Biblical Israel

Take a 9-night trip and discover the heritage of Israel. After a day to explore the city of Tel Aviv on your own, your tour takes you north to Caesarea to see the excavations of this Crusader city, to Haifa, and to Acre, where the old city is a World Heritage Site. Tour Safed, one of Israel's four Holy Cities, and the Golan Heights. Stay at a kibbutz guesthouse and learn about the unique lifestyle. Your tour's  extensive sightseeing also includes Beit Shean, where you see the extensive remains from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Continue to Jerusalem and visit the Tomb of King David on Mt. Zion, Sephardic synagogues, the Western Wall Tunnels, and the Israel Museum. An excursion to the Dead Sea takes you to Qumran and Masada. Spend a day at leisure in Jerusalem before your tour ends. Starting from $2265 per person, land only, on select departure dates.

Day 1, Friday – Arrive Tel Aviv
Arrive in Tel Aviv at Ben Gurion Airport, where are met and transferred to your hotel. (Prima City/Dan Panorama/Dan Tel Aviv)

Day 2, Saturday – Tel Aviv
Day at leisure to explore the city on your own. (B)

Day 3, Sunday – Tel Aviv/Rosh Hanikra
Drive north to Caesarea, once the Roman capital of the region, and see the excavations of the Crusader city, the aqueduct, and the amphitheatre that has been restored as a concert venue. Proceed to Haifa to visit the Clandestine Immigration and Naval museum ("Af al Pi Chen") and hear the story of the illegal immigrants to Israel at the time of the British mandate. Drive to Acre, where the Old City is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Walk through the old port and local market. Continue to Rosh Hanikra. Descend by cable car into the water-cut grottoes and admire the spectacular natural formation. (Kibbutz Guesthouse) (B)

Day 4, Monday - Safed/Golan Heights 
Drive to Safed, one of the four Holy Cities in Israel and the center of the Kaballah movement. Visit the Caro and Ari synagogues. Stroll through the narrow alleyways, and visit the picturesque artists' quarter. Next, enjoy a jeep tour at the foot of the Golan Heights. Continue up the Golan Heights, stopping at the Gadot overlook, a memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Golan located over former Syrian bunkers. View the monument built in honor of the Alexandroni Brigade. Proceed to a magnificent observation point over the city of Kuneitra and the Syrian border. Drive to Tel-Hai, where you see the “Roaring Lion” monument and learn about the heroic battle of Josef Trumpeldor and his comrades in 1920. Meet with a kibbutz member and learn about their unique lifestyle. (Kibbutz Guesthouse) (B)

Day 5, Tuesday - Tiberias/Jerusalem
Drive to Tiberias to visit the grave of Rambam (Moses ben Maimon, commonly known as Maimonides), a medieval philosopher who became a great authority on Jewish law. Continue through the Jordan valley to Beit Shean, and see the fascinating excavated remains from Roman and Byzantine periods. Stop at Beit Alpha to admire the beautiful mosaic floor of a synagogue discovered in 1929. Visit Gan Hashlosha national park and enjoy the warm spring water pools and waterfalls. Continue via the Jordan valley to Jerusalem, stopping at Mount Scopus for a blessing as you enter the city. (Prima Kings/Dan Panorama/King David) (B)

Day 6, Wednesday – Jerusalem
Visit the Tomb of King David on Mt. Zion. Walk along the Cardo, heart of the ancient Roman City. Visit the four Sepharadic Synagogues restored after the 1967 war in the Jewish Quarter. Tour the Western Wall Tunnels and visit the archaeological park at Davidson Center. Walk through the colorful local bazaar to visit the Tower of David museum, which presents the history of Jerusalem and ancient remains of the city beginning with the first temple period. (B)

Day 7, Thursday - Jerusalem 
Enjoy seeing the Bar-Mitzvah ceremonies at the Kotel (the Hebrew name for the Western Wall). Drive through Mea Shearim, one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and learn about the unique lifestyle of the ultra-orthodox communities. Proceed to Mount Herzl, the military cemetery, and Yad Vashem, the memorial to the Holocaust. Visit Ammunition Hill, a former Jordanian army stronghold conquered by the Israeli army in the six-day war and converted into a national memorial site and museum. Drive by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and see the Menorah with its biblical emblems. Next, visit the Israel Museum to see the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed. (B)

Day 8, Friday - Dead Sea
Drive through the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Visit Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Continue to Masada, ascend by cable car, and tour the mountain fortress built by King Herod, where the Zealots made their last stand against the Romans. Visit the remains of the walls, palaces, synagogue and bathhouse. Descend by cable car. Next, stop for lunch and spa facilities in one of the leading hotels in the area, and enjoy a "swim" in the mineral-rich Dead Sea. (B)

Day 9, Saturday - Jerusalem
Day at leisure in Jerusalem. (B)

Day 10, Sunday – Depart Jerusalem
Today you are transferred to the airport for your departure flight. (B)

Tour Features

• Meeting and assistance at the airport upon arrival
• Arrival & departure transfers
• 9 nights accommodation at standard (S), first class (FC), or deluxe (D) hotels
• Full Israeli breakfast daily
• Extensive sightseeing tours with English-speaking guide in a deluxe air-conditioned vehicle
• Jeep tour at the foot of the Golan
• Lunch & Swim/SPA at the Dead Sea in a hotel by the beach
• Visit to the Kotel (Western Wall) Tunnel
• Visit to the Davidson Center in Jerusalem
• All entrance fees (gratuities not included)

Rates do not include

• International airfare
• Any expenses of personal nature such as tips, laundry, table drinks, telephone calls, etc.
• Optional Travel Insurance
• Any item not mentioned above

Remarks

• If listed hotels are not available at the time of reservation, alternative hotels at the same category could be used. Prices may differ.
• During trade fairs season and during Christmas and New Year’s days, some hotels may require surcharges. The prices may increase.
• Ticket(s) must be issued (if air purchased) and full payment must be received 90 days prior to departure
• Major credit cards accepted; credit card authorization required
• Change and cancellation penalty ($250-$600 per person) apply once ticketed; Pacific Holidays’ general cancellation policy applies
• Hotel upgrades, additional hotel nights, extensions to all Asian destinations and add-on air fares from various US cities are available