CLASSIC TOUR

View All Tours

CLASSIC TOUR: 9 Days

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Experience Jerusalem and the most important sacred sites for Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths.
  • Explore Tel Aviv, the Manhattan of Israel with its quick city pace but also its beach life and unique atmosphere of ancient Jaffa.
  • Visit Yad Vashem, the renowned remembrance site for Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
  • Discover local foods at the markets and at food stalls and learn about their cultural background.
  • Enjoy floating in the Dead Sea at the lowest point on earth.
  • Meet locals from very diverse backgrounds: Jews, Arabs, ultra-orthodox Jews, Bedouins, Druze, etc.
  • Experience a Sabbath evening with a local host family.
  • Climb down in the Galilee and up in the Judean Desert.
  • Visit Archeological sites such as impressive Massada and join an archeological dig.
  • Meet young Israelis and volunteer at a service-learning community.

DAY: 1 HOME

Depart the U.S. for Israel.

DAY: 2 JERUSALEM

Arrive in Jerusalem in the morning and meet your guide. Take a bus and walking tour of the holy city. Read passages from the Old and New Testament and Quran and say a special blessing. Enjoy an authentic falafel picnic lunch with a panoramic view of the Dead Sea. Participate in planting a tree in Israel. Experience a welcome ceremony at Mount Scopus. Tour Jerusalem’s Old City.

DAY 3: JERUSALEM

Visit the Temple Mount, the site where the Jewish Temple used to stand 2000 years ago. See the impressive El Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest sites to Muslim believers built about 1400 years ago. Walk the 500 year old ramparts of the Old City Wall. Take a walking tour through the Jewish Quarter. See and touch the ancient stones of the Western Wall. Drive by the Israeli Parliament and visit Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center dedicated to the 6 million Jews who perished in World War II. Experience a Light and Sound show after dinner.

DAY 4: JERUSALEM

Explore a 2700 year old water tunnel built by King Hezekiah. See the Pool of Siloam. Follow an ancient water canal o see the huge stones plundered by the Romans when they destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Tour an authentic farmers’ market and have lunch at Machane Yehuda. Learn the names of different foods and order in Hebrew! Return to the Western Wall to see how the Sabbath is welcomed in prayer, song, and dance. Experience a traditional Sabbath dinner with a host family. Taste the traditional food and sing along with locals.

DAY 5: JERUSALEM/ BETHLEHEM

Using a map, visit the 14 famous stations of the cross. Go through the “Via Dolorosa” and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where it is believed that Jesus was crucified and buried. Explore the Arab Bazaar in small groups. Drive to Bethlehem and tour the Church of the Nativity. Interact with Local Palestinians who live there and make nativity figurines out of old olive wood. Return to Jerusalem for dinner and meet local young people gathered at the Jerusalem Triangle at the end of the Sabbath.

DAY 6: JERUSALEM/ EIN GEDI

Drive to the Dead Sea area and enjoy a beautiful view of the Judean desert. Visit Ein Gedi desert oasis with David’s waterfalls. Cool yourself in the natural pools and under a waterfall. Drive to Masada Fortress. Climb the mountain on foot or by cable car to see the amazing view. Walk through the fortress, learn the story behind the stones and why this particular site is a symbol of Jewish heroism. Head to the shore of the Dead Sea and float in the water or cover yourself with the natural mud! Drive to a Beduin tent. Experience a short camel ride and authentic Beduin dinner and then spen the night in a Beduin tent.

DAY 7: EIN GEDI/ BEIT GUVRIN/ SEA OF GALILEE

Join a “dig for a day” – a real archaeological activity at the Beit Guvrin caves in northern Israel. join an open discussion and lunch with Arab and Jewish youth. Discuss sports, art, and culture. Take an evening boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Enjoy the ride while learning Israeli dances.

 

DAY 8: HAIFA/ TEL AVIV

Visit an Israeli high school and meet Arab and Jewish students. Join a service-learning project such as working with mentally or physically handicapped young people. Continue to Tel Aviv. Visit “Taglit” Innovation Center, where you will get the chance to see all of Israel’s greatest inventions in modern technology in an interactive way! Visit a startup company that develops innovative drones. Free time at Tel Aviv’s beach and last minute shopping time.

DAY 9: TEL AVIV

Experience our unique “Dialogue in the Dark.” Explore the day to day lives of the blind. Visit Old Jaffa. Walk through the ancient streets of Jaffa, check out the small artists’ shops and studios and feel the Middle Eastern Atmosphere. Participate in a scavenger hunt at Rothschild Chic Avenue and learn why Tel Aviv was proclaimed a Unesco World Heritage site and give the title “White City.” Free time at Hacarmel fruit and vegetable market and Nachalat Binyamin artists and artisans market. Farewell dinner in ancient Jaffa. Depart for airport.

STARTING AT: $3785*

*Price estimate based on minimum of 30 paying travelers departing from CLT airport