Israel Touring Package - Pilgrim Itinerary

Arrival at Ben Gurion airport. Meeting and assistance through customs by our representative and transfer to your hotel in Tel Aviv. Overnight: Hotel in Tel Aviv

We start visiting Jaffa, the port city and one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. See the house of Simon the Tanner and St Peter’s Church. We then drive along the coast to the archaeological ruins of Caesarea, built by Herod the Great in honor of Augustus Caesar. Continue to Haifa to view the golden domed Baha’i Temple and its beautiful Persian gardens. Proceed to the "Horns of Carmel" (Muhraka) to the site where Elijah slaughtered the false prophets. Then drive toward the Sea of Galilee. Arrive Tiberias for dinner and overnight. Catholic program includes visit to the Carmelite’s Monastery in Muhraka with Holy Mass opportunity. Overnight: Hotel in

Tiberias

After a tour of Tiberias, enjoy a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and then visit Capernaum on the north shore, where Jesus spent most of his ministry and chose his first disciples, and visit the synagogue on a spot where Jesus once preached. Tabgha, just north of Tiberias, is the site of Christ’s miracle of feeding the 5,000 and at the Church of Multiplication the mosaic floor depicts a basket with loaves and two fishes. Drive on to the Mount of Beatitudes, the site of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ most famous sermon. Return to Tiberias for dinner and overnight. Catholic itinerary includes visit to Mt Tabor, the site of the Lords’ Transfiguration. Holy Mass opportunity in Mt Tabor or Mt of Beatitudes. Overnight: Hotel in Tiberias

Today travel via Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle turning water into wine to Nazareth, where Jesus spent his childhood. View the Church of the Annunciation, Mary’s Well and Joseph’s Workshop. You will have a few moments of atop of the Mt of Precipice, believed to the site of the Rejection of Jesus by the people of Nazareth. From here we drive south to visit the Biblical Landscape reserve of Neot Kedumim, and participate in Israel’s reforestation program, planting a tree. You can plant a tree in memory of your beloveds, family or for commemorating a special event. You can plant as many trees as you want, and you will receive a certificate for each tree.  Catholic itinerary includes stop at Wedding Church in Cana with opportunity of the renewal of the wedding votes. Mass opportunity in the Basilica of the Annunciation. Overnight: Hotel in Jerusalem

After breakfast begin your pilgrimage in Jerusalem. Ascend the Mount of Olives to marvel at the spectacular view of the Holy City of Jerusalem. Continue to the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus endured his agony under the ancient olive trees. We cross the Valley of Kidron and enter Old Walled City. See the Pools of Bethesda and Ecce Homo Arc, and follow the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. After lunch we shall visit the last standing remnant of the ancient Temple at the Wailing Wall and visit some of the exciting Archeological sites in and around the Old City. We end this memorable day of our tour of Israel with a visit to the Garden Tomb and Gordon's Golgotha before returning to our hotel for dinner and overnight. Catholic itinerary includes visit to the Church of Ascension in Mt of Olives, down through “Palm Sunday Walk” visiting Church of Pater Noster and Dominus Flevit. In the Old City all 14 Stations of the Cross, with Mass opportunity at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Overnight: Hotel in Jerusalem

Today we drive by the Judean Wilderness to the lowest place on Earth, the Dead Sea. We will visit the Fortress of Masada, one of the Jewish people's greatest symbols. Built by Herods the Great in an inexpugnable plateau, 960 Zealot Jews resisted three years to the Roman Armies siege, finally committing suicide rather than surrender. We then continue to the shores of the sea for a bathe opportunity in the mineral rich waters, before returning to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight. Overnight: Hotel in Jerusalem 

We start this day with a visit to Mt. Zion where we shall stop to see the Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper, the Tomb of King David and the place once stood the Palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest who imprisoned Jesus and interrogated him before his trial before Pontius Pilate. Next we drive to the New City of Jerusalem, drive by the Kneset (the Israeli Parliament) with its famous Menorah and visit the Israel Museum. Here see the model of Jerusalem in times of the Second Temple, and learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book. We will end the day at Yad Vashem, the Memorial of the Holocaust of the Jewish People during World War II. In the afternoon visit Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. See the Basilica of the Nativity, the Milk Grotto and the Shepherds’ Fields. Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight. Catholic itinerary includes visit and Holy Mass opportunity in the St Peter in Gallicantu Church in Mt Zion Overnight: Hotel in Jerusalem