Israel & Rome tour (12 days)

Departure

• We depart from the international airport nearest to your city, on overnight flight to Tel Aviv.

Overnight: Dinner and breakfast will be served.

Arrival

• Afternoon arrival to Tel Aviv.
• Upon arrival, we will be met and transferred to our hotel.
• Check-in and accommodation in the hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Netanya

Caesarea - Haifa - Megiddo - Tiberias

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check-out of the hotel.
• We begin our journey northward by motor-coach along the Mediterranean Sea to Caesarea. This ancient city was built in honor of Caesar by Herod the great, and was the capital of the Romans in the Holy Land for nearly 500 years.
• You will see the Crusader City, and the fantastic aquaduct before continuing to Haifa, one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
• View the Ba'hai Gardens, one of the holiest sites of the Ba'hai religion.
• We will drive to the crest of Mt. Carmel, through the Jezreel Valley and arrive at the site of Megiddo, one of King Solomon's "chariot cities" and according to scripture, the location for the last battle in history.
• Lunch on your own, en route.
• See Gideon's brook, the "Well of Herod" and continue on to Nazareth, Jesus' boyhood home, where you will visit the Church of Annunciation.
• Then to Cana where he made his first miracle of turning water into wine, continue to Tiberias and to our hotel.
• Check into the Tiberias hotel.
• Dinner at the Tiberias hotel.

Overnight: Tiberias Hotel, Lower Galilee

Tiberias - Capernaum - Banias

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• There is nothing quite like witnessing the morning sun on the Sea of Galilee. Although there are many places which we must admit are traditional, you can be sure that the Lord Jesus walked along these shores.
• After breakfast (and a Sunrise service, if you choose) we return to Tiberias for a full day of sightseeing.
• Visit the Mt. of Beatitudes, traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount.
• Visit Tabgha, the Chapel dedicated to the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
• Continue on to the ruins at Capernaum, then the Synagogue and the house of Simon Peter.
• Cross the sea of Galilee by a boat similar to those used in Jesus days. We end the day with a stop at the Jordan River, where a baptismal service is possible.
• Come back to our Tiberias hotel.
• Dinner at the Tiberias hotel.

Overnight: Tiberias hotel, Lower Galilee

Tiberias - Beit Shean - Bait Lehem - Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• This morning will begin with a stop at Gergesa.
• Then to south through Beth-Shan, the Jordan Valley, past Shiloh and Bethel.
• Our trip takes us "up into Jerusalem": continuing on into Bethlehem. Visit the Church of Nativity, built over the stable where Jesus was born and the Church of Visitation. Take some time for shopping.
• Check into our Jerusalem hotel.
• Dinner at the Jerusalem hotel.

Overnight: Jerusalem hotel

Jerusalem old city - St. Stephens gate - Pool of Bethesda - Western wall - Church of the holy Sepulchre - Tower of David - Garden Tomb - Garden of Gethsemane

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• The high point of our entire tour. Enter the Old City through the Damascus Gate and begin a walking tour which takes us through St. Stephens Gate to the Pool of Bethesda and Saint Anne’s Church.
• Continue to the Temple area of Mt. Moriah. Visit the Dome of the Rock area (entry to the Mosque not included) and the Western Wall, also know as the "Wailing Wall" which is the only remaining portion of the original temple built by Solomon.
• Walk through the Old City Bazaars to the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
• View the Tower of David, the Citadel and King David's Tomb.
• Visit the Jewish Quarter before we leave the Old City through Jaffa Gate. We visit Mt. Zion and the Upper Room, then onto the Garden Tomb and Golgotha, place of the skull, where a worship service is possible.
• Our evening ends with a visit to the Garden of Gethsemane and with a trip to the Mt. of Olives for a spectacular view of the city.
• Come back to our Jerusalem hotel.
• Dinner at the Jerusalem hotel.

Overnight: Jerusalem hotel

Ancient Jericho - The Good Samaritan - The Dead sea - Qumran caves - Masada

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• We begin with an early morning departure today as we head south from Jerusalem.
• See the ruins of ancient Jericho, stop at the Inn of the Good Samaritan, drive through the modern city of Jericho and continue to the Dead Sea, 1300 feets below sea level, the lowest spot on Earth.
• See the Qumran caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.
• Then continue to Masada. Ascend the mountain by cable car to the remarkable ruins of the fortress built by Herod the Great. From 70-73 AD, Jewish Zealots made their last stand against the Romans.
• Come back to our Jerusalem hotel.
• Dinner at the Jerusalem hotel.

Overnight: Jerusalem hotel

Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Today we will have a full day of leisure to revisit favorite spots in Jerusalem.
• Explore some of the recent excavations or try your hand at bartering at the famous bazaars of the Old City.
• Our guide will have several options available for those who prefer to visit sites not on the "typical" tour, so prepare for this exciting day and make the most of it!
• Come back to our Jerusalem hotel.
• Dinner at the Jerusalem hotel.

Overnight: Jerusalem hotel

Jerusalem / Rome

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check-out of Jerusalem hotel.
• Enjoy a leisurely morning in Jerusalem before transferring to the airport where we will bid "Shalom" to Israel, and board our flight to Rome.
• Arrive at Rome's Fumincino Airport.
• After customs, we will be met by our local representative and transferred to the hotel, enjoying a panaromic city tour en route.
• Check to Rome hotel.
• Dinner at the Rome hotel.

Overnight: Rome hotel

Rome - Vatican city - Castel Sant' Angelo - The Tiber - Piazza Navona - Bernini’s fountain - The Pantheon

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• A full day of touring today begins at the center of Catholicism – Vatican City.
• We arrive at the Piazza San Pietro, and enter the Basilica of St. Peter, the symbol of Christianity and the largest church in the world covering 22,000 square meters, equivalent to 5-1/2 acres of land. Michelangelo’s dome is 137 ft, wide, and the entire building rises to a height of 446 ft. Countless masterpieces are housed here, including Bernini’s bronze Baldacchino and Michelangelo’s Pietà. The Vatican Museum offers innumerable paintings, highlighted by one of the cornerstones of Italian art, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.
• From Vatican City, we enjoy a short walk to Castel Sant'Angelo, one of the town's most famous landmarks. Originally built as a mausoleum, Castel Sant'Angelo was transformed into an fortress in the Middle Ages that defended the northern entrance of the city. The popes commissioned the construction of a fortified corridor connected to the Vatican Palaces, to be used as an escape route. The castle guarded the riches of the Popes, and was used to store enormous reserves of food in the event of an attack, housing water tanks, granaries and even a mill. Castel Sant' Angelo was notorious as the scene of executions by decapitation, where the heads of the condemned were hung for days along the bridge as a warning.
• From here, we cross the Tiber, and arrive at Piazza Navona, built on top of the remains of Domitian’s Stadium. Here we see three famous fountains, the most important of which is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers (the Nile, Ganges, Danube and Rio de la Plata).
• The Stadium, built before 86 A.D., was the favorite spot to hold games, tournaments and processions, and etween the seventeenth and nineteen centuries, the piazza was often flooded for aquatic games and to stage naval battles.
• Continue to the Pantheon, the finest example of architecture of ancient Rome. Here lies the tombs of renaissance painter and architect Raphael, baroque painter Annibale Carracci and kings Vittorio Emanuele II. and Umberto I.
• Today’s tour ends at the Piazza di Spagna, renowned for Bernini’s fountain and the celebrated Spanish Steps.
• Creating a refined, eighteenth century atmosphere, it is no coincidence that high-fashion brands, such as Gucci, Bulgari and Valentino, all have show-piece shops just off the piazza.
• Home to English poets Keats and Shelley, the world-famous piazza, located at the foot of the Pincio Hill, has always been considered both a priceless cultural gem as well as popular tourist attraction.
• Come back to our Rome hotel.
• Dinner at the Rome hotel.

Overnight: Rome hotel

The Roman Colosseum - Barberini palace - Piazza Venezia - The Roman Forum - The Citadel of ancient Rome - Piazza del Campidoglio

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Today's touring begins at the Roman Colosseum, one of the most imposing of ancient structures completely covered intravertine stone slabs. The amphitheater could hold up to seventy thousand spectators and the seats were inclined in such a way as to enable a perfect view from wherever one sat.
• Entry was free for all Roman citizens, but places were divided according to social status. Like modern sports stadiums, the Colosseum gave spectators efficient protection from the sun thanks to its ingenious roof covering, an enormous linen tarpaulin hung by a system of ropes and wooden poles that took one hundred sailors from the Imperial fleet to move it in perfect synchrony to the beating of a drum.
• Today, we see the skeleton of what was the greatest arena in the ancient world. Three-fifths of the outer surrounding brick walls are missing, used in the Middle Ages, as an enormous quarry to build Barberini Palace, Piazza Venezia and even St. Peter's.
• On entering, we see the arena straight ahead of us. The stage floor has now disappeared and in its place you can see the cellars. Two underground floors housed the lifts and hoists with counter weights, creating special effects used to hoist up animals and gladiators who burst into the arena through trapdoors in a burst of white dust, giving the audience great surprise effects.
• After the VI. century, with the Empire's decline, the Colosseum fell into disusre, and housed jails, hospitals, hermits and even a cemetery. Threatened with demolition by Sixtus V., it was declared a sacred monument dedicated to the Passion of Christ by Benedict XIV.
• Since then, it has become an object of worship and was protected from further destruction and ruin.
• Situated between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, we arrive at the Roman Forum, one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.
• Three thousand years ago, this valley between Campidoglio and the Quirinal was submerged in marshland. By an incredible invention of engineering, a canal that is still in function to this very day allowed for the drainage of the land. The area soon began to develop and by the end of the 7th century BC, it was the heart and soul of city life.
• It was in Caesar's time, when Rome had become the capital of a vast empire, that the Forum became a place for celebrations.
• The Citadel of ancient Rome, is a must for every visitor. A broad flight of steps (the Cordonata) leads up to Michelangelo's spectacular Piazza del Campidoglio.
• The most incredible panoramic view of the entire Forum complex can be seen from the magnificent Terraces of Campidoglio (Capital Hill). Here you can observe the imposing ruins of Basilica Emilia, the only remaining Republican basilica, or the Curia, which was once the seat of the Senate.
• This is flanked by the Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori, housing the Capitoline Museum with their fine collections of sculptures and paintings.
• We will take some time to view more than 200 paintings from the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries that are on display here, including those by Titian, Pietro da Cortona, Caravaggio, Guercino, Rubens and others.
• Taking centre stage in the piazza itself is a replica of the bronze statue of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
• After a fascinating day in Rome come back to our Rome hotel.
• Dinner at the Rome hotel.

Overnight: Rome hotel

Rome - USA

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of our Hotel.
• Today, we bid “Arrivederci” to Rome, transferring to Fumincino Airport for our flight home.
• We arrive in the USA in the early afternoon, exhausted but exhilarated from twelve days exploring the life of Christ, and the life of Ancient Rome.