Duration: 10 Days
Dates: November 1, 2023 to November 10, 2023
Departure City: Pensacola, Florida

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Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 - Wednesday, November 01, 2023: Departure to Tel Aviv
Today, we board our international flight to Tel Aviv.

Day 2 – Thursday, November 02, 2023: Arrive in Tel Aviv – Transfer to the hotel in Herzliya
Arrive in Tel Aviv and board our new, air-conditioned motor coach, where our guide will greet us and give us an orientation of the land as we travel to the hotel. Dinner and overnight in Herzliya. (D)

Day 3 – Friday, November 03, 2023: Caesarea Maritima – Mount Carmel – Nazareth – Tiberias
Buffet breakfast & Check-out. Drive to Caesarea Maritima. Visit Caesarea Maritima (included), a magnificent city with Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader ruins. Here we will elaborate on the story of the baptism of Cornelius, the first gentile convert into Christianity (Acts 10), and on the travels of Paul — those events that led Caesarea Maritima to become the springboard of Christianity to the West. Proceed to Mount Carmel. Visit Mount Carmel, Muhraqa – The Place of Fire (included), and consider the contest between the Prophet Elijah and the false prophets of Baal (I Kings 18), discussing the reasons why the Prophet chose that place for the contest, and the lessons we learn from the story. Lunch on your own. After lunch proceed to Nazareth. We will climb the Mount of Precipice, the brow of the hill, on which the city was built (Luke 4). There we will reflect on the rejection of Jesus by his family and friends in Nazareth. While there overlooking the Armageddon Valley, we will also discuss the reasons why we believe this will be the setting for the final battle between good and evil mentioned in Revelation 16:16. Drive to the Sea of Galilee and check-in at our hotel. Dinner and overnight in Tiberias. (B/D)

Day 4 – Saturday, November 04, 2023: Sea Of Galilee – Capernaum – Mount of Beatitudes – Peter’s Primacy – Magdala – Yardenit Baptismal Site
Buffet breakfast. We begin our day with a sail on the Sea of Galilee on a replica of a boat from Jesus’ time (included). We will dock in Ginnosar where we will visit the ancient boat museum (included), containing a 2000-year old fishing boat which is a good example of how the boats looked like in Jesus’ time. We drive to Capernaum. We will visit Capernaum (included), hometown of Jesus as described by the Gospel, also Jesus’ Galilean ministry base. There we will see the house of Peter’s mother in law and the ancient synagogue where many of Jesus’ teachings took place. Visit Mount of Beatitudes where we enjoy its enchanting gardens and reflect over Jesus’ teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. Passing through Tabgha, enjoy lunch on your own. You may have the opportunity to try St. Peter’s fish, commonly eaten by people in Jesus’ day (lunch not included). Visit the Church of St Peter’s Primacy, where Jesus appeared to his disciples the third time after the Resurrection. Visit Magdala (included), home town of Mary Magdalene to include the 1st century Synagogue, oldest Synagogue discovered on shores of Galilee with a stone carved model of the Temple, including a Menorah carving. Visit Yardenit Baptismal Site where you will get a chance to renew baptismal vows. Return to our hotel. Dinner and overnight in Tiberias. (B/D)

Day 5 – Sunday, November 05, 2023: Beit Shean – Bet Arabah – Jericho – Wadi Qelt – Jerusalem
Buffet breakfast. Check-out. This morning after breakfast we will leave the Galilee area and travel south through the Jordan River Valley. Visit Beit She’an (included), the capital of the Decapolis. There we will see the ruins of the Roman and Byzantine cities. We will also discuss the demise of King Saul and his sons, whose bodies were hanged on the walls of Beit Shean. En route to Jericho, we stop at Bet Arabah “Qasr el Yahud” known also as Gilgal, where the Israelites crossed into the promised land, from where Elijah was taken to heaven and at where Our Lord was baptized. Proceed to Jericho. Lunch on your own. Visit Tel Jericho (included), where we will see the location of city from the town of Joshua, view the Mount of Temptation. Then, enjoy panoramic tour of Jericho, seeing the Sycamore Tree reminding us of the encounter between Jesus and Zacchaeus. Proceed to Jerusalem. Passing by Wadi Qelt, see remains of an ancient aqueduct and the view of St. George Monastery. Arrive in Jerusalem and check into hotel. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 6 – Monday, November 06, 2023: Masada – Ein Gedi - Qumran – Dead Sea – Jerusalem
Buffet breakfast. Depart for Masada. We begin our day visiting Masada (entrance and cable car included) the fortress built by King Herod the Great and made famous by the Zealots in 73/74 AD with the standoff against the Romans. We visit the fortress and see the ruins that are considered a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. We take cable car onto the mountain. We leave Masada and continue to Ein Gedi. We visit Ein Gedi, an oasis in the desert where the meeting between David and King Saul took place (I Samuel 24) and where some of the psalms were written by David. We proceed to Qumran. Lunch on your own. We visit Qumran (included), the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered and the buildings that formed the Essenes public center. Depart towards the Dead Sea. Enjoy a dip in Dead Sea’s salty water (included). Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 7 – Tuesday, November 07, 2023: Israel Museum – Bethlehem – Shepherd’s Field – Jerusalem
Buffet breakfast. Drive to Israel Museum where we visit the Shrine of the Book (included) housing some of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at Qumran and see a Model City of Jerusalem showing the city as it looked in the 1st century A.D. Depart for Shepherd’s Field. Visit Shepherd’s Field where the angels appeared to the shepherds and announced the birth of Our Lord. These fields are also the setting of the Book of Ruth. Lunch on your own. Leave Shepherd’s Field and drive towards the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. In Bethlehem, visit the Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity built over the Cave of Christ’s Birth, we will view the actual place where Our Lord was born. Return to Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 8: Wednesday, November 08, 2023: Temple Mount – St. Anne’s Church & Pools of Bethesda – Mt. Olives – Mt. Zion – Jewish Quarter – Davidson Center – Wailing Wall
Quick buffet breakfast leave the hotel and drive towards the Old City to Temple Mount. Visit Temple Mount where the Jewish temple stood until it’s destruction in 70 A.D. Here we reflect over Jesus’ ministry at the Temple of Jerusalem, seeing the Dome of the Rock, a possible location of the Holy of Holies. Visit Church of St. Anne’s (included), a perfectly intact Crusader church. It is a wonderful place to gather and sing a song (sometimes with fellow Christians from all over the world). There, we will also visit the Pools of Bethesda where the healing at the pool took place (John 5). Visit the Mount of Olives for a breathtaking view of Jerusalem and a panoramic photo. Our guide will point the most important sites in Jerusalem, then we will walk the Palm Sunday Road. We proceed to Mount Zion to visit the Cenacle, that commemorates the Upper Room in which Jesus shared the Last Supper with the disciples. Then, visit also King David’s tomb, a site which is considered to be the place of burial of biblical king. Lunch on your own. Tour the Jewish Quarter, one of the Old City’s quarters, where we can see Roman Cardo, King Hezekiah broad wall, Hurva Synagogue and Golden Menorah. We will visit the Southern Wall excavation site (included). Here we will walk on the very stones where Jesus trod to Herod’s “second temple”, and see the place where our Savior taught the Scriptures. To conclude our day, visit the Western Wall, called the Wailing Wall, a section of the Western retaining wall of the Temple Mount, and Judaism’s holiest site. Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem. (B/D)

Day 9: Thursday, November 09, 2023: Gethsemane – Kidron Valley – House of Caiaphas – Via Dolorosa – Holy Sepulcher – Garden Tomb
Buffet breakfast. Start our day with visiting the Garden of Gethsemane where amid the 2000 years old olive trees we see the Rock of Agony on which Jesus prayed and the nearby Gethsemane cave where Jesus often spent the nights at and where he was arrested at the hands of the High Priest guards. There we will pause for a prayer time in private garden (subject to confirmation). Later on we will walk along the Kidron Valley following the footsteps of Our Lord, seeing Absalom Tomb, Gihon Spring and Water Gate. Visit House of Caiaphas, the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu (included), where we can see parts of the streets that Our Lord was dragged on by his capturers. We will have a chance to visit and pray at the dungeon where He was kept overnight. On to the Old City, where we will walk the Via Dolorosa following Christ passion toward the church of the Holy Sepulcher. Visit Church of the Holy Sepulcher as a continuation of the Via Dolorosa and the final Stations of the Cross. Lunch on your own. In the afternoon, we visit Garden Tomb (included), a peaceful spot where we can remember Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. We see the Calvary and the empty Tomb. Celebrate communion service at the Garden reaching the climax of Pilgrimage at the empty Tomb. Return to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 10: Friday, November 10, 2023: Return home
Today, we will board our flight back home with unforgettable memories.