12 Days Grand Holyland Israel & Jordan
DAY 1 Saturday
FLIGHT TO TEL AVIV
Overnight flight to Israel for your Holy Land journey.
DAY 2 Sunday
WELCOME TO THE HOLYLAND - TEL AVIV
Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, where you will be met by IBMT Tours representative and transferred to your hotel. Overnight in Tel Aviv.
DAY 3 Monday
CAESAREA / MUHRAKA / MEGIDDO / ACRE
Depart Tel Aviv and enjoy the coastal plain on your way to Caesarea,capital of Judea under the Romans. (In AD 6 Judea became part of a larger Roman province, called Iudaea, which was formed by combining Judea proper (biblical Judah) with Samaria and Idumea, biblical Edom). Visit the amazing excavations of the ancient city, the Roman theater and aqueduct, where Paul made his defense before Festus and King Agrippa prior to his final journey to Rome. Proceed to Muhraka, the site of confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal; enjoy the spectacular view of the Jezreel valley and the lower Galilee .
Our journey continues to Megiddo, identified as the site of Armageddon. Visit the archaeological excavations including the well-preserved water supply system. Drive to Acre ato visit the remarkable underground Crusader City and crypt; walk through the Old City recognized by UNESCO as world heritage site , the local market and harbor.
Breakfast, Dinner and overnight in Galilee
DAY 4 Tuesday
TIBERIAS / CAPERNAUM / 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. Continue to Capernaum; 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. Drive to the Banias springs and waterfalls and tour the Golan Heights.
Breakfast, Dinner and overnight in Galilee
DAY 5 Wednesday
CANA / NAZARETH / BEIT SHEAN
Depart to Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first public miracle: the turning of water into wine at the wedding feast. From Cana we will be traveling to Nazareth. Here in Nazareth we will 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 on to Yardenit, the baptismal site along the Jordan river; You will Visit Beit She'an, a newly excavated city, and visit the Roman theater. Ancient Beit She'an is one of the most impressive Roman and Byzantine sites in Israel. Enjoy an evening ride along the the beautiful Jordan river, passing Jericho as well on our way to the golden city Jerusalem.
Breakfast, Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem
DAY 6 Thursday
JERUSALEM : OLD CITY
On the morning we depart to the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of the city. Visit the Church of all Nations, which is also known as the Basilica of the Agony, a Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, next to the Garden of Gethsemane. It enshrines a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest. View King David’s tomb and the room of the last supper on Mt. Zion. Enter within the walls of the ancient city and visit the Cardo, Temple Mount (entrance to the mosques not included), Western Wall, Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Explore the local oriental bazaar with its beautiful colorful little shops. Continue on to visit the Garden Tomb, considered by some Christians to be the site of the burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Breakfast, Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem
DAY 7 Friday
JERUSALEM: NEW CITY / BETHLEHEM
Drive to Ein Karem to visit the Church of the visitation; The Church of the Visitation honors the visit paid by Mary, Jesus’ mother, to Elizabeth, John the Baptist’s mother. This is the site where tradition tells us that Mary recited her song of praise, the Magnificat, one of the most ancient hymns to Mary. The church is beautifully adorned with tiled representations of that canticle in many of the worlds languages. Proceed to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953. Visit the Israel museum, the shrine of the book, where the dead sea scrolls are housed, and the amazing miniature model of Jerusalem showing an historical view as it was during the second temple period. Visit the city of Bethlehem to view the Church of the Nativity. The church was originally commissioned in 327 AD by Constantine and his mother Helena over the site that is still traditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth.
Breakfast, Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem
DAY 8 Saturday
QUMERAN / MASADA / DEAD SEA
Drive through the Judaean Hills to Qumran Caves, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1947 by a Bedouin boy. Continue along the shores of the Dead Sea to Masada, the last stronghold of the Jews after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD; ascend Masada by cable car and tour the mountain fortress built by King Herod; visit the remains of the walls, the water cistern and Herod’s Palace; descend by cable car. Continue to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth; enjoy the opportunity to float in the unsinkable water and cover yourself with the mineral rich mud, believed to have therapeutic effects (weather permitting).
Breakfast, Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem
DAY 9 Sunday
HUSSEIN BRIDGE OR ALLENBY BRIDGE/ JERASH / AMMAN
Drive from Jerusalem to the border crossing procedures to enter Jordan. Proceed to Jerash - city of the Decapolis, location 45Km North of Amman in the fertile heights of the Gilad mountains, visit the ancient Roman city with colonnaded streets, the baths and the hill of the top Temple etc. We then continue to the Capital city of Jordan Amman for a city tour.
Breakfast, Dinner and Overnight in Amman.
DAY 10 Monday
AMMAN / PETRA
After early breakfast, leave the hotel and travel south on the road to Wadi Musa. Then we will ride on a convoy of horses to the "Siq" (canyon) and then on foot to Petra known as "Sela Edom" or red rock city, the ancient capital of the Nabateans from 3rd century B.C. to 2nd Century A.D. Visit the most interesting monuments, such as the Treasury, El Khazneh (a tomb of a Nabatean king) then the field of tombs, obelisks, the altar, (Al Madhbah) from this point you can view the whole of the rock city.
Breakfast, Dinner and Overnight in Petra
DAY 11 Tuesday
MADABA / MOUNT NEBO / ALLENBY BRIDGE / TEL AVIV
Drive to Madaba to see the ancient mosaic map of the Holyland and ruins of historical sites. Continue about 10Kms. to Mount Nebo, from where Moses viewed the Promised Land. From there you will see the Jordan Valley, Jericho, Dead Sea, etc. Visit the remains of a Byzantine church with a mosaic floor, and then drive to the border and to Tel Aviv.
Breakfast, Dinner and overnight in Tel Aviv.
DAY 12 Wednesday
TEL AVIV / BEN GURION AIRPORT
Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel and depending on your flight schedule take a free day sightseeing on your own before transferring to the airport for your departure back home.
Included services:
- Welcome to Israel meet & greet upon arrival by an IBMT Tours representative
- Sharing transfer on arrival and departure (from/to Ben Gurion Airport)
- Government licensed English speaking guide
- 10 nights accommodation
- 2 nights in Tel Aviv
- 2 nights in Kibbutz Lavi
- 4 nights in Jerusalem
- 1 night in Amman
- 1 night Wadi Musa
- Daily breakfast
- Daily dinners included
- 9 touring days in a Deluxe air-conditioned motor coach as per itinerary
- Professional licensed English speaking guide
- All transport and entrance fees to the sites visited as per itinerary
*Please note: Due to availability, the second night in Jordan might take place in Amman instead of in Petra
Not included services:
- Airfare & Departure taxes
- Tips to guide/drivers & hotel staff
- Travel Insurance
- Personal extras on meals not mentioned above
- Border tax and visa to Jordan to be paid locally, approx USD $133/person.
*Child min age - 6 years old
*The hotels appearing in the table might be replaced with similar ones