This historic 10 day/9 night specially planned tour has been designed specifically for special needs travelers enabling them to experience the extraordinary history and rich heritage of a fascinating destination. You will be able to visit sites that you have only dreamed of.
Tel Aviv, Tiberias, Jerusalem and Masada
The land price includes:
The land price does not include:
Arrival Ben Gurion International Airport. After clearing passport control, you will be met by a transfer representative who will assist you to your waiting driver for the scenic drive north to the Lower Galilee. Considered one of Judaism’s four holiest cities, Tiberias was founded between 17-33 CE by Herod Antipas in honor of Roman Emperor Tiberias.
Overnight Tiberias. (D)
Today’s program focuses around the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee also known as the Kinneret visiting Degania Aleph Israel’s oldest kibbutz founded in 1909 and its twin Degania Bet, built in 1920. Like Degania, Kvutzat Kinneret founded in 1911 evolved from a training farm.
Six miles north is Kibbutz Ginosar, the former home of Yigal Allon, one of Israel’s great statesmen. See a museum devoted to his life and the history of the Galilee region as well as the so-called “Jesus Boat”, a 2,000 year old boat excavated from the Kinneret in 1985 said to date back to the time of Jesus.
Overnight: Tiberias. (B, D)
Leaving Tiberias our drive takes us to the Holy City of Jerusalem to participate in the traditional saying of the “Shechiyanu” and “Borei Pri Hagafen” blessings, like pilgrims did throughout history when approaching Jerusalem.
At the colorful and bustling Machne Yehuda market place we pause to watch the people of Jerusalem as they get ready for Shabbat. Return to the hotel to light the candles and usher in the Sabbath.
Celebrate Kabbalat Shabbat in the Old City or of the many synagogues nearby. A table will be reserved for Shabbat dinner at the hotel.
Overnight: Jerusalem. (B, D)
A chance to attend services at one of the synagogues found near the hotel. Later on, perhaps a walking tour to some of Jerusalem’s beautiful neighborhoods. This evening Jerusalem comes back to life after a rest on Shabbat by attending the Night Spectacular at David Tower. Learn about the 4000 year old history of Jerusalem in a 45 minute one of a kind multi-sensory show as you sit amongst the ruins.
Overnight: Jerusalem. (B, D)
After breakfast a special tree planting ceremony. Feel your connection with the land of Israel by planting a tree with your own hands. Continue to Megilat Haesh in the Jerusalem Hills to see the Scroll of Fire, one of the most beautiful sculptures in Israel located in what is the single largest memorial to the Holocaust in the world, the Martyrs’ Forest. Comprised of 6 million trees with 4.5 million pine trees representing the adults and 1.5 million cypress trees representing the children who perished during the Holocaust. The sculpture tells the story of the rebirth of the nation from the Holocaust up to the Six Day War and commands a spectacular view of its surroundings.
After lunch drive around the New City of Jerusalem including the Knesset, the site of the Israeli parliament with its surrounding Rose Gardens and giant bronze Menorah. On a hill in Givat Ram you will find the Israel Museum founded in 1965 as Israel’s national museum. Here the Shrine of the Book houses the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947-45 in 11 caves in and around Wadi Qumran. Adjacent to the Shrine is the Model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period reconstructing the city as it was prior to the destruction by the Romans in 66 CE. Return to the hotel.
Overnight: Jerusalem. (B, D)
Stroll through the Jewish Quarter, one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City. See the Cardo, the “heart” of the unearthed main Roman thoroughfare and ancient marketplace. Enjoy a visit of the excavations of the Herodian Mansions and discover how wealthy Jerusalemites lived more than 2,000 years ago.
Tour the Southern Wall Excavations where many Second Temple Period findings have been discovered. Next to the Dung Gate, we find the incredible Davidson Center which uses films and exhibits to illustrate how the city looked through different periods of history.
The Western Wall also known as the Wailing Wall or Kotel is the holiest of Jewish sites, being a remnant of the wall that once enclosed the Second Temple. A tour through the Kotel Tunnels depicts the Western Wall and the Holy Temple as they were during Roman Times until the destruction of the temple in the year 70 CE.
Overnight: Jerusalem. (B, D)
Depart Jerusalem for the Judean Desert. The day begins at the isolated mountaintop fortress of Masada, King Herod’s desert palace and scene of the zealots’ last stand against the Roman Legions where 980 zealots chose to commit suicide rather than be enslaved by the Romans.
Enjoy lunch and swim at a Dead Sea Hotel with time to float in the unsinkable waters. Arrive back at your hotel in Jerusalem in time to participate in one of the memorial events taking place.
Overnight: Jerusalem. (B, D)
Celebrate Yom Hazikaron – Memorial Day. Visit the new museum at Yad Vashem located on the western slope of Mount Herzl on the Mount of Remembrance opened in 2005. Tour this poignant Memorial dedicated to the darkest moment in world and Jewish history. Hollowed out from an underground cavern, the moving Children’s Memorial pays tribute to the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust.
The names of the children (taken from Pages of Testimony in the Hall of Names), their ages and countries of birth can be heard softly in the background. Experience Israel’s newest attraction, “Herzl’s Vision” where you learn the story of the visionary and founding Zionist Theodore Herzl whose vision of a Jewish Homeland was once only a ‘dream’.
This afternoon take part in Yom Ha’Atzmaut – the Day of Independence events in Jerusalem.
Overnight: Jerusalem. (B, D)
Morning at leisure to relax after the Yom Ha’Aztmaut events of yesterday.
Breakfast at your hotel then a short drive will take you to cosmopolitan Tel Aviv, known as the city that never sleeps. There is a lot to see and do. Our tour begins with Independence Hall where we relive the exciting moment when David Ben Gurion delivered his moving Declaration of Independence speech on May 14, 1948.
Visit Kikar Rabin where Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated on November 4, 1995 and walk in his final path discussing the impact of this event on the modern history of the State of Israel. The rest of the day is free perhaps to see. Return to the hotel for the evening on your own.
Overnight: Tel Aviv. (B, D)
Breakfast at the hotel. Time permitting we will head for Beth Hatfutsot housed on the campus of Tel Aviv University, known as the Museum of the Jewish People it tells the unique and ongoing story of the Jewish people, a people among nations and describes the special bond between the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
The museum presents thousands of years of a flourishing, multi-faceted culture and brings to life the unity that underlies the diversity of the Jewish civilization.
Afterwards drive to the airport for your flight home. (B)