Splendour Tour of Israel – Sunday  Arrival (7 nights)

Sunday

Upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport, meet our representative and transfer to hotel in Tel Aviv for overnight.

Monday – Tel Aviv – Beersheva – Arad – Massada - Jerusalem

Leave Tel Aviv – via Ashdod, Ashkelon to Beersheva.  A short visit to the Negev capital.  Continue via Arad to Massada.  Ascend by cable car to the fortress, which was the last stronghold of the Jewish Zealots in their war against the Romans.  Visit the excavations, Herod's palaces, the synagogue, bathhouse, etc.  Enjoy the breathtaking view of the Roman camps and the Dead Sea.  Descend for a possible "float" in the salty water of the world's lowest place.  Via Ein Gedi and Kalia, proceed to Jerusalem.

Overnight in Jerusalem.

Tuesday - Jerusalem – sightseeing of the New City

Drive to Mt. Scopus for a panoramic view of Jerusalem.  On the Garden of Gethsemane and Church of the Agony.  Continue to 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.  Continue to Yad Vashem (the memorial to the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust).  Afternoon visit the Hadassh medical center's synagogue, with Marc Chagall stained glass windows.  Vie Ein Kerem (the birth place of John the Baptist).  Return to hotel.

Overnight in Jerusalem.

Wednesday – Jerusalem (Old City) – Bethlehem **

Walk through one of the Gates of the walled Old City; the renewed Jewish Quarter, the Western (Wailing) Wall, the Temple area; the colorful Bazaar; Via Dolorosa and the stations of the cross, ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Drive to Mount Zion and visit the tomb of King David, the Room of the Last Supper and Dormition Abbey. Afternoon continue to Bethlehem ** to visit Rachel's Tomb and the Church of the Nativity and return to Jerusalem for overnight.

Thursday - Beit Shean - Tiberias - Galilee

Depart Jerusalem and drive via Jericho**, the oldest city in the world. Through the Jordan Vally to Beit Shean , Visit the excavated city, and visit the Roman theatre. Proceed to Tiberias, the old center of Jewish learning. Drive along the shores of the Sea of galilee to Caparnaum, to visit the ruins of the ancient synagogue.  

Overnight in Kibbutz Hotel

Friday – Upper Galilee and Golan Heights - Nazareth

Drive to the Golan Heights.  Visit the former Syrian fortifications and the Druze villages. Via Banias, source of the Jordan River. Proceed via the hula Valley to Safed, city of the Kabala, to visit a synagogue and the artist's colony and then to Nazareth to visit the Christian Holy sites. 

Return to Kibbutz Hotel for overnight

Saturday - Acre - Haifa – Tel Aviv

After Breakfast, drive west to Acre for a visit to the old, famous Crusader stronghold and medieval fortifications.  Continue to Haifa – sightseeing tour of Haifa including to view the Persian Gardens at the Bahai Temple, and Mount Carmel for a panoramic view of the city and the bay. Proceed along the coast to Caesarea, capital of Judea under the Romans. Visit the excavations of the ancient city, the Roman Theatre and the Crusader fortress.  End the day with a short city tour of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and overnight in Tel Aviv.

Sunday

Breakfast and transfer to Ben Gurion airport for departure, or extension Tour to Jordan.