Monday, May 15 – Let the adventure begin…

• Depart Nashville 

Tuesday, May 16 – Welcome to Israel!

• Arrive Tel Aviv – Where we’ll meet our guide and driver and transfer to Tiberias at the Sea of Galilee

• Enjoy a Welcome Dinner

• Here we’ll spend our first 3 nights on the shores of the Sea of Galilee at the gorgeous Galei Kinneret Hotel

 Wednesday, May 17 – Wake up to the sunrise on the Sea of Galilee!

• Dan  - Beautiful nature reserve and the site of ancient Dan where King Jeroboam set up a golden calf and the Gate of Ahab from 800 BC

• Caesarea Phillipi  - The pagan city where Jesus asks Peter “Who do you say that I am?”

• Golan Heights – From Mt. Bental overlooking Syria, we’ll learn about the wars of modern Israel and the importance of this strategic location

• Dinner and Overnight Galei Kinneret Hotel

Thursday, May 18 – Glorious Day around the Galilee!

• Boat across the Sea of Galilee – enjoy some time of worship and reflection sailing on the sea

• Ancient Galilee Boat Museum – wooden boat from the time of Jesus is on display that was discovered in the sea

• Capernaum – Site of the synagogue where Jesus taught and performed miracles

• Tabgha – Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes commemorating the feeding of the 5000

• Mount of Beatitudes – traditional site where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount

• Baptism in the River Jordan – opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River

• Dinner and Overnight Galei Kinneret Hotel

Friday, May 19 – South to the Dead Sea

• Beit She’an – Spectacular archeological site with the ruins of a palatial Greco-Roman city and the sight where the Philistines hung the head of King Saul

• Qumran – where the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered in a cave in the 1940’s

• Arrive at Dead Sea – here you can enjoy floating in beautiful salty waters 1400 ft below seal level – lowest place on earth

• Dinner and Overnight Isrotel Dead Sea 

Saturday, May 20 – Masada and more…

• Masada – Herod’s desert fortress, where in 73 AD Jewish zealots made their final revolt against Roman rule

• Free afternoon at Dead Sea and hotel spa

• Dinner and Overnight Isrotel Dead Sea 

Sunday, May 21 – It’s up to Jerusalem!

• Ein Gedi – where David had his historic encounter with King Saul, while in exile

• Drive up to Jerusalem

• Mount of Olives – site of Jesus’ ascension with a panoramic view of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount

• Garden of Gethsemane – in this area Jesus prayed the night before he was betrayed

• Pools of Bethesda & St. Anne’s Church – beautiful church located next to the pools where Jesus asks the lame man “Do you want to be well?”

• Dinner and Overnight in Jerusalem Inbal Hotel

Monday, May 22 – Amazing Day in the Old City of Jerusalem

• Temple Mount & Dome of the Rock – Just before Jesus’ birth, Herod the Great built an enormous platform for courtyards and walls which would surround the Second Temple. That platform is known today as the Temple Mount and on it sits the iconic Dome of the Rock which is one of Islam’s holiest sites and one of the most fought over places in the world. The Jewish Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

• Western Wall & Western Wall Tunnels – For centuries a small portion of the western wall of the Temple Mount was the closest a religious jew could get to the site of the Jewish temple. Known as the Western Wall, Jews travel from around the world to pray there. We will visit both places and tour a tunnel which takes us down to the original Herodian streets and to the bus-sized stones at the foundation of the Temple Mount.

• City of David – The location of David’s Jerusalem.

• Pool of Siloam – The place where Jesus sent a blind man to wash his eyes. We will learn how this pool came to exist and why.

• Southern Steps – The ancient stairs to the entrance of the Temple Mount. Jesus would have walked on these steps on his way “up to the Temple”

• Dinner and Overnight in Jerusalem Inbal Hotel 

Tuesday, May 23 – Around Jerusalem

• Holy Land Model – A remarkable scale model of the City of Jerusalem during Jesus lifetime.

• Shrine of the Book Museum – Museum that houses many of the Dead Sea Scrolls

• Yad Vashem - Israel’s Holocaust Museum 

• Garden Tomb and Communion Service – A Garden with an ancient tomb near a hillside that reflects where Jesus could have been crucified, buried and resurrected 

• Dinner & Overnight in Jerusalem Inbal Hotel

Wednesday, May 24 – Caesarea by the Sea and more…

• Mt. Carmel – Hillside where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal

• Valley of Armageddon – Also known as the Jezreel Valley and the final battlefield described in the Book of Revelations

• Caesarea by the Sea – Palatial city on the sea built by Herod the Great in 22 BC and where the Gospel first went out to the Gentiles

• Ancient Jaffa – The where city where Jonah went instead of Nineveh and the home of Simon the Tanner where Peter had his vision

• Farewell Dinner in Tel Aviv

• Depart around midnight for an overnight flight back to the USA

Thursday, May 25  Return Home!

• Flight home to USA