12 Days Holyland & Greece Tour - BIBAK


Day - 1

Flight to Tel Aviv

We will meet at Los Angeles International Airport at …. for our flight with …. Airline departing at …… to Tel Aviv. Prepare yourself for an experience that will change your life. Relax and enjoy your flight. Tomorrow you will be walking in the same path that Jesus walked! (Meals on board)


Day - 2

Ben Gurion Airport | Tel Aviv

Shalom, Welcome to Israel! Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport, where you will be met by a IBMT Tours representative and transferred to your hotel. Enjoy time at leisure to explore on your own, or opt to rest to get your body adjusted to the new time difference.

Overnight in Tel Aviv.


Day - 3

Caesarea | Megiddo | Haifa | Acre

Following a delicious Israeli buffet breakfast, depart Tel Aviv. Drive along the coastal plain to Caesarea, capital of Judea under the Romans. We will visit the excavations of this ancient city, the Roman theatre and aqueduct. Continue to Megiddo, identified as the site of Armageddon; see one of the most important archeological site in Israel, visit the excavations including the well-preserved water supply system. Next to Mt. Carmel (Muchraka) and the beautiful port city of Haifa for a panoramic view of the Bahia Gardens and Haifa Bay. Drive to Acre, capital of the Crusaders for more than a century, to visit the ancient city and harbor.

 

Continue to Galilee – Kibbutz Lavi for dinner & overnight.


Day - 4

Tiberias | Capernaum | Tabgha | Mount of Beatitudes | Banias

After a short tour of Tiberias, enjoy a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee; Visit Yigal Alon museum where the “Jesus boat”, an ancient fishing boat from the 1st century, is displayed, it was discovered in 1986 and believed to be from the time of Jesus and his disciples. Continue to Capernaum, where is believe to have been Jesus’ home and the center of his ministry; visit the remains of the 2nd century synagogue. Proceed to Tabgha, the site of the miracle of fish and loaves, and visit the Church of Multiplication with its 4th century mosaic floor. Continue to Mount of Beatitudes, the place where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount and taught Our Father prayer.  Drive to the Banias springs and waterfalls at the foot of Mount Hermon and tour the Golan Heights.

 

Return to Galilee – Kibbutz Lavi for dinner & overnight


Day - 5

Nazareth | Cana | Jordan River

Drive to Nazareth via Cana of Galilee, the town where Jesus grew to manhood. Visit the Church of Annunciation, St. Joseph’s workshop and Mary’s well ("The spring of the Virgin Mary" is reputed to be located at the site where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she would bear the Son of God). 

Continue to Yardenit, the baptismal site on the Jordan River, where believers celebrate and take the opportunity to submerge themselves near the same waters that Jesus baptized his followers; Drive along the Jordan River to Jerusalem.

 

Dinner & overnight in Jerusalem.


Day - 6

Jerusalem (Old City)

Today we visit the Old City of Jerusalem. Our appreciation of this Golden City begins with a panoramic view from the Mount of Olives, overlooking the walls of the old city and the ancient Jewish cemetery. Enter the Old City to begin exploring the wonders of Jerusalem. Visit the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of All Nations, King David’s tomb and the room of the Last Supper on Mount Zion. Next, we will walk the Cardo, the ancient main street of the Old City of Jerusalem. Visit Temple Mount, Western Wall, walk along the Via Dolorosa where Jesus carried his cross, visit Pilate’s Judgment Hall, the Church of the Flagellation, the Church of the Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  We will have time to walk through the colourful Arab Bazaar where we can get some souvenirs to bring back home.  Last visit will be the Garden Tomb, the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Dinner & overnight in Jerusalem.


Day - 7

Jerusalem (New City) | Bethlehem*

Today’s program is dedicated to the New City of Jerusalem.  Drive to Ein Kerem, the birthplace of John the Baptist, visit the Church of Visitation, it honors the visit paid by the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth.  Visit the Israel museum, shrine of the book, where the Dead Sea scrolls are housed and the miniature model of Jerusalem as it was during the second temple period. Proceed to Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953. Proceed to Bethlehem and visit the cave revered as the Birthplace of Jesus and see the Church of Nativity constructed over the site. Gaze out over the Shepherd’s Field where an angel appeared to announce the birth of Jesus.

Dinner & overnight in Jerusalem.


Day - 8

Qumran | Dead Sea | Massada

Drive to Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1947 by a Bedouin boy. Visit the ancient city of Qumran and drive along the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth to Massada, the last stronghold of the Jews after the destruction of the second temple in 70 A.D. Ascend Massada by cable car and visit the food storeroom, water irrigation system and Herod’s palace. Time and weather permitting, an opportunity will be provided to “float in the salty waters of the Dead Sea”.

Return to the hotel and enjoy a farewell dinner & overnight in Jerusalem.


Day - 9

Tel Aviv | Athens | Acropolis | Mars Hill | Ancient Greek Agora

Enjoy your breakfast before check-out of the hotel and transfer to the airport for your departure to Greece.

Upon arrival at Athens Airport you will be met by your tour guide and you will start your exploration to the highlights of the city of Athens: the Acropolis, the Parthenon and Mars’ Hill (Areopagus) where Paul preached the truth to the Gentile Nation. You will proceed with a visit to the Ancient Greek Agora where Paul walked. After your visit to the Agora you will have lunch before you return to your hotel for check in, dinner & overnight.


Day - 10

Athens | Corinth | Acrocorinth

After breakfast, we will head toward ancient Corinth (Acts 18.1-18). It was in ancient Corinth where Paul came and worked, established a thriving church and writing two of the epistles, which are now part of the New Testament. We will see all the sites that are associated with his ministry: the Agora, the Temple of Apollo, the roman Odeon, the Bema and Gallio’s seat, the pillars, stairs, and the place of public worship, where Paul preached. All these visits will certainly enhance the understanding of Corinthians I and II. Before ending the tour and return to Athens, we will pass by the ancient Greek port of Cenchrea (Acts 18:18) where Paul was during his second missionary journey and the ruin of the early Christian 5th Century basilica. After Corinth will visit the site of Acrocorinth where was the Temple of Venus during Paul’s Time. We will have lunch before we return to Athens for dinner and overnight.


Day - 11

Athens | Osios Loukas | Delphi

After breakfast, we will depart towards Delphi. Delphi is the famous oracle where the priestess of Apollo, Pitia, influenced, with their prophecies the history of cities and states of antiquity. Visit the archaeological site and museum. The museum houses an impressive collection associated with ancient Delphi, including the earliest known notation of a melody, the famous Charioteer, golden treasures discovered beneath the Sacred Way, and fragments of reliefs from the Siphnian Treasury. Close to the exit is the inscription that mentions the Roman proconsul Gallio. The reference to proconsul Gallio in the inscription provides an important marker for developing a chronology of the life of Apostle Paul by relating it to the trial of Paul in Achaea mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (18:12-17). Near there you will find the famous Monastery of Hosios Loukas. This is a historic walled monastery and one of the most important monuments of Middle Byzantine architecture and art, and has been listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. Lunch is included in Delphi. Late afternoon arrival in Athens for dinner and overnight.


Day - 12

Day - 12

Athens | National Archaeological Museum | Athens Airport

After breakfast, will board the bus and transfer you to the Airport of Athens with the best memories of Greece and Paul’s footsteps.