OUTLINE OF TOUR ROUTE - Israel 2013 - http://www.anglicantours.com.au/IsraelTourSnaps.html NB: Throughout the itinerary are links to the web to view or explore the places mentioned Day 1 (Sunday 24th February 2013) – Leave via the International Airport for Israel (People will leave from different capital cities around Australia and meet up along the route) Day 2 (Monday 25th. February 2013)– Arrival - On arrival visit Neot Kedumim, a nature park with plants trees and artifacts referenced by the Bible - Dinner and overnight in Tel Aviv Day 3 (Tuesday 26th. February 2013)– Visit the pre-48 secret underground ammunition factory – the Ayalon Institute – in Rehovot followed by an orientation drive around Tel Aviv; visit Jaffa and walk around the Neve Tzedek neighborhood and perhaps the Carmel market. Overnight: Tel Aviv Day 4 (Wednesday 27th. February 2013)– Depart Tel Aviv for Caesarea Maritime, Visit the Carmelite Monastery at the Muhraka,– Drive through the Druze villages of Dalya and Usfiya. / Descend on the eastern side of Mt. Carmel and, time permitting, visit Bet Shearim, End the day with a view of the Bahai Gardens and the northern coastline of Israel. Overnight Haifa. Day 5 (Thursday 28th. February 2013) – Drive to Akko (Acre), see the prison where the British hanged members of the underground; visit the Knights of St. John Castle, walk through the shuk to the harbor and the medieval Genoese marketplace. Continue to Rosh HaNikra to walk through Israel’s “blue grotto”. Drive across the mountainous north to Safed, home to an artist colony and one-time center of Kabbalah. Overnight Kibbutz Ginosar on the Sea of Galilee. Day 6 (Friday 01st. March 2013) –Visit the Mt. of Beatitudes. Tabgha, Capernaum, Fish lunch before or after depending on time. Drive via Cana to Zippori (Sepphoris) Continue to Nazareth Village. Visit Church of the Annunciation before returning to Ginosar. Optional evening visit (after dinner, at participants’ expense) to Tiberias hot springs Day 7 (Saturday 02nd. March 2013) - Visit Biblical Dan and Caesarea-Phillippi. Drive up the Golan stopping at Tel Fahr. At Kibbutz El Rom see a short movie about the 1973 tank battle on the Golan and visit the battle site at Mt Odem. Day 10 (Tuesday 05th. March 2013) - Free to enjoy Jerusalem (Old and New City) Day 11 (Wednesday 06th. March 2013) - Early morning visit (leave hotel at 7:15 - this to avoid a very long wait in line) to the Temple Mount; visit the Pools of Bethesda, the Sisters of Zion crypt and walk the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Walk through to Damascus Gate and Solomon’s Quarries (also known as Zedekiah’s cave) before ending at Garden Tomb about 3pm. Day 12 (Thursday 07th. March 2013) - Begin with a visit to David’s City - see the movie of Jerusalem from its inception (some 4,000 years back) until the time of Solomon. Walk underground down the hill to the Gihon Spring. From here we return via Herod’s drainage channel below his street. Visit the Davidson Center, the steps that led to the Temple, followed by a visit to the Western Wall. On Mt Zion visit the Last Supper Room and the prison of Christ at St. Peter in Gallicantu – enter the Jewish Quarter and walk the Cardo. Visit the Burnt House. DAY 13 (Friday 08th. March 2013) -Today we view the model of Second Temple period Jerusalem; the Dead Sea scrolls. Continue past the Israel Knesset and the Supreme Court to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. Visit En Karem and the birthplace of John the Baptist. Finish our visit to Jerusalem with a walk down Ben Yehuda St. and town center or the outdoor market at Mahaneh Yehudah. Overnight: Jerusalem Day 14 (Saturday 09th. March 2013) - Drive down to Emmaus. Continue to the Latrun Tank Memorial and mini-Israel. Continue via Bet Shemesh (where the ark of the Covenant returned and the Ela Valley to Bet Guvrin where we explore the myriad bell-shaped caves and the wonderfully preserved Roman Amphitheatre. Return to Jerusalem Day 15 (Sunday 10th. March 2013) - Depart Jerusalem via the Inn of the Good Samaritan to visit the caves of Qumran, En Gedi and Masada which we ascend by cable car but descend on foot via the Roman ramp where the bus meets us; drive to Kfar HaNokdim, where you ride camels for ½ hour in the desert before returning to settle in your Bedouin tent and enjoy a Bedouin hafla for dinner (perhaps followed by Bedouin music) Day 16 (Monday 11th. March 2013) - Explore Tel Arad; visit a local Arab falah (peasant) village. Continue to Tel Sheva; Make our way to our Dead Sea hotel to get to the hotel early to enjoy the salty waters of the Dead Sea and any other delights the hotel may offer. Overnight: Dead Sea Day 18 (Wednesday 13th. March 2013) -(March 13th) Eilat: visit Giora’s Eilat Stone factory, continue with an orientation drive around Eilat, and visit the underwater observatory. Day 19 (Thursday 14th. March 2013) – Free to enjoy the sea (early visit to the bird-watching centre, scuba or snorkel at the coral beach and/or the dolphin reef, parasail, ride in a glass-bottomed boat, or just lie in the sun on the northern beach) and /or the desert – arrange a camel ride up Wadi Shlomo, take a jeep ride - fly to Tel Aviv airport and be transferred to Ben Gurion Airport to catch your plane home. Day 20/21 - Arrive back in Tel Aviv for flight home and we lose a day on the return journey with the international date line |