Feel the history of Israel under your feet..
Our hiking tour of Israel takes you round the country and includes walks and hikes through the amazing beauty of nature. On this guided tour you will hike through the paths of history.
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Day 01 – Arrival - Jaffa - Tel Aviv
Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv in the late afternoon. Special guides will assist you through customs and help you board an air conditioned motor coach which will drive you through ancient Jaffa where Peter has his vision on the rooftop of Simon the Tanners’ house.To your right you will see the beautiful plains of Sharon and to your left the sun just beginning to set over the blue Mediterranean Sea. Check into Hotel for dinner and overnight.
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Day 02 – Caesarea - Mt. Carmel - Rosh Hanikra - Peki’in - Mt.Meron - Naftali Mountains - Kibbutz
After breakfast travel north along the blue Mediterranean to Caesarea, an ancient Mediterranean city halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa, containing many ruins most of which date from the Crusader period. Prominent among these are the Hippodrome, the Crusader City, and the Roman amphitheatre.Walk through the Roman Colosseum, visit the Crusader city, and see a 2000 year old Roman Aqueduct. Continue north to the summit of Mt. Carmel, where you will learn of Elijah’s experience with the prophets of Baal. Drive to Rosh Hanikra. The waves lapping at the foot of the cliff have carved labyrinthine grottos out of the white cliffs which jut into the sea, called the Ladders of Tyre. A cable car will take you from the top of the cliffs to the fascinating grottos below. Next we travel inland toward the region of Galilee, driving past Peki’in an Arab Village with a few Jewish families who claim to have lived there continuously for 2000 years.-stopping at Mt. Meron, 4000 feet above sea level and the highest summit in Galilee.
After climbing the steep path to the ruins of an ancient synagogue you will descend to the dark cave where Israel’s most famous Rabbi Hillel the Elder is buried. From there you will climb for two miles on a steep rocky path to the “Throne of Messiah” where ancient Jews believed the Messiah would appear and Elijah, his forerunner would blow his trumpet to herald the deliverance of Israel. You will finish the exciting day by driving down the steep descent and drive north to the Naftali Mountains to a Kibbutz, for dinner and overnight.
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After breakfast drive to the GOOD FENCE on the Lebanese border. Visit TEL DAN Nature Reserve. Proceed to BANIAS (CAESAREA PHILLIPI) one of the main sources of the Jordan River which runs through lush woodlands and ends in a broad lagoon in the shadow of Mount Hermon. It was here that Philip, son of Herod, established the city by the name of Caesarea Philippi and the town is mentioned in the New Testament and Talmud.
Visit TEL FACHAR and then on to NIMROD CASTLE. Drive up the GOLAN HEIGHTS, the site of fierce battles between Israel and Syria during 1967 and 1973, and then visit BIRKAT RAM a natural pool on the northern Golan Heights with water sources from both underground flow and rainwater. Legend claims a connection between the pool and the sources of the Banias spring and the pool serves as a reservoir for settlements in the area. Visit GAMLA, the first outpost to fall during the Jewish Revolt against Rome. Enjoy a two mile, round trip hike to ruins of the city and fortress.
An easy descent and an invigorating climb back. Continue to CAPERNAUM on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus began his preaching career. The town is also well known during Second Temple, Roman and Byzantine periods. Visit TABGHA site of the Miracle of the Feeding of the 5000. Drive to the MT. of BEATITUDES site of Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Check into Kibbutz for dinner and overnight.
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Day 04 – Mt. Arbel - Boat Ride - Cana - Nazareth - Megiddo - Beit Shean - Jordan River.
Early morning visit MT. ARBEL with its half mile hike to the summit. Return to hotel for breakfast. After breakfast take a Boat Ride across the Sea of Galilee. Visit CANA the site of the Miracle of the Wine. Continue to NAZARETH, traditional site of the Annunciation and boyhood home of Jesus.
Continue to MEGGIDO, Canaanite town whose king was killed by Joshua. See the water Tunnel from Solomon’s time. Proceed to BEIT SHEAN excavated ancient city with its ruins of Roman Amphitheatre and colosseum. Drive to the Jordan River where some of the group will be baptized. Return to Kibbutz for dinner and overnight.
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Day 05 – Belvoir - Jordan Valley - Jericho - Qumran - Dead Sea
Before Dawn gather on the beach to watch the sun rise above the Golan Heights. Return to hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, travel back in time 2000 years driving south through the Jordan Valley up high mountains to the ancient Crusader castle of Belvoir. Explore the castle. Continue south with every mile telling a Bible Story on the way to MONASTERY OF THE TEMPTATION, QUARANTAL.
Close by, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness after he was tempted by Satan. Walk the steep easy path to the monastery for a visit then climb above the building for spectacular views of Jericho, Jordan Valley and Dead Sea. After lunch head south along the beautiful Dead Sea to the caves of QUMRAN where the DEAD SEA SCROLLs were discovered. Continue south past great salt deposits to the Dead Sea. Before dinner there is time for a quick swim. Dinner and overnight at hotel on the Dead Sea.
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Day 07 – Flour Caves - Yorkeam - Large Crater - Yerucham - Tzin - Nachal Ein Avdat - Mamshit
After breakfast proceed to the Flour Caves and then hike to EIN YORKEAM. Visit the LARGE CRATER lying between the Tzin Desert and the Wadi close to the town of Mitzpe Ramon, this is the largest of three natural craters that are among the most striking of the Negev’s features. It is 30 km long, 8 km wide and 200 meters deep. An ancient Nabatean fort lies to the east.Visit YERUCHAM and EIN AVDAT an ancient city south of Beersheba built by the Nabateans in the 2nd Century at a major trade crossroad in the Negev Desert. The remains have been partially reconstructed and Avdat is one of the most important monuments from the Roman, Nabatean, and Byzantine periods in the entire Negev. Return via MAMSHIT to the Dead Sea. Dinner and overnight at Hotel.
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Early morning walk up the snake path to MASSADA a massive rocky outcrop in the Judean Desert, 2km from the shore of the Dead Sea and the site of the most dramatic act in Jewish history, when Jewish rebels elected mass suicide rather than submit to Roman capture in 73 A.C. The site has been fully excavated and the remains of Herod’s impregnable fortress have been exposed, as have the remains of the eight roman army camps that surrounded the mountain, and the rebel’s living quarters.
See the wonderful sunrise. Return to hotel for breakfast. After breakfast return to METSADA and ascend by cable car for visit of the area. Walk down the other side where the bus will meet you and take you to ARAD (Possibility of Camel Ride). Visit TEL SHEVA and YAD MORDECHAI south of Ashkelon, a kibbutz since 1943 named after Mordechai Anielewicz, leader of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
On this site of fierce battles in the War of Independence, remains of the shelled water tower were left as a tribute. Sites include a mark in memory of the fallen, a model of the 1948 battle site and a museum of the Holocaust ghetto resistance and a military history of the Negev desert. Proceed to Ashkelon and the Bell Cave at Beit Guvrin. Proceed through the ELAH VALLEY where David slew Goliath and check into hotel in Jerusalem for dinner and overnight.
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Day 09 – Mt of Olives - Garden Tomb - Calvary - Old City - Abu Gosh
Pre-dawn wake up call. Atop MOUNT OF OLIVES experience sunrise over “Jerusalem the Golden”. Return to hotel for breakfast. After breakfast visit the beautiful GARDEN TOMB outside the city walls next to the ancient site of CALVERY. Pause, remember and celebrate communion. Spend the remainder of the morning in Jerusalem’s Old City.Visit the JEWISH QUARTER the CARDO and the WESTERN WALL, drive to ABU GOSH where the Ark of the Covenant is believed to have rested. Hike back to Jerusalem via the ancient EMMAUS ROAD as Jesus did the evening of His resurrection. Return to hotel for dinner and overnight.
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After breakfast either remain in Jerusalem for shopping in the Old City or hike on the JERICHO ROAD. Eight mile hike down mysterious WADI KELT dried riverbed through the Judean wilderness, close to the place where Elijah was fed by ravens. Hike part of the aqueduct which brought water from Jerusalem to Jericho. Climb up to visit the ST. Georges Monastery. Bus back to Jerusalem passing the INN of the GOOD SAMARITAN.
Next stop are the biblical gardens of Tantur. Watch the sun set over the village of Jesus’ birth. After dinner at hotel head back to Mt. of Olives for time of quiet meditation above the GARDEN OF Gethsemane to share stories of the cross. Return to hotel full of thoughts and worship.
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Breakfast and dinner at hotel. Full day at Leisure.p.
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Day 12 – Jerusalem - Departure
Transfer to airport for departure flight.
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