed to Jaffa. This ancient port is believed to be one the oldest cities in the world.
After lunch the afternoon is free.

Farewell dinner.
B, D

Day 14 / Sunday April 25
Flights home

Israel Tour includes:
• Round trip airfare (New York – Tel Aviv – New York)
• Lectures by full-time historian and guest lecturers
• Full-time logistical escort
• 12 nights in 4 star hotels, including all hotel taxes, porterage and service charges
• Touring by first class air-conditioned motor coach
• Breakfast daily and 10 dinners
• All entrance fees to museums and attractions

*OPTIONAL POST TOUR: Petra, Jordan
Petra is the treasure of ancient world, hidden behind an almost impenetrable barrier of rugged mountains, boasting incomparable scenes that make it the most majestic and imposing ancient site still-standing nowadays.

The rock-carved, rose-red, city of Petra is full of mysterious charm. It was “designed to strike wonder into all who entered it”.

Petra is considered the most famous and gorgeous site in Jordan, located about 262 km south of Amman and 133 km north of Aqaba. It is the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled in southern Jordan more than 2000 years ago. Admired then for its refined culture, massive architecture and ingenious complex of dams and water channels, Petra is now a UNESCO world heritage site and one of The New 7 Wonders of the World that enchants visitors from all corners of the globe.

$1,195 per person based on double occupancy. $375 single supplement.