Sample Itinerary: Jewish Emphasis – 7 Days

Day 1
Drive to the summit of the Mount of Olives for a stunning overview of Jerusalem, the Old City and the New City. Looking across the protective Kidron and Hinnom Valleys, we can see where the Jebusite inhabitants took root around the Kidron spring over five thousand years ago. King David conquered this rocky spur below Mount Moriah and made it the capital of Israel in 1000 BCE.  This is where Solomon’s and Herod’s Temples both stood, on the site where the gold Dome of the Rock, Islam’s third holiest site, is now. Begin your walking tour of the Old City at the Zion Gate.  Skirt the Armenian Quarter and enter the newly rebuilt (since 1967) Jewish Quarter. In and among the new structures see the ancient Cardo Maximus of Byzantine and Roman Jerusalem, the Herodian Mansions, the Burnt House, the four 16th century Sephardic synagogues and the Hurva. Walk down to the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site, formerly known as “The Wailing Wall.” After spending a few moments here, continue to the Southern Wall excavations just around the corner.
Exit the Dung Gate to the City of David and tour its astounding recent archaeological discoveries.

Day 2
Go first to Hadassah Hospital, Ein Kerem, to see the world-famous Chagall stained glass windows featuring the twelve tribes of Israel.  Next a visit to Yad VaShem, Israel’s national museum/memorial of the Holocaust. After lunch go to the Israel Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book and the Second Temple Model of Jerusalem. Drive by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament and other government buildings.

Afternoon walk through Machane Yehuda (the market) and explore the fascinating neighborhoods surrounding it and/or spend some leisure time on the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall and stroll around the very first neighborhood built outside Jerusalem’s Old City Walls, Nahalat Shiva.

Day 3
A day at the Dead Sea! Leave Jerusalem of the mountaintops and descend through the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth. First visit Qumran, where most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. Drive through the oasis of Ein Gedi, where David hid from Saul, arriving a short time later at the dramatic desert fortress of King Herod, Massada. Here, just after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, Jewish rebel holdouts made their last stand against Rome. Afterwards, lunch and relaxation at the Ein Gedi spa at the Dead Sea. Return to Jerusalem.

Day 4
Drive back down to the Jordan River valley and head north, past Jericho, to Beit Shean, or Scythopolis. Explore the tel and the magnificent Greco-Roman city at its foot.  Continue north through the upper Jordan valley, where the first kibbutzim were established in the early 20th century. On to Tiberias the shores of Lake Kinneret for lunch. Afternoon  trip to the city of Jewish mysticism, Sefad, to see the 16th century synagogues of the great teachers of the Kabalah. Roam the artists’ quarter before overnight in Kibbutz Ayelet haShachar (or another kibbutz in the area).

Day 5
Go first to the Good Fence on the Lebanese border. Then to Tel Dan for a walk through the nature reserve and on to Banias to see the shrine built by Alexander the Great and his men. Drive through the Druse villages of Massadeh and Bukata, see the Syrian ghost town of Kuneitra. Visit the “capital” of the Golan Heights region, Katrzrin and see the Talmudic village of that name. Visit Gamala and return to your kibbutz.

Day 6
Drive across the Jezreel Valley to visit Megiddo. Via the Iron Valley and Hadera, travel to Caesarea Maritima. Visit this beautiful Herodian port city with its theater (still in use), its bath houses, hippodrome, palaces, temple area, port (the world’s first artificial port), warehouses and boulevards.  Continue on to Tel Aviv for overnight.

Day 7
Early morning walk through Jaffa and first Tel Aviv neighborhoods. Driving tour of the modern city to see the Habima National Theater and the Mann Auditorium, the Azrieli Tower, the Tel Aviv University, Dizengoff Avenue and the Dizengoff Center, the Hagana Museum and spend the remainder of the day on Tel Aviv’s fabulous beaches.