This comprehensive Jewish Heritage Tour to Israel with Eilat features the famous wonders of the land and invites you to get to know the highlights of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the phenomenon of the Dead Sea, Mitzpe Ramon and Timna, the man-made miracles of the Red Sea Underwater Observatory and of course, the rich Jewish legacy including the archaeological and historical sites throughout the country.
Your land arrangements include:
– Sharing transfer on arrival* and departure (from/to Ben Gurion Airport)
– 14 nights accommodation based on double occupancy bed and breakfast basis
– 2 dinners at Hotel Kibbutz Lavi
-Lunch and Spa in the Dead Sea area (Cost of treatments not included)
– Light lunch in a Bedouin tent on the way from Eilat to Tel Aviv
– 10 touring days as per itinerary with English speaking guide
– Entrance fees to the sites visited as per itinerary
– Jeep tour in the Galilee
*Assistance at the airport on arrival.
Your land arrangements do not include:
– Airfare to and from Tel Aviv
– Departure taxes, fuel surcharges or airport improvement fees
– Porterage at the airport or hotels
– Insurance
– Early check in/late check out
– Single room supplement – a limited number of single rooms available on payment of supplement
– Meals and beverages not mentioned
– Optional tours not quoted
– Jordanian visa charge/border taxes
– Optional tour to Petra
– Horseback ride at Petra
– Gratuities for individual services, laundry and valet service and any other items of a purely personal nature
– Tipping to guide, driver, hotel or restaurant staff and horse handler in Petra
– E. & O.E.
For information and reservations contact Janice Snider.
Day 1 – Wednesday Ben Gurion Airport/Tel Aviv
Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport where you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel. Overnight in Tel Aviv.
Day 2 – Thursday Latrun/Beit Guvrin/Ayalon Institute/Weizmann House
Drive to Latrun overlooking the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where we stop to visit the Armored Corps Museum and memorial considered as one of the most diverse tank museums in the world. Continue to Beit Guvrin National Park encompassing the remains of the ancient city of Tel Maresha. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO you can explore parts of the archaeological remains and unique caves. We are now on our way to Rehovot to visit the Ayalon Institute, once a secret underground ammunition factory established by the “Haganah” who were the Jewish underground movement before May 1948. Also in Rehovot is the Weizmann House built in 1936, the first President of the State of Israel and founder of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Visit the impressive structure and its fascinating gardens which now forms part of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Learn the story of Dr. Chaim Wiezmann, an outstanding scientist and head of the Zionist movement for over 30 years. Overnight in Tel Aviv. B
Day 3 – Friday Tel-Aviv / Diaspora museum / Old Jaffa
This morning after breakfast we head to Beit Hatfutsot, the Diaspora Museum located in the center of the Tel Aviv University that depicts the ongoing story of the Jewish people. Enjoy a drive around the main streets of Tel Aviv, the center of business and entertainment of Israel. Also known as the “White City” Tel-Aviv was declared as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site for its collection of over 4,000 unique Bauhaus style buildings by Jewish architects from Germany and other Central and East European countries. Continue to Rabin Square, the site of assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. We now head to Old Jaffa, one of the oldest port cities in the world; visit the ancient ruins and walk along the Artists Quarter. Nearby is Neve Tzedek, the first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside of the old city of Jaffa which today has become a trendy area for artists. Our day concludes with a stop at Nachalat Binyamin, the pedestrian mall opened Tuesday and Friday where you can enjoy live street music, arts, crafts and handmade jewelry. Nachalat Binyamin is not only the largest arts and crafts market in Israel, each artist must be approved, all work must be original and handmade and each artist must personally sell their wares. Overnight Tel Aviv. B
Day 4 – Saturday Tel Aviv
The day is free. Overnight Tel Aviv. B
Day 5 – Sunday Caesarea / Haifa / Acre / Rosh Hanikra / Galilee
Driving along the coastal plain we come to Caesarea located half way between Tel Aviv and Haifa. Once the Roman capital of the region we stop to view the excavations of the Crusader-era city, the Roman port, the picturesque and well preserved aqueduct and the amphitheater that has been restored as a concert venue. Head to the port city of Haifa located on the slopes of Mount Carmel for a panoramic view of Haifa Bay. Visit the golden domed Bahai Shrine and gardens. Travelling up the coast we arrive at Akko also known as Acre. This ancient city possesses a long history intertwined with various cultures. Recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site we will take a walk through the old port and the local market. From here we continue to Rosh Hanikra on the northern Israeli border between Israel and Lebanon. Enjoy a breathtaking view of the sea as you descend on a two minute exhilarating cable car ride to view the grottoes which are cavernous tunnels that have been formed by sea action for thousands of years. Continue to the Galilee. Overnight in a Kibbutz guesthouse. B/D
Day 6 – Monday Jeep tour / Safed / Golan Heights / Tel-Hai
Today’s program begins in Safed, the center of Jewish mysticism and one of the four holy cities in Israel. Visit the Caro and Ari synagogues. Stroll through the Artist Quarter lined with galleries and workshops where artists spend their days at work creating magical masterpieces. For a change of pace enjoy a jeep tour at the foot of the Golan while learning the history of this strategic area. Stop at the Gadot Overlook with its memorial dedicated to the fallen of the Golan located over former Syrian bunkers and view the triangular monument built on the site in honour of the fallen Alexandroni Brigade in 1967. Pay tribute to the Roaring Lion Monument in Tel Hai in the Upper Galilee and learn about the heroic battle fought on March 01, 1920, where six men (including Joseph Trumpeldor, the Russian born Jewish commander) and two women were killed. Afterwards take part in a kibbutz experience as you meet a kibbutz member and learn about their unique lifestyle. Overnight in a Kibbutz guesthouse. B/D
Day 7 – Tuesday Tiberias / Beit Shean / Beit Alpha / Gan HaShlosha / Jerusalem
Leaving the hotel we drive to Tiberias situated on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee named after the Roman Emperor Tiberias. Here we visit Rambam’s grave, the Tomb of Maimonides, one of the major figures in the history of the Jewish people and one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Israel. Continue through the Jordan Valley to Beit She’an known as Scythopolis, the largest archaeological park in Israel its beautiful excavations dating from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Stop at Beit Alpha to admire the remains of the mosaic floor of an ancient synagogue discovered in 1929 depicting a zodiac. Just to the west of the Valley of the Springs (Beit She’an Valley) is Gan Hashlosha National Park also known as Sachne. Located in the Lower Galilee without doubt is one of the most breathtaking places in Israel. Enjoy the warm spring pools and waterfalls before continuing via the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem stopping at Mount Scopus to recite the Shehecheyanu blessing, a Jewish prayer said to express gratitude for new and unusual experiences. Overnight in Jerusalem. B
Day 8 – Wednesday Kotel tunnels/Sephardic synagogues/Davidson Center/Tower of David
We begin our day at the Tomb of King David, one of the most sacred sights visited by the Jewish people. NOTE: there is a separate entrance for men and women. To enter the tomb you must be dressed modestly with a head covering. Since men must wear a kippah, you may want to bring your own even though they are supplied. From here we walk along the Cardo, the main street running north to south lined with a row of columns. Within the Jewish Quarter there is a complex of Four Sephardic Synagogues which was restored after the 1967 war. The complex was built to meet the needs of the Sephardic community. The complex is comprised of the Yochanan Ben Zakai Synagogue, the Istanbuli Synagogue, the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue and finally, the Emtsai. Moving on we come to the Western Wall****, an ancient limestone wall in the Old City also known as the Wailing Wall or the Kotel. Learn the story of ancient Jerusalem as you tour the Western Wall tunnels. Discover the hidden layers of the walls revealed underground. Nearby is the archaeological park at the Davidson Center where you will find displays including the ancient city wall and a preserved ancient street dating from the First and Second Temple periods. Walkthrough the colourful local bazaar and visit the Tower of David Museum presenting the history of Jerusalem and the ancient remains of the city beginning with the First Temple Period. Overnight Jerusalem. B
Day 9 – Thursday Yad Vashem / Mt. Herzl / Ammunition Hill / Israel Museum
Our day begins at the Western Wall Plaza filled with families who have arrived to celebrate a Bar Mitzvah. Afterwards drive through Mea Shearim, one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and learn about the unique lifestyle of the ultra-orthodox community. Proceed to Mount Herzl, the military cemetery and Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the Holocaust. Continue to Ammunition Hill, a former Jordanian army stronghold conquered by the Israeli army in the Six-Day War and later converted into a national memorial site and museum. Drive to Givat Ram to see the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. At the edge of the rose garden stands the large Bronze Menorah, a gift from the UK Parliament. Nearby is the Israel Museum with its Shrine of the Book housing the priceless Dead Sea Scrolls and the Holyland Model of Jerusalem, a miniature replica of Jerusalem as it was during the Second Temple period. Overnight Jerusalem. B
Day 10 – Friday Ein Gedi/ Masada / Dead Sea
Drive through the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Visit the ancient synagogue at Ein Gedi. Continue to Masada, the isolated mountaintop fortress of King Herod where you will ascend by cable car and tour the mountain fortress where the Zealots made their last stand against the Romans by committing mass suicide rather than be enslaved. View the remains of the walls, palaces, synagogue and bathhouse. Afterwards descend by cable car and proceed to one of the leading hotels in the area for lunch and have the option of using the spa facilities of the hotel (at additional cost). Enjoy floating in the mineral rich Dead Sea said to possess therapeutic mineral qualities. Overnight Jerusalem. B/L
Day 11 – Saturday Jerusalem
Free day in Jerusalem. Overnight in Jerusalem. B
Day 12 – Sunday Jerusalem/Negev Desert/Timna/Underwater Observatory / Eilat
Travel south through the historic Negev desert covering more than half of Israel arriving in Timna, a large geological and archaeological park where you will marvel at the multi-colored rock formations and copper mines, the highlight being Solomon’s Pillars. Continue to Eilat, the southernmost resort city on the shores of the Red Sea where you can visit the Underwater Observatory Marine Park built into a coral reef and enjoy a close up look at the rich marine life in the Gulf of Eilat.
Overnight Eilat. B
Day 13 – Monday Free Day in Eilat or Optional Day tour to Petra (additional cost)
You have the choice of a free day in Eilat or taking an optional day tour to Petra. After assistance with border formalities we are on our way to Petra, the astonishing rose-red city built by the Nabateans (an early Arabic tribe). Your visit begins with the possibility of a short horseback-ride (cost not included) for about 700m to the entrance of the Siq which is about 1.2 km long (walking distance). Petra is famous for its huge monuments such as the treasury, royal tombs, the court, Roman theatre, Roman street, Qasr al-Bint (Palace of Pharaoh’s daughter)and many other smaller fascinating monuments. After your visit, time for lunch in a nearby restaurant. Afterwards drive back to the border with a possibility of stopping in Aqaba, the only coastal city in Jordan for a walk around. Continue to the border arriving around 18:00hours and cross back into Eilat, arriving at your hotel.
Overnight Eilat. (A visa is required to enter Jordan). B
Day 14 – Tuesday Mitzpe Ramon / Sde Boker / Tel Aviv
This morning we leave Eilat travelling via Mitzpe Ramon where we stop to gaze into the Ramon crater, a geological wonder. A short drive takes us to Sde Boker further in the Negev, once the retirement home of David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel. Stop to see his hut and gravesite overlooking the magnificent Zin Valley. After enjoying a short camel ride, dismount and continue to an authentic Bedouin tent for a light lunch and to learn about Bedouin hospitality. Continue to Tel Aviv. Overnight Tel Aviv. B/LL
Day 15 – Wednesday Tel Aviv/Ben Gurion
Airport for departure. Today marks the end of your journey. B
*Site under the Palestinian Authority Jurisdiction – visit subject to situation
**Visit subject to weather conditions
***The sequence of the tour, border crossing point used, hotels used and sites visited may be amended due to circumstances
****Men must cover their head while in the prayer area and women must cover their shoulders and wear long pants or a knee-length skirt. If you forget to bring a covering, guards will provide you with a piece of fabric for that purpose before you enter. The prayer area is separated by gender. If you want to be super respectful follow Jewish custom by never turning your back on the wall. You will see many people walking away from the wall backwards because it is simply disrespectful to turn away.
B = breakfast L= lunch LL = light lunch D= dinner