Israel: Treasures of the Holy Land

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ITINERARY

B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner

Friday, March 10, 2023: Depart Home
Today board your international flight for Israel.

Saturday, March 11: Arrive Tel Aviv, ISRAEL
Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport (TLV), located just outside of the dynamic, seaside city of Tel Aviv, where you will be met by a local representative, helped through customs, and transferred to our luxurious hotel. Overnight at the 5-star Carlton Hotel.(D)

Sunday, March 12: Caesarea Maritima | Haifa | Welcome dinner
After breakfast depart Tel Aviv along the Mediterranean coastal road to the major ancient trading port of Caesarea Maritima. Originally a Phoenician settlement, it was re-built in the 1st century B.C. by Herod the Great as a naval base, with an impressive artificial harbor. Visit the ruins of the theater, Herod’s palace, hippodrome, Crusader city, and aqueduct. Continue north along the coast to Haifa for a magnificent view of Galilee from Mt. Carmel, including a view of the Bahá’í Gardens, a religious site of the Bahá’í faith on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. Check-in to our luxurious hotel, freshen up, and gather for a welcome dinner. Overnight for two nights at the 5-star Dan Carmel Haifa. (B,L,D)

Monday, March 13: Megiddo | Beit Shearim | Haifa
Begin the day with a visit to Megiddo, a Biblical tel (settlement mound) inscribed on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. Excavations at Megiddo, which was in a very strategic location, have revealed evidence of up to 27 layers of habitation from between 4000 B.C. and 450 B.C. Continue on to Beit Shearim, an ancient city and Jewish necropolis that also served as the seat of the Sanhedrin (official Jewish council under the Romans) in the 2nd century A.D., where there are the ruins of a 2nd-century A.D. synagogue and 31 catacombs, whose sarcophagi bear inscriptions in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Return to our hotel in Haifa in time for dinner. (B,D)

Tuesday, March 14: Sepphoris | Magdala | Ginosar | Rosh Pina
Continue our tour of Galilee with a visit to Sepphoris (Zippori), the capital of Galilee in the 1st century A.D., with restored buildings and beautiful mosaics including the “Mona Lisa of the Galilee.” Cross Galilee to Lake Kinnereth (the Sea of Galilee) and visit the site of Magdala, hometown of Mary Magdalene, where a 1^st-century town has been discovered, including the only known 1st-century synagogue on the Sea of Galilee. Also visit the museum at Kibbutz Ginosar, which houses a very well-preserved, 1st-century A.D. fishing boat that was excavated from the mud at the bottom of the Lake. Drive to our hotel in Rosh Pina, just north of Lake Kinnereth, where we get settled and gather for dinner. Overnight at the 5-star Mitzpe Hayamim Hotel. (B,D)

Wednesday, March 15: Tabgha | Capernaum | Beit Shean | Jerusalem
This morning we visit Tabgha (“The Seven Springs”), where a church commemorates the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, believed to have taken place on this spot. Continue on to nearby Capernaum, the center of Jesus’s ministry in Galilee. We will see a monumental ancient synagogue in the village and a nearby church built over the site venerated as the house of St. Peter. After lunch visit Beit Shean (Roman Scythopolis), one of the cities of the Roman Decapolis (a league of Greek cities formed after the Roman conquest in the 1^st century B.C.). Extensive excavations at the site have revealed a highly developed Roman city that was destroyed by an earthquake. Drive onward to Jerusalem, where we end the day with a magnificent panoramic view of this city that is sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths. Check-in to our hotel, where we have dinner. Overnight for five nights at the 5-star Mamilla Hotel. (B,L,D)

Thursday, March 16: Masada | Dead Sea | Qumran | Jerusalem
Today we depart Jerusalem and drive to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Masada. Built by Herod as a fortified palace, Masada later was the site of a famous “last stand” by almost 1,000 Jews, following the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. At a resort in Ein Boqeq, south of Masada, we will have lunch and you may take a dip, if you wish, in the Dead Sea—the lowest point on Earth. End our afternoon at Qumran, where the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden for nearly 2,000 years, and then return to Jerusalem. Dinner is on your own. (B,L)

Friday, March 17: Jerusalem: City of David and Southern Steps | Bethlehem | Jerusalem
Spend the morning exploring the origins of Jerusalem in the “City of David” area—the original Jebusite city chosen by King David as the capital of Israel. The City of David is today an archaeological park that includes the ruins of large houses and a defensive tower. Also view the “Southern Steps,” at the base of the steps leading up to the Temple Mount, and the Hulda Gate. After lunch we drive to Bethlehem, with its Church (Basilica) of the Nativity—the world’s oldest continuously operating church, established in A.D. 326,
and today a UNESCO World Heritage Site—and St. Catherine’s Church next door.
Return to Jerusalem, where dinner is on your own. (B,L)

Saturday, March 18: Jerusalem walking tour: East Jerusalem to The Old City and along the Cardo
Begin today with a morning visit to the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, housed in a historic building in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City. From there we will set out on a walking tour, following Jerusalem’s “Third Wall” from the grounds of the Albright Institute south to the Damascus Gate, where we enter the Old City. Walk along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Sisters of Zion and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, venerated by many Christians as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial. After lunch, walk along the Cardo, the main street of Roman Jerusalem. Dinner is on your own. (B,L)

Sunday, March 19: Jerusalem: Israel Museum, PM at leisure | Farewell dinner
Today visit the Israel Museum (including the Shrine of the Book, which houses some of the Dead Sea Scrolls) with its large scale model of Jerusalem, depicting the city at the time of the Second Temple. After lunch we return to our hotel for some time at leisure to relax, do some last-minute shopping, or pack. Gather for a farewell dinner. (B,L,D)

Monday, March 20: Jerusalem | Tel Aviv | Fly home
Transfer to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) for your homeward flights. (B)