Best of Holy Land Israel & Jordan and Egypt Tour with Nile Cruise

● Arrive at the Tel Aviv Airport where you will be met by one of our representatives. They will be holding a sign with your name on it, right after passport control. They will guide you to retrieve your luggage. Then you will pass through Customs to meet your driver.
● Your driver will transfer you to your Tel Aviv Hotel
● Check in to your hotel and enjoy a night on the town in Tel Aviv

● In the morning, you will meet your tour guide and depart South from Tel Aviv. You will pass by the cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod to visit Beersheba. There you will stay for a short visit in Negev Desert’s capital city.
● Next, you will continue on through to Israel’s first archaeological park in Masada.
● Next, we will rise by cable car to the fortress - the last Jewish Zealot stronghold in the war against the Romans. We will visit excavation sites, the synagogue, King Herod’s palace, the bathhouse, and many more sites. Here we will take in the stunning view of the ancient Roman camps and the Dead Sea.
● Finally, experience the spectacle of the Dead Sea, at approximately 1,300 feet below sea level, it is one of the deepest points on the surface of the earth. If the weather is fair, put on your swimsuit to float on the salty water, rich in minerals.
● Finally, you will pass by the Ein Gedi oasis, and journey through the Judean Desert to Jerusalem.
● Check in to your hotel for your first night in Jerusalem.

● Begin the Holy City exploration at Shrine of the Book at the Israel Museum to see the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. Then see the majestic model of the ancient Herodian city of Jerusalem, which dates back to the era of the Second Temple.
● Experience Ein Karem; the charming village in the southwestern outskirts of the Holy City. This quaint village is significant in Christian heritage since it is believed to be the site where John the Baptist was born.
● Next, see Yad Vashem, at the foot of Mt. Hertzl, where the official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust was established in 1953.
● From here, visit the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem. Visit the real Church of the Nativity and Manger Square
● Return to your hotel for another evening in the city.

● Begin the day by entering the Old City of Jerusalem Tomb of King David. Here you will experience the Western Wall and the Temple Mount at the Second Temple site.
● Next, walk the emotional Way of the Cross, “Via Dolorosa” to Calvary and to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in which the traditional Crucifixion site and the Tomb of the Resurrection remain.
● Just to the southwest, outside the Old City lies Mount Zion, which holds the Room of the Last Supper and the ancient .
● From here, walk through the Garden of Gethsemene, where Jesus spent the night praying and then was betrayed by Judas on his final night.
● Next, ascend to the stunning Mount of Olives to overlook the breathtaking panoramic view of the Holy City of Jerusalem
● Finally, explore downtown Jerusalem to visit Mahane Yehuda. Experience the true culture of Jerusalem in the largest open market in Israel. Experience the sights, aromas, flavors, sounds, and interact with the traders in the market.
● Return to your hotel for your final night in Jerusalem.

● Depart from Jerusalem and drive north, passing by the oldest city in the world, Jericho.
● Journey through the Jordan Valley and to the new settlements of the aesthetic, preserved Roman city of Beit Shean, to explore the excavations on site.
● Next, depart to the Nazareth where Jesus spent most of his childhood and visit several Christian Holy sites, including the Church of the Annunciation.
● Onward, you will visit Safed, the center of Jewish mysticism. Visit the gorgeous streets of the artists’ settlement In the city of the Kabbalah.
● Finally, arrive in Galilee for the night at a kibbutz hotel, a traditional Jewish agricultural community.

● Begin the day by driving up to the stunning Golan Heights, passing by the source of the Jordan River, Banias, as well as Druze villages, and Syrian fortifications.
● Take pleasure in an Israeli wine country experience, where you will be surrounded by a panorama of stunning vineyards. Acquaint yourself with the selection of rare, fine wines, enjoying a wine tasting and wine tour to gain insight into the wine production process.
● Next, visit the Sea of Galilee’s north shore, where Jesus spent much of his life.
● Then we will drive beside the shore to “His Town”, otherwise known as Capernaum, the center at which Jesus performed many miracles and healed the sick in his ministry.
● From here, visit the ancient synagogue ruins, and the traditional site of the “Sermon on the Mount” at the Mount of Beatitudes.
● After this, we will continue to Tabgha, where Jesus performed the miraculous feeding of 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish.
● Continue to the traditional Jewish learning center in Tiberias.
● Optional: Finally, hop aboard a boat to sail on the Sea of Galilee which has changed little over the past 2000 years (conditions and fees apply).
● Return to your kibbutz hotel for an overnight stay.

● To start the day, drive west along the hills of Galilee, to Acre (Akko) to see the famous, ancient medieval fortifications at the Crusader stronghold.
● Next, travel to Haifa, and ascend Mount Carmel for a gorgeous view overlooking the city, where you will see the Persian Garden, the Baha’i Shrine, and Haifa Bay.
● Continue beside the Mediterranean coast to Caesarea and explore the Roman Theater and the “Masterpiece of Herod the Great” - the Crusader fortress.
● Finish the day off with a brief tour of the ancient port of Jaffa and the city of Tel Aviv.
● Check in to your hotel and stay the night in Tel Aviv

● Drive from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to the border crossing at Sheikh Hussein to enter Jordan.
● Journey to the city of the Decapolis at Jerash, north of Amman in the heights of the Gilad. Here we will explore the ancient Roman city with colonnaded streets (long columns of pillars) and visit the ancient baths and the hill of the top Temple.
● From here, we will drive to Amman to take in a stunning panoramic tour of the capital city of Jordan.
● Finally, you will check into your hotel in for a night in Amman.

● Start the day by traveling south to the modern village of Petra (Wadi Musa).
● Enter into Petra and journey by foot or horseback to the canyon (the “Siq”).
● Next, journey through the “Siq” to the ancient capital of the Nabateans, the red rock city.
● Here we will visit the majestic hand-carved monuments including the Treasury (a tomb of a Nabatean king - “El Khazneh”), then to the obelisks, field of tombs, and the altar. It’s at this site that you can get a stunning view of the entire red rock city.
● Finally, check in to your hotel in Wadi Musa, the ancient city of Petra for an overnight stay.

● The day begins with a northern drive to Madaba where we will explore the ancient ruins of the Byzantine Church. Here lies the oldest original cartographic mosaic map of Jerusalem and the Hoy Land.
● Next, journey to Mount Nebo, the place where Moses first saw the Promised Land to see Jericho, The Jordan Valley, and the Dead Sea
● Drive to Queen Alia International Airport in Amman.
● Fly from Amman to Cairo.
● Upon arrival to Cairo International Airport you will be met by our representative who will be holding a sign with your name on, at passport control. Our representative will assist with passport and visa formalities, after which you will be escorted to meet your driver who will transfer you to your hotel.
● Overnight in Cairo.

● Begin the day in the capital city starting with a tour of the Egyptian Museum with the treasures from the Tut-Ankh-Amun burial site.
● Continue to the Citadel to enjoy a spectacular view of Cairo.
● Visit the Alabaster Mosque, which adds a wonderful picture-postcard element to Cairo’s skyline.
● You will be given some time at leisure for shopping in the famous Khan-el-Khalili bazaar which is a labyrinth of cobbled alleyways. This vast bazaar tempts the senses with spices, perfume and glittering gold, silver and brass.
● Overnight in Cairo.

● Visit Memphis, the ancient capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt and home of a colossal Statue of Ramesses II and the Alabaster Sphinx.
● Continue to the “Cemetery City” of Sakkara and view the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, the oldest of all Pyramids.
● In the afternoon you will visit the Great Pyramids of Giza, the only present-day survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
● Nearby, the mystical Sphinx surveys the plains of Giza. The 20m high man-animal Sphinx, created as a “living image of the sun-god”, built by Chephren to guard the entrance to the Pyramids.
● Overnight in Cairo.

● Transfer to Cairo Airport for a flight to Aswan.
● After embarkation on your Nile cruise ship, set off to visit the Aswan High Dam, a huge rock-fill dam, which captures the world’s longest river.
● Visit the Philae Temple dedicated to the goddess Isis.
● In the afternoon enjoy a Felucca ride to the lush Botanic Garden on Kitchener’s Island. Also, visit Elephantine Island and cruise past Aga Khan’s Mausoleum on the west bank.
● Overnight on-board Nile Cruiser.

● Cruise to Kom Ombo to visit the Temple of Sobek and Haroeris, dedicated to the crocodile god and the falcon-headed god.
● Thereafter the cruise continues along the Nile towards Edfu.
● Overnight on-board Nile Cruiser.

● Arrive to Edfu and by horse-drawn carriage you are transferred through Edfu to the famous and best-preserved ancient Greek-built Horus temple, dedicated to the Falcon God and built on a rise to escape the annual flooding of the Nile.
● Return to your Nile Cruiser and enjoy the changing scenery as you cruise to Esna and cross through the Esna Lock.
● Overnight on-board Nile Cruiser.

• Travel to the West Bank and visit Thebes Necropolis and the Valley of Kings, a vast City of the Dead for generations of Pharaohs, where magnificent tombs were carved into the desert rock, richly decorated and filled with treasures for the afterlife.
• Visit the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.
• See the Colossi of Memnon, which is all that remains of the Temple of Amenophis, destroyed by the annual flooding of the Nile.
• Visit the Luxor Temple, discovered beneath the shifting desert sands and originally joined to the Karnak Temple by an avenue of Sphinxes.
• Transfer to Luxor Airport for flight to Cairo and transfer to Cairo hotel.
• Overnight in Cairo

Check out of the hotel following breakfast.
Transfer to Cairo International Airport for the flight home.
Option to book extra nights and tours to Alexandria.