Best of Israel & Jordan

Upon arrival in Ben Gurion Airport, in Tel Aviv, after passing through immigration and customs you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel in Tel Aviv for the night. The rest of the day is free for you to settle in and look around Tel Aviv independently.

You'll meet your tour guide and fellow travellers this morning and set of south from Tel aviv, passing the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheba, the capital of the Negev Desert region. You'll then continue to Masada, the foremost archaeological park in Israel. Here we'll ascend to the top of the fortress by cable-car and have a comprehensive visit of the site, learnign about the rituals, culture and politics of the people who lived in this desert fortress. This was the final stronghold of the Jewish Zealots during their war against the Romans, and we will visit the excavations, the synagogue, bathhouse and cisterns, Herod's palaces and enjoy fantastic views of the Roman camps and the Dead Sea, far below us. Leaving Masada, we head down to the lowest place on earth - the Dead Sea - at 430 metres below sea level! Here we'll enjoy a swim, or float, in the salty waters and those inclined can also enjoy the benefits of the mineral rich black mud. We'll then head north up the Dead Sea road, with the hills of Jordan clearly visible to the East, passing by the Oasis of Ein Gedi and through the Judean Desert to Jerusalem.

We start our tours today in Jerusalem at the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book, home to the famous Dead Sea scrolls. Next well visit the beautifully renovated model of the Herodian city of Jerusalem, which dates back to the time of the Second Temple. We then visit Yad Vashem which is the official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Established in 1953, the memorial is located at the foot of Mt. Hertzl. On our way out of Jerusalem, we'll visit the picturesque village of Ein Karem in teh southwestern outskirts of the city. According to tradition, this is where John the Baptist was born. We continue out of Jerusalm to visit Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, and we will will vsiit the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square before returning to Jerusalem. We'll also have the opportunity to 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.

We'll enter the Old City of Jerusalem today for a day packed with visits to some of the most important religious sites in the world. We'll see the Western Wall, and the actual site of the Second Temple at Temple Mount. We'll also walk the Way of the Cross, the Via Dolorosa, to Calvary and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which houses both the traditional site of Crucifixion and the Tom of the Resurrection. Leaving the Old City we'll see Mr. Zion, with the traditional tomb of King David, and the Room of the Last Supper. The next stop will be at the Mount of Olives, the site where Jesus first gave the Lord's Prayer. Here we can enjoy a spectacular panoramic view of Jerusalem, the holy city for three of the World's great religions - Christinaity, Islam, and Judaism. Continuing the day we'll visit the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas betrayed Jesus, and in the heart of downtown Jerusalem we'll visit the largest open market in Israel, Mahane Yehuda and experience the smells, flavours and colours of this bustling area.

We leave Jerusalem this morning and head north past Jericho, considered by many as the oldest city in the world. As we travel through the Jordan Valley we'll pass new settlements to Beit Shean and visit the excavations of this well preserved Roman city. Travel through the Jordan Valley and the new settlements to Beit Shean, to visit the excavations of this beautifully preserved Roman city. Drive up to the Golan Heights to enjoy an Israeli wine country experience, enjoying a tour, wine tasting and understanding of the wine production process. Travel through the Golan, with its Druze villages, former Syrian fortifications and panoramic views of Mount Hermon and into Syria. Later, we descend to the Hula Valley and drive to Tiberias on the shores of the Sea of Galilee - regarded as one of the four Holy cities in Judaism, where the Jewish Talmud - the primary source of Jewish religious law - was compiled, with tombs of Rabbis scattered across the city.

This morning we'll descend back down to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, the stage for many of the events in Jesus' life. We'll visit Capernaum, known as 'His Town', the centre of Jesus ministry, where he spent much time healing the sick and performing miracles. We'll visit the ruins of the ancient synagogue, the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus preached the 'Sermon on the Mount' and it is believed that he picked his 12 apostles, and Tabgha, the site of Christ's miracle of feeding the 5,000. We will continue on to Tiberias, which was an ancient centre of Jewish learning, and there is the option of taking a boat trip across the Sea of Galilee here (subject to local conditions and an additional fee). Later today, we head to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation and Christian holy sites. Finally we return to our hotel in Tiberias.

After breakfast we will drive through the hills of the Galilee, heading westwards to the Mediterranean coast and Acre, where we visit the old, famous Crusader stronghold and medieval fortifications. Next we continue to Haifa where we will ascend to the top of Mount Carmel to enjoy a panoramic view of the city including the Baha'i Shrine, Haifa Bay and the Persiam Garden. Our next stop, as we proceed along the Mediterranean coastline is at Caesarea where we visit the Roman Theater and the Crusader fortress at the site known as the 'masterpiece of Herod the Great'. Finally we will finish our trip with a short city tour of the ancient port of Jaffa and the city of Tel Aviv.

This morning we head east from Jerusalem to the Sheikh Hussein border crossing where we proceed through the immigration formalities and enter Jordan where we are met by our Jordanian guide and vehicle. We'll continue on to Jerash, a city of the Decapolis situated about 45km north of Amman in the fertile heights of the Gilad. Jerash is one of the best preserved ancient Greco-Roman sites in the whole of the Middle East and our tour will include the colonnaded streets, the 2nd century Hadrian's Arch, the baths, amphitheatre and the columns of the Temple of Artemis. Our day will finish with a panoramic tour of Jordan's capital, Amman.

After another early breakfast, we will drive south down Jordan's Desert Highway to Petra. Here you have the option to ride on horseback, take an electric buggy, or walk through the towering cliffs of the 'Siq' (canyon) into the incredible site of Petra. Known as the red rock city, Petra was the ancient trading capital of the Nabatean kingdom from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD. During our guided tour we will visit the most interesting monuments including the Treasury, El Khazneh (a tomb of a Nabatean king), the field of tombs, obelisks and the theatre. After a little free time to explore independently, we will return to Wadi Musa village for the night.

After breakfast, we drive back up north to see the remains of a Byzantine church with a famous ancient mosaid floor map in Madaba. This is the oldest surviving original catrographic depiction in a mosaic of the whole of the Holy Land region and Jerusalem. We'll then continue to nearby Mt. Nebo from where Moses viewed the Promised Land. If the weather is clear, there are spectacular views from here, across the Dead Sea, Jordan Valley, to Jericho and beyond. We will then head back down into the Jordan Valley, cross the border back into Israel and drive to Tel Aviv to finish the tour.

After breakfast, your time is free until we transfer you to the airport for your departure flight. Extra nights are available in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv if you would like to extend the tour.