JEWISH HERITAGE: ELIJAH TOUR

Day 1 Wednesday Arrival

Arrival to Ben Gurion airport. Overnight in Tel-Aviv.

Day 2 Thursday Latrun/Beit Guvrin/Ayalon Institute/Weizmann House

Drive to Latrun to visit the Armored Corps Museum and memorial, also considered as one of the most diverse tank museums in the world. Continue to Beit Guvrin National Park, declared by UNESCO as a world heritage site; explore parts of the archaeological remains and unique caves. Proceed to Ayalon Institute, once a secret underground ammunition factory established by the Haganah, who were the Jewish underground movement before May 1948. Continue to Weizmann House in Rehovot built in 1936, the private home and later the formal residence of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, the first president of the state of Israel and founder of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Visit the house with its impressive structure and fascinating gardens, which now form part of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Learn the story of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, an outstanding scientist and head of the Zionist movement for over 30 years. Overnight Tel-Aviv.

Day 3 Friday Tel-Aviv/Diaspora museum/Old Jaffa

Visit Beit Hatfutsot, the Diaspora museum; drive around the main streets of Tel Aviv, the center of business and entertainment in Israel. Also known as the White City,Tel-Aviv was declared as a UNESCO world cultural heritage site for its collection of over 4,000 Bauhaus style buildings.

Day 4 Saturday Tel- Aviv

Day at leisure. Overnight Tel Aviv

Day 5 Sunday Caesarea/Haifa /Acre/Rosh Hanikra

Drive north to Caesarea, once the Roman capital of the region; see the excavations of the Crusader-era city, the aqueduct and the amphitheatre that has been restored as a concert venue. Proceed to Haifa to visit the Clandestine Immigration and Naval museum (Af al Pi Chen) and hear the story of the illegal immigrants coming to Israel at the time of the British Mandate. Drive to Acre, the Old City recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site; walk through the old port and local market. Continue to Rosh Hanikra; descend by cable car into the underwater grottoes and admire the spectacular natural formations. Overnight at a Kibbutz guesthouse.

Day 6 Monday Jeep tour/Safed/Golan Heights/Tel-Hai

Drive to Safed, one of the four holy cities in Israel and the center of the Kabbalah movement; visit the Caro and Ari synagogues; stroll through the narrow alleyways and visit the picturesque Artist Quarter. Next, enjoy a Jeep tour at the foots of the Golan. Continue to the Golan Heights; stop at Gadot overlook, the memorial for the fallen of the Golan located over former Syrian bunkers; view the monument built in honor of the Alexandroni Brigade. Proceed for a magnificent observation point over the city of Quneitra, and the Syrian territory. Drive to Tel Hai; see the Roaring Lion Monument and learn about the heroic battle of Joseph Trumpeldor and his comrades in 1920. Meet with a Kibbutz member and learn about their unique lifestyle. Overnight at a Kibbutz guesthouse.

Day 7 Tuesday Tiberias/Beit Shean/Beit Alpha/Gan HaShlosha/Jerusalem

Drive to Tiberias to visit Rambam’s Grave; continue through the Jordan valley to Beit Shean, known as Scythopolis and see the fascinating excavated remains from Roman and Byzantine periods. Stop at Beit Alpha to admire the beautiful mosaic floor of a synagogue discovered in 1929. Visit Gan HaShlosha National Park and enjoy the warm spring water pools and waterfalls. Continue via the Jordan valley to Jerusalem; stop at Mount Scopus for a blessing as you enter the city. Overnight Jerusalem.

Day 8 Wednesday Kotel tunnels/Sephardic synagogues/Davidson Center/Tower of David

Visit the Tomb of King David on Mt. Zion. Walk along the Cardo, heart of the ancient Roman City; visit the four Sephardic synagogues restored after the 1967 war in the Jewish Quarter; tour the Western Wall Tunnels; visit the archaeological park at Davidson Center; walk through the colorful local bazaar and visit the Tower of David Museum, presenting the history of Jerusalem and ancient remains of the city beginning with the First Temple period. Overnight Jerusalem.

Day 9 Thursday Yad Vashem/Mt. Herzl/Ammunition Hill/Israel Museum

Enjoy seeing the Bar Mitzvah ceremonies at the Western Wall. Drive through Mea Shearim, one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem, and learn about the unique lifestyle of the ultra orthodox communities. Proceed to Mount Herzl, the military cemetery, and Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the Holocaust. Visit Ammunition Hill, a former Jordanian army stronghold, conquered by the Israeli army in the six day war, and later converted into a national memorial site and museum. Drive by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and see the Menorah with the biblical emblems. Next, visit Israel Museum, the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea scrolls are housed, and the Holyland model, a miniature replica of Jerusalem as it was during the Second Temple period. Overnight Jerusalem.

Day 10 Friday Qumran/Masada/Dead Sea /Lunch & spa

Drive through the Judaean desert to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Visit Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. Continue to Masada, ascend by cable car and tour the mountain fortress built by King Herod, where the Zealots made their last stand against the Romans; visit the remains of the walls, palaces, synagogue and bathhouse; descend by cable car. Next, stop for lunch and spa facilities in one of the leading hotels in the area and enjoy a swim in the mineral rich Dead Sea. Overnight Jerusalem.

Day 11 Saturday Jerusalem

Day at leisure. Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 12 Sunday Departure

Departure from Ben Gurion airport.