Today, you will embark on the journey of a lifetime as you begin your pilgrimage to The Holy Land. Meals served in flight.

Arrive in Tel Aviv and transfer to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Enter the 2,000-year-old remains of Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. Stand in the ruins of the synagogue built on the remains of the one where Jesus taught. Visit the peaceful Mount of Beatitudes that overlooks the Sea of Galilee. On this hill, Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. Stop at Tabgha, where the feeding of the 5,000 is remembered at the Church of the Loaves and Fish. Enjoy a beautiful boat ride across the Sea of Galilee as you share in a special time of worship on the water. End the day with a stop at the Jordan River for a time of spiritual blessing.

Travel to Nazareth, Jesus’ boyhood home (Matthew 2:23). See the Church of St. Joseph and the Church of the Annunciation. Look out over Tel Megiddo (Armageddon) to view one of the most important archaeological sites in Israel. Stop in Caesarea, a center of the early Christians where an angel visited Cornelius, the first Gentile believer (Acts 10), and where Paul was imprisoned for two years before appealing to Caesar. See the nearby aqueduct that brought water to the city in Roman times.

Start the day in Beit Shean, a city continuously inhabited for over 5,000 years. Here, Saul and his sons’ bodies were hung from the walls of the city. The uncovered ruins date back to the Greek / Roman city that was part of the Decapolis of Jesus’ day. See colonnaded streets with marble sidewalks, Roman public baths, and a theater. Travel through the Jordan River Valley, the route often taken by Jesus and other Galileans as they traveled to and from Jerusalem. In Jericho, visit the ruins of the ancient city that were conquered by Joshua. From Jericho, you can see the traditional site of the temptation of Jesus. Travel to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. Stand atop the Mount of Olives as Jesus did and enjoy a remarkable view of the “Golden City” of Jerusalem. Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives. Continue to your hotel in Jerusalem for check-in, dinner, and overnight.

Visit Shepherds’ Fields, where the angels announced the birth of the baby Jesus. Take time to pray among the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus did after the Last Supper and before He was arrested. Visit Mount Zion and stand in the Upper Room, the traditional site of the Last Supper, then visit the House of the High Priest Caiaphas, where Jesus was questioned on the night of his betrayal.

Touch a part of Herod’s Temple as you pray at the Western Wall. Visit the Davidson Center and the Southern Wall Excavations, including the Teaching Steps. Continue your journey through the Old City to the Cardo. This ancient marketplace has ruins that date back to the Judean monarchy among modern shops. View the Pool of Bethesda (John 5), where Jesus performed the Sabbath miracle. Visit Herod’s Antonia Fortress, where Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate (Luke 23). Walk the Via Dolorosa, “the Way of the Cross,” and stand in reverence at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Enjoy a visit to the intriguing Masada, the spectacular mountaintop fortress built by Herod that later became the final tragic stronghold of the Jewish rebellion against the Romans. Ride the cable car to the top to explore the fortress and look down upon the remains of the Roman camps and siege ramp below. On the way back to Jerusalem, stop at the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest spot-on earth, for an opportunity to take a quick dip in the mineral-laden waters.

Travel to Ein Karem, the village where John the Baptist was born and the Virgin Mary visited Elizabeth prior to our Lord’s birth. You will visit the Yad Vashem Museum for a somber reminder of the horrors of the holocaust with the purpose of never allowing this portion of history to repeat itself. Also planned today is a stop at Gordon’s Calvary, where we can sense the agony of Christ’s crucifixion and the exhilaration and reality of the resurrection at the Garden Tomb. At the end of our time in the Holy Land, prepare for our return journey to the USA.

Arrive in the USA with a lifetime of memories to cherish. Meals served in flight.