We meet at our gateway airport to board the flight for Israel. Dinner will be served on board and breakfast will be served before arrival in Tel Aviv.

We arrive in the Holy Land, patiently proceed through customs, and proceed to baggage claim, always having our passport handy. We meet our wonderful tour guide and load up on the bus for our trip to Tiberias. Time permitting, we will stop along the way for some surprise, introductory sites. Dinner at the hotel will prepare us for a good night’s rest and a great beginning to our adventure in the Holy Land!

Our first morning begins with an unforgettable sunrise service overlooking the Sea of Galilee. After breakfast, we enjoy a lovely boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. After a visit at the Ancient Boat Museum, we pause at the mountain where Christ’s Sermon on the Mount is commemorated. Our drive northward allows us a glimpse of Hazor to consider the conquest of Joshua. We arrive at Tel Dan and take a full tour of this incredible site before proceeding to Caesarea Philippi to dwell on Peter’s confession and the Lord’s declaration of His Church. We then drive south along the Golan Heights for a visit at Jesus’ adopted hometown of Capernaum. Our final stops are the ruins of the 1st century synagogue at Magdala and, daylight permitting, some time at the end of the Jesus Trail at the foot of Mount Arbel. A relaxing and delicious dinner have us ready for a good night’s rest.

This day begins with a drive westward to Nazareth and a fully immersive experience of life in the time of Jesus at the Nazareth Village. Nearby are the ruins of the chief city of Jesus’ boyhood, Sepphoris, a place He would almost certainly have visited with His family and worked with Joseph. From here we drive south for a brief stop at the place called Ein Harod, the spring where Gideon prepared his 300 for the victory over the Midianites. Our day ends at the immense ruins of Beth She’an. The history of this city reaches back to before Saul and Jonathan’s corpses were attached mockingly to the city walls by the Philistines, but it continued as a renewed and expanded city in the time of Christ. Dinner and a bed will be welcomed sites at the end of this exciting day.

This day begins with the opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River at a beautiful location called Yardenit. Then it is on to Tel Megiddo, the site known to us as Armageddon, a site rich in both historical and prophetical significance. After thoughts of Jesus’ ultimate victory, we ascend Mount Carmel to take in the breathtaking views and remember Elijah’s showdown with the prophets of Baal. A tasty lunch at a Druze restaurant readies us for the drive to Caesarea, the city Herod the Great built as a Rome away from Rome. We will teach our way through the theater, hippodrome, palace, and recently discovered prison where the Apostle Paul may have spent his two years here. With our hearts and minds full, we begin the drive southeast toward Jerusalem. Daylight permitting, we will sneak in one final stop at the Valley of Elah, where David confronted and killed Goliath. The unforgettable entrance into Jerusalem readies us for our evening meal and a good night’s sleep.

An early start lets us begin our day with the iconic view of the Old City of Jerusalem. After soaking in this memorable view with all of its Scriptural significance, we walk the Palm Sunday Road down the mountain with a stop along the way at the Tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. At the foot of the Mount of Olives is the Garden of Gethsemane, a place of refuge and prayer for the Lord Jesus and the site of Judas’ betrayal. Following this solemn time of prayer, our bus will pick us up and take us the short distance of about 6 miles to Bethlehem where we have a very nice lunch and time for shopping at an olive wood factory before visiting the fields of the Shepherd’s and of Boaz and Ruth. The Church of the Nativity and perhaps the cave where Jerome translated the Latin Vulgate conclude our time in Bethlehem before we head back to Jerusalem for our final stop, our final stop – the Garden Tomb, where we view Skull Hill, go inside the empty tomb, and pause to remember the Lord’s death and resurrection in a sweet communion service.

It is the Lord’s Day, and we board the bus early for a drive to the House of the Lord at Shiloh. This is where the Tabernacle and Ark dwelled more than three centuries. We then turn east for a beautiful drive down to the Jordan Valley, past Jericho, and on to En Gedi, where David took shelter from King Saul’s pursuit and then spared his life. Our next site is the desert fortress of Masada, site of the famous Roman siege of a handful of Jewish holdouts from the revolt. We then return northward to the area called Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls began to be discovered in caves near the ruins of an ancient Essene settlement. We end our day with a float on the world-famous Dead Sea. An evening ascent to Jerusalem is capped off with the lovely view from Mount Scopus

This is our personal day where each may choose to unwind or use the “light train” to visit some of the attractions around Jerusalem. Explore the Old City, visit the Holocaust Museum, or take the Ramparts Walk along the Old City walls. There are plenty of free sites, but you will be responsible for any entry fees at sites visited on this day.

Our last day of touring begins directly south of the Old City walls at the City of David. This is Jerusalem proper from the time of David. We descend ancient Mount Zion. All the way to the Pool of Siloam before making one more ascent to the “House of the Lord” by way of the Pilgrimage Road used by Jesus and almost every other New Testament figure. This walk culminates at the Southern Steps archaeological park and its extensive ruins, including the steps up to the Temple entrance used by Jesus and the Apostles. We then stop for a few moments of prayer at the Western Wall before proceeding to the Pool of Bethesda and singing in the matchless acoustics of St. Ann’s Cathedral. A walk along the traditional Via Dolorosa brings us to our lunch and shopping stop in the Old City bazaar. From here we move back through the Old City streets and come at last to modern Mount Zion for a special visit to the Upper Room above the place commemorated as King David’s Tomb. Our final stop is Gabbatha, the place of Jesus’ trial before Pilate.

We fly back to the US with many great memories, many new friends, and a fresh perspective of the Bible and an overwhelming desire to return to Israel. We fly through the night and arrive back in New York for our connecting flight home.