Treasures of the Holy Land

Fly from your chosen airport to Tel Aviv, the vibrant metropolis backing a sweeping promenade and boasting spectacular sunsets. Transfer to the boutique hotel Brown Lighthouse, close to the beaches and boardwalk, for an overnight stay.

Drive through modern Tel Aviv and the heritage at its heart, in the form of the White City’s thousands of Bauhaus buildings; travel to characterful Old Jaffa, with its maze of alleyways and Ottoman architecture; and continue along the coast to the archaeological park of ancient Roman Caesarea, where sculptures and structures include a large amphitheatre and frescoed hippodrome. Continue to Haifa, looking out to sea from multi-tiered streets, for fabulous views from Mount Carmel of the bay and serenely landscaped Baha’i Gardens, UNESCO listed and a place of pilgrimage for those of the Baha’i faith. Two nights at the 4-star The Colony Hotel.
(B)

Travel to Nazareth, visiting the Church of the Annunciation, believed to be built on the spot where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, predicting the birth of Jesus; continue to Zippori which once was the capital of the Galilee and considered to be the birth place of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anna. Drive to the ancient walled city of Acre, named St. Jean d’Acre by the Crusaders, who made it their last capital in 1104. Under Ottoman rule from the 16^th to 20^th centuries, the UNESCO World Heritage site hems the Med, with mosques built over subterranean crusader structures, including the Templars Tunnel and magnificent Knights Hall. Enjoy the buzz of the oriental bazaar on a stroll through the souk.
(B)

Drive to ‘the Sea of Galilee’ and sail on the lake, where four of Christ’s apostles were fishermen on its waters. Visit a historic boat museum; Tabgha, accepted as the site of the loaves and fishes miracle; and Capernaum, its excavations revealing ‘the house of St. Peter’, with a 5^th-century Byzantine church built above it.  Continue to the rocky plateau of the Golan Heights and to Banias, where a natural spring, with legends of the Greek god Pan, is one of the sources of the River Jordan. Drive to the top of Mount Bental for panoramic views of the Golan, straddling the Israel/Syria border. Enjoy a wine tasting. Overnight at Ein Gev Kibbutz on Lake Galilee.
(B, D)

Drive to Beit She’an, at the meeting point of the Jordan and Jezreel Valleys, the well-preserved ruins of its Roman-Byzantine town about 120m below sea level. Travel through the Judean wilderness to the edge of the Dead Sea, to test the water for an effortless float, and to take the cable-car to King Herod’s fortress of Masada, a UNESCO World Heritage site, dramatically crowning an isolated desert hilltop. Continue into Palestine to ‘the oldest city in the world’, Jericho, its huge archaeological excavations dating it to circa 9000-BC, for overnight at the 4-star Oasis Hotel.
(B, D)

Visit Hisham Palace in Jericho. Drive via Mount of Temptation (photo stop) to  Bethlehem University, offering the insight to speak to Palestinian students about Palestinian life; continue and visit the 6^th-century Church of the Nativity in Manger Square, housing the grotto birthplace of Jesus. Travel to Jerusalem for Shabbat dinner, and three nights in Jerusalem at the 4-star Bat Sheva Hotel.
(B, D)

Explore Jerusalem including Mount of Olives, for a view over the old city and Garden of Gethsemane; and tour the four ‘quarters’ of the Holy City on foot, including the Via Dolorosa, leading to the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre, encompassing the cave of Christ’s tomb; the pool of Bethesda, named in the bible for the miracle of Jesus healing the paralysed man; and the ancient Western Wall, the holiest of Jewish sites.
(B)

Visit the City of David archaeological site and its Hezekiah Tunnel, which carried water to the Holy Pool of Siloam; followed by the Temple Mount, sacred in Judaism as the site of King Solomon’s temple, and equally important in Islamic faith for the iconic gold-topped shrine, the Dome of the Rock;  Yad Vashem, the country’s Holocaust History Memorial, and the Israel Museum, where the ‘Shrine of the Book’ wing houses the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the grounds hold the detailed scale-model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple period.
(B)

Transfer to Tel Aviv for your return flight.
(B)