Description

9 nights / 10 days – Catholic Pilgrimage

Tour Schedule

Day 1 – Arrival to Tel Aviv

Upon arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport you will meet our representative and transfer to your hotel in Tel Aviv for dinner and overnight. 

 DAY 2 – Tel Aviv 

After Breakfast, departure to the scenic tour of the city and visit to the Diaspora Museum continue with a walking tour of Jaffa, the ancient port city from which Jonah the prophet sailed, and where Peter the Apostle received his famous vision of Acts chapter 10 and was sent to declare the good news to Cornelius the Roman Centurion. The tour will continue through Tel Aviv, Israel’s main metropolitan city. Return to the hotel in Tel Aviv for dinner and overnight.

Day 3 – Tel Aviv & Jaffa / Caesarea / Acre / Haifa 

Breakfast at the hotel. Start the day driving to the north along the coast to the archaeological ruins of Caesarea, built by Herod the Great in honor of Augustus Caesar. Continue to Acre (Akko) for a visit of the old, famous Crusader stronghold and medieval fortifications. Proceed to Haifa to visit the Carmelite Monastery of Stella Maris and, from Mount Carmel, enjoy a panoramic view of the Persian Gardens of Bahai Temple and Haifa Bay. dinner and overnight in Haifa.

Day 4 – Sites around the Sea of Galilee / Mount Tabor / Tiberias

After Breakfast, departure to the journey to Mount Tabor to visit the Basilica of the Transfiguration. Continue Tiberias for sailing across the Sea of Galilee by boat, we will continue to Tabgha, site of the Multiplication of Breads and Fish. Visit Capernaum, the fishermen village where Peter’s house was discovered and where Jesus anchored his Galilean ministry. We will visit the site of the multiplication of the Fish and the Loaves, ascend the Mt. of Beatitudes where the Sermon on the Mt. was preached. Dinner & overnight in Tiberias.

DAay 5 – Tiberias / Banias / Cana / Nazareth / Tiberias

After breakfast drive up to the Golan Heights passing by Banias, source of the Jordan River, former Syrian fortifications and the Druze villages. Continue to Cana to visit the Wedding Church where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. We proceed to Nazareth, where Jesus spent his childhood, and the Church of Annunciation, built on the site where archaeologists believe the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary. You will also see Mary’s Well and Joseph’s Church, Panoramic view of Mt. Precipice. Dinner & overnight in Tiberias.

DAY 6 – Baptism / Jordan Valley / Jericho / Jerusalem

A morning visit to we will visit Yardenit, the famous baptismal site on the Jordan River for baptism. Driving to Beit Shean with its recently excavated amphitheater. Visit the excavations of this beautiful preserved Roman City which was destroyed in an earthquake, after this, will continue to the south along to Jericho, one of the oldest towns on earth. Travel to Jerusalem. Dinner & overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 7 – Jericho / Mt. Scopus / Mount Zion / City of David

After Breakfast drive to Jerusalem, we will stop for a panoramic view of the city from Mt. Scopus 

Enter the Old City of Jerusalem where you will see the Western Wall and the actual site of the Second Temple, the Temple Mount. Walk the Way of the Cross, the Via Dolorosa, to Calvary and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, housing both the traditional site of Crucifixion and the Tomb of the Resurrection. To the southwest, just outside the Old City, is Mount Zion, with the traditional tomb of King David and the Room of the Last Supper. Enjoy the spectacular panoramic view of Jerusalem – the holy city for each of the world’s three great religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam, from atop the Mount of Olives. Visit the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas betrayed Jesus. Dinner & overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 8 – Old City / Garden Tomb / Israel Museum / Holocaust Museum

Start the day at the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book with the famous Dead Sea scrolls, then a visit to the beautifully renovated model of the Herodian city of Jerusalem, dating back to the time of the Second Temple. Enjoy Ein Karem; a picturesque village in the south western outskirts of Jerusalem. This small village has great significance in Christian traditions, since this is where according to tradition John the Baptist was born. 

Visit Yad Vashem the official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953, located at the foot of Mt. Hertzl. Visit Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus at the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square. Return to the hotel. Dinner & overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 9 – Qumran / Dead Sea / Masada

Today we will travel south to the Judean Wilderness, visit the Qumran Caves where the ancient Essene community left us the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Biblical texts. We will pass through the oasis of Ein Gedi where David spared King Saul’s life in the cave and reach the Masada Fortress for a firsthand experience of one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the Jewish people. From there we will descend to the shores of the Dead Sea, dip in the phenomenal salty waters of the lowest place on earth and return to our hotel for dinner and rest.

DAY 10 – Departure

Transport to the Ben Gurion International airport for your flight back home.