Where It All
Began

Departure on your way to Egypt, the Land of the Pharaohs.

Welcome to Egypt. On arrival at Cairo International Airport our representative meets and assists you through customs. Transfer to your hotel in Cairo for evening at leisure. Rest and prepare for your extraordinary journey.

• Airport transfer Cairo International to hotel
• Dinner at your hotel
• 5★ Deluxe or 4★ First Class hotel

After breakfast, meet your Egyptologist guide. Visit one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world — the three Pyramids of Giza: Cheops (built ~2690 B.C.), Chefren, and the majestic Great Sphinx. Optional camel ride with the Pyramids as your backdrop. Continue to the New Grand Egyptian Museum near the Giza Pyramids, featuring 5,000 years of Egyptian history including the treasures of Tutankhamun. Afternoon in Old Cairo: visit the Hanging Church (4th–5th century, built atop Babylon Fortress), Church of St. Sergius (built on the cave where the Holy Family rested), and the Synagogue of Ben Ezra (built 882 A.C., the oldest Jewish synagogue in Egypt). Explore the medieval bazaar of Khan el-Khalili — one of the biggest bazaars in the Middle East. Lunch at a local restaurant during tour.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Egyptologist guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Lunch at local restaurant during tour
• Dinner & overnight Cairo

After breakfast, depart by private air-conditioned coach to St. Catherine Monastery via tunnel under the Suez Canal, following the Biblical Exodus route (Genesis 16–18). Drive through the Sinai Peninsula and the Land of Goshen (approx. 233 miles, ~6 hours). Visit Marah by the Red Sea — where Israel found the water bitter (Exodus 15:22-23). Continue to Alim desert oasis, then Wadi Feiran (Rephidim) — where Israel fought the Amalekites. See Mount Serbal, the possible site where Moses held his arms up for victory. Arrive at the hotel near Mt. Sinai and Wadi El Raha — where tradition says the Israelites camped and the golden calf was forged (Exodus 32).

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Dinner & overnight near Mt. Sinai

At daybreak, those who desire climb Mount Sinai (Jabal Musa, 6,900 ft) — 750 steps to the summit, walking in the footsteps of Moses. Read from Genesis where God revealed Himself in the Burning Bush and where the Ten Commandments were given. Descend and rejoin the group for breakfast. Tour St. Catherine Monastery (built 527–565 A.D. by Emperor Justinian) — the oldest continuously operating Christian monastery in the world, believed to be the site where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Depart toward the eastern Sinai shore and north on the Red Sea to Taba Border (Egypt–Israel crossing). Lunch at a local restaurant in Taba. Cross into Israel, take a short city tour of Eilat, then cross the Arava Border into Jordan. Meet your Jordanian guide. Visit the city and port of Aqaba, then travel the King's Highway via Wadi Musa to Petra.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified guide, entrance fees & St. Catherine Monastery
• Lunch at local restaurant in Taba
• Dinner & overnight Petra, Jordan

Exploring the Nabatean Treasure City of Petra — “Sela” in Hebrew (2 Kings 14:7), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 2,000-year-old city was the ancient capital of the Nabateans, carved entirely from solid rock, forgotten for centuries until rediscovered in 1812. An optional horse ride (800m) leads to the dramatic Siq canyon. Walk 1.25km through the Siq to emerge at the breathtaking Treasury (Al Khazneh). Explore Petra’s incredible structures: the Royal Tombs, obelisks, the High Place of Sacrifice, the carved Theatre, the Colonnaded Street, the Lion Triclinium, Ad Deir the Monastery, the Great Temple complex, and much more. Late afternoon drive north to Amman — Jordan’s capital.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified Jordanian guide, all Petra entrance fees
• Dinner & overnight Amman, Jordan

After breakfast, visit the biblical town of Madaba — home to the earliest original mosaic map of the Holy Land in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George. Continue to Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34:1) from which Moses viewed the Promised Land, commanding a spectacular view across the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. Drive by Bethany beyond the Jordan where John baptized Jesus. Cross to Israel via the Allenby Bridge, entering the Promised Land as Joshua led the Israelites. Drive by Jericho and continue to Tel Aviv.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Dinner & overnight Tel Aviv, Israel

Visit Old Jaffa — the oldest port city in the world (4,000+ years), where Peter raised Tabitha (Acts 9:36-43) and stayed at Simon the Tanner’s house. Drive north to Caesarea Maritima (Acts 10:24-48) — center of early Christians and capital of Judea under Rome; where Paul made his defense before Festus (Acts 25-26). Stop at Mount Carmel where Elijah challenged the False Prophets (1 Kings 18). Continue to Megiddo / Armageddon (Rev 16). Drive through the Jezreel Valley to Nazareth, view from Mt. Precipice, and visit the Basilica of Annunciation. Drive to Cana of Galilee (John 2) then to the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified Israeli guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Dinner & overnight Sea of Galilee

Special visit to Magdala (Matt 15:39) — home of Mary Magdalene and the oldest excavated synagogue in Galilee from the time of Jesus. Board a wooden boat and sail the Sea of Galilee as the disciples did (Luke 8:22-25). Dock at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar — visit the Ancient Jesus Boat (2,000-year-old). Drive to the Golan Heights and Banias / Caesarea Philippi (Matt 16:13) — “On this rock I will build my Church.” Return to Yardenit on the Jordan River (Matt 3:13-17).

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Special St. Peter Fish Lunch in the Galilee
• Dinner & overnight Sea of Galilee

Visit the Mount of Beatitudes (Matt 5-8) and the Church of the Beatitudes chapel (1939, architect Barluzzi). Tabgha — Church of Multiplication with its 4th-century mosaic floor (Feeding of 5,000). Capernaum (Matt 4:13) — Jesus’ own town, center of his ministry. Drive through Beit She’an (Mark 5:20). Continue through the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea — the lowest place on earth. Check in at Enjoy Dead Sea Hotel with complimentary spa gift products. Enjoy optional spa treatments, float on the salty water.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Dead Sea spa gift products courtesy of Enjoy Dead Sea Hotel
• Certified guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Dinner & overnight Dead Sea

Ascend by cable car to Masada — the 1,500 ft mountaintop fortress, last stronghold of the Jewish rebellion against Rome. Visit the first-century Synagogue and King Herod’s Bathhouse. Continue to Ein Gedi where David hid from Saul (1 Sam 23). Visit Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. Arrive in the Golden City of Jerusalem — panoramic view from Mt. Scopus for prayer.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Dinner & overnight Jerusalem

Mount of Olives (Acts 1) — view across the Kidron Valley to the Eastern Gate (Ezekiel 43). Dominus Flevit — “The Lord wept” (Luke 19:41-44). Down Palm Sunday Road to Gethsemane (Mark 14:32) — 2,000-year-old olive trees. The Western Wall and Western Wall Tunnels through the Second Temple era. St. Anne Church and the Pool of Bethesda (John 5). Walk all 14 Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Matt 27). Afternoon in the colorful bazaars. Shabbat dinner and prayer at the Western Wall.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Shabbat Dinner at your hotel

Mount Zion — the Upper Room (Luke 22), King David’s Tomb, and the Jewish Quarter. Continue through the New City past the Knesset to Ein Kerem, birthplace of John the Baptist (Luke 1:57-80), and the Church of the Visitation (Luke 1:39-56). Visit Bethlehem — the Church of the Nativity (Matt 2:1-5) and Shepherd’s Field (Luke 2:8-20). Afternoon at The Garden Tomb for prayer and the celebration of the Resurrection (1 Cor 15). Farewell dinner at the hotel.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Certified guide, all entrance fees & attractions
• Farewell dinner at your hotel

After breakfast, check out by noon and store luggage at the hotel. Enjoy a free day in Jerusalem — revisit holy sites and colorful bazaars, Yad Vashem, Davidson Center, Ben Yehuda Street, Mahaneh Yehuda market, the Israel Museum, or the Shrine of the Book. Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport 4 hours before departure.

• Breakfast at your hotel
• Transfer Jerusalem hotel → Ben Gurion International Airport

If your flight departs in the morning you will arrive home the same day. If it departs at night, you arrive the following day. Arrive home and start planning your next memorable trip to the Holy Land with Israel Tourism Consultants.