Combined 1 week Jordan – Israel Tour from Eilat / Taba
Israel & Jordan Holy Land 7 Days Tour
Our Travel experts says: “Ideal as a Church – Holy Land Tour, ask your Priest or Pastor to contact us”
Day 1
(Travel from Eilat to Jordan)
After crossing the Arava (Rabin crossing) Border, our Jordanian Guide will meet us, and assist us with the border formalities. Then we drive to tour “The Rose Red City” , Petra, recently declared one of the new “Seven Wonders of the World”. Petra is cut out of the sandstone by the ancient Nabatheans, a nomad people who used this site as their religeous and political capital, and as a center for the caravans on the “Incense Road”. We start walking through the narrow “Siq” (gorge) untill we suddently see the famous monument the Bedouins call “Hazane” – Pharao’s Treasury! From the treasury we enter the central valley of the “Lost City”, where we visit some more of it’sancient monuments, such as “The Colonaded Street”; “Pharao’s Daughter Temple”, the Theater, and more… Overnight near Petra.
Day 2
We drive along the ancient “King’s Highway”, mentioned already in the Old Testament, to Madaba. Here, in the Greek-Orthdox church we can see the famous 6th century mosaic floor showing the Holy Land just a it was more than 15 centuries ago! We continue to Mt. Nebo, from which Moses could see the Promised Land, but was never allowed to enter. Beside the view that also Moses saw, Mount Nebo is also famous for the colorful mosaics, also dating back to Byzantine days. At the end of the day we reach Jordan’s capital – Amman. After a short tour of some of its ancient and modern sites we arrive at the hotel where we spend the night. Overnight in Amman – The Jordanian Capital city
Day 3
(Travel from Jordan to Israel)
After breakfast we start our tour in Jerash, a well-preserved Greco-Roman city, one of the “Deca Polis” – an alliance of the richest cities of the region in classic times. After a short drive we reach the Jordan River Border Crossing (Sheik Hussein Border terminal), where we cross the Jordan River to the “Holy Land” – Israel, where you will meet your Israeli Guide, who will escort you to Nazareth, located in the mountains of Galilee. Here we visit the modern Basilica of the Annunciation, built on the place where traditionally the Angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary the birth of Jesus. In this monumental building the Virgin is pictured by artists from all over the world. Overnight in Nazareth.
Day 4
In the beginning of the day we visit the places where Jesus acted around the Sea of Galilee: Capernaum, with Peters House and the famous Synagogue, enjoy the view from Mt. of the Beatitudes, where the “Sermon on the Mount” was given, and the reconstructed church at Tabgha, where tradition puts the miracle of the Bread and The Fish. We continue to Megiddo National Park, located at a major junction of the ancient international trading route known as the “Via Marris”. Megiddo has more than 22 layers of antiquities, among them findings from the time of King Salomon, and a sophisticated water-system. It has been the scene of many battles in it’s long history, and is mentioned in the Revelation as the place of the last battle – the battle of Armagedon! From the evergreen Mt. Carmel we take a look at the Bay of Haifa, before we continue to our hotel in Jerusalem.
Day 5
In the Old City we visit the Jewish Quarter with the “Wailing Wall”, the last remnants of the Temple in Jerusalem. If the current situation allows it, we will try to visit the Temple Mount as well’ looking at the Al Aqsa Mosque and “The Dome of the Rock”. We continue in the footsteps of Jesus along the Stations of the Via Dolorosa, Jesus’ “Way of Suffering”, and unto the Church of the Holy Sepulcure, where Jesus was crucified and buried. The Via Dolorosa also passes through the Old City’s oriental “Suq” (Bazaar). In the New City we shall visit some of the most impressive monuments at Yad Vashem, the known Holocaust Memorial, such as “The Alley of the Rightous among the Nations” and the Childrens Memorial, and end the day by the “Menorah”(Candelabra) that is situated right opposite the Knesset – Israel’s parliament, and tells us Israel’s History through it’s myths & legends. Overnight in Jerusalem.
Day 6
Today we are southwards bound, into the desert! We walk through the Oasis of Ein Gedi National Park, known since the days of King David. Ein Gedi, where four springs with fresh water meet the desert sun, is a place to enjoy the rich and unique flora and fauna that such an oasis can offer. We walk to the waterfall and back to the bus. We climb (by cable-car…) the famous cliff-fortress of Masada National Park, where Herod the Great built a magnificent palace in the middle of the desert. Massada was then used as a fortress by the Jewish “Zealots” who fought, few against many, against the pagan Roman Empire. Their heroic struggle became a symbol for the modern State of Israel. We will not miss, of course, some floating (not swimming!) on the Dead Sea, the deepest point on earth!
After experiencing all this, we drive back to our hotel in Jerusalem.
Day 7
(Shalom – Goodbye…)
Depending on our scheduled flight, we walk in the old city of Jaffa, one of the ancient gateways to the Holy Land. Today Jaffa’s romantic alley-ways attract many artists, who have their galleries there. Depending on the time we have left, we can drive through the pulsating city of Tel Aviv, and maybe spend some time at its markets, beaches, and boulevards… Transfer to the Ben Gurion Airport for your flight home.
