Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/471535
HERITAGE OF ISRAEL TOUR 10 Days/9 Nights This package includes: • Arrival and departure transfers • Two-night hotel accommodations at Dan Tel Aviv • Two-night hotel accommodations at Kibbutz Lavi Hotel • Five-night hotel accommodations at King David Jerusalem • Full Israeli breakfast daily • Two dinners at Kibbutz Lavi Hotel • One lunch at a Dead Sea hotel (during tour) Day 1: Arrival Fly into Ben Gurion International Airport for your transfer to Dan Tel Aviv. Day 2: Tel Aviv Experience the striking contrast of bustling urban life against beautiful, sprawling Mediterranean coastlines in vibrant Tel Aviv at your leisure. Get into vacation mode by relaxing on some of the best beaches in the world, and turn up the energy with the lively nightlife and culture the city is famous for, from open-air markets to street fairs, fine dining, and intimate cafés. Day 3: Caesarea, Haifa, Acre & Rosh Hanikra Head north to Caesarea, the former Roman capital of the region, named after Caesar Augustus by Herod the Great. Excavations provide insight into this Crusades city, the aqueduct, and the amphitheater, restored as a concert venue. In Haifa, you'll take in sweeping views of Mount Carmel and visit Af Al Pi Chen, the naval museum of the illegal immigration to Israel at the time of the British Mandate. After that, you'll walk along the old harbor and local market of Acre, then visit the northernmost point of Israel at Rosh Hanikra, where you'll descend by cable car into the limestone grottoes. Day 4: Safed, Tel Facher, Banias & Tel-Hai Drive to Safed, the center of the Kabbalah movement, and get to know this destination through the Joseph Caro and Ha'Ari synagogues, and the Artists' Quarter. A Jeep® tour takes you to Golan Heights, where you'll ascend from the plains, and stop at an observation point overlooking the city of Quneitra and the Syrian border. Continue on to Tel Facher, a former Syrian army camp, and the Banias Springs before going to Tel-Hai for its Roaring Lion monument and to learn about the monumental Battle of Tel-Hai, where national hero Joseph Trumpeldor fought and died. End your tour with an encounter with a kibbutz member to learn about their unique lifestyle. Day 5: Tiberias, Beit She'an, Gan Hashlosha & Mount Scopus Rambam's Tomb in Tiberias begins your exciting day of touring, with Beit Shean, called "Scythopolis" under the ancient Greeks, and the biggest archaeological park in Israel as the second stop. At Beit Alpha, the beautiful mosaic floor of the synagogue are bound to impress, as are the springs at the foot of Mount Gilboa at Gan Hashlosha (Sachne) National Park. Continue via the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem, and be blessed at Mount Scopus as you enter the city. Day 6: Old City of Jerusalem Start your day with a visit to the Tomb of King David on Mount Zion, then walk along the Cardo, the ancient Roman road, to visit the four Sephardic Synagogues in the Jewish Quarter. Then, explore the Western Wall (Kotel) Tunnels, Davidson Center, and follow the Cardo to the Arab bazaar. Stroll through the Jaffa Gate to the Tower of David Museum to see the ancient remains of the city, some dating back to the First Temple period. Day 7: New City of Jerusalem Enjoy the bar mitzvah ceremonies at the Kotel and learn more about the unique lifestyle of the ultra-orthodox communities in Mea Shearim. Pay homage to the victims of the Holocaust at the memorial of Yad Vashem, and those lost in service at Mount Herzl, the military cemetery. Visit Ammunition Hill, then dry by the Knesset, Israel's parliament, where you can also see its menorah with biblical emblems. The Israel Museum, the Shrine of the Book and the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the new Holy Land Model, a miniature replica of Jerusalem as it stood during the Second Temple period, conclude the day. Day 8: Dead Sea & the Masada A drive through the Judean Desert will take you to the famous Dead Sea, with a stop at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Continue to Masada; there, a cable car will take you to tour the ancient fortress and its remains of the walls, palaces, synagogues, and bathhouses. Lunch provides a welcome break as you stop in the spa of one of the leading hotels in the area. Day 9: Jerusalem A day of independent musings in one of the oldest and most sacred cities on Earth lets you discover for yourself why it's lovingly known by 70 names. Its Old City is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Modern Jerusalem, on the other hand, extends beyond those ancient boundaries for its own set of attractions. Day 10: Departure A transfer will take you back to Ben Gurion International Airport as you say good-bye to Israel. Departure Dates: Tour departs on Fridays and returns Sundays year-round. Israel 77