Land of the Bible

Walk through history and feel the energy of sacred sights on this Jordan and Israel tour escorted by Uniglobe’s own Neal Chark and Czarina Sastaunik.  You’ll visit important and thought-provoking sites like ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, Carmel market, Jaffa (one of the oldest port cities in the world), one of the most famous wineries of Israel, Nazareth, the Western Wall and Bethlehem.   You’ll also swim the dead sea, ride a jeep along the Golan Heights, walk through the ruins of ancient Petra and spend a night camping in Wadi Rum!   A mix of ancient cities and modern culture this 12 night custom tour will change your perspective of the Middle East. 

TOUR PRICES       

*Airfare from your departure city is additional*  

From $6,299 CAD per person
*based on double occupancy

Deposit of $750 per person required to hold your spot
Final Payment Due Date: June 23, 2023

Itinerary

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Day 1 – Wednesday, September 6, 2023:
Depart Canada

Day 2 – Thursday, September 7, 2023:
Arrival to Tel Aviv international airport. Meeting and assistance by Vered Hasharon Travel & Tours representative. Transfer to Tel Aviv hotel for overnight. Dinner and overnight in Tel Aviv

Day 3 - Friday, September 8, 2023: ANU Museum – Carmel Market – Neve Tzedek
Enjoy the famous Israeli buffet breakfast in your hotel. Visit ANU Museum. ANU – Museum of the Jewish People connects Jewish people to their roots and strengthens their personal and collective Jewish identity. The Museum of the Jewish People conveys to the world the fascinating narrative of the Jewish people and the essence of the Jewish culture, faith, purpose and deed while presenting the contribution of world Jewry to humanity.

Proceed to Carmel market.

Stroll through Neve Tzedek, the first neighborhood in Tel Aviv, established in 1887 outside the walls of Jaffa and a recently gentrified area with wonderful, restored homes and small shops and restaurants.

Walk through Rothchild boulevard.

Overnight in Tel Aviv

Day 4 - Saturday, September 9 2023: Jaffa – Flea Market – Path to Peace
After breakfast, drive to Jaffa, one of the oldest port cities in the world. Scroll along the artist quarter to the old port. Jonah set sail to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3) and King Solomon built his port (2 Chron. 2:16).

Proceed to the Flea Market, with its cornucopia of second-hand treasures and shabby-chic gems.

Drive to Netiv HaAsara

Welcoming, restroom, hot/cold drinks, gathering to watch the film "Life In The Shade Of The Wall" Tsamaret Zamir, resident of Netiv HaAsara, an artist and the creator of the project, tells about life in the moshav in the shadow of the ongoing security situation and above all about the hope of a good and peaceful future. Discussion and time for questions.

Every visitor is invited to choose his own special piece out of the colorful optimistic pieces, on which he writes a personal wish. Among the ceramic pieces, we can find different designs, such as flowers, butterflies, hearts, mosaic pieces with the word Peace in different languages, and many other options…

A tour in the moshav using the bus, stopping in the center of the moshav for a short walk and viewpoint on Gaza, there we will see the contrast between the many shelters alongside the fun and active community life, kindergartens, lawns, and vegetation. Through a short walk between the moshav's houses, we will reach a viewpoint on the sea and dunes, in the South, we will see the border wall and Gaza beyond it.

Driving along the security fence and the grey wall that surrounds the moshav from the South. During the tour, we will listen to stories and experiences of the area.

Path to Peace wall, we will reach the closest place to the border, finding ourselves between the border wall and the security wall. The artwork is on the security wall and can be seen by the viewer standing on both sides of the wall, spreading on the gray security walls, and creating an atmosphere of joy, optimism, and hope. Here every visitor will choose where he wants to glue his piece within the joint creation.

Overnight in Tel Aviv

Day 5 - Sunday, September 10 2023: Caesarea - En Hod artist village; DADA Museum – World Heritage Site of Acre
Israeli buffet breakfast in your hotel. Drive along the Mediterranean shoreline to visit Caesarea. Built by Herod the Great and once the seat of Roman rule. View the excavated Roman Theater, with its acoustic and theatrical sound, which was used for many performances throughout the centuries. Enjoy an audio-visual presentation brings to life the times of the Romans who controlled these shores 2,000 years ago. Walk through the excavated fortress and view the aqueduct, once used for conveying water.

Continue to the artist’s village of Ein-Hod to visit the DADA Museum and enjoy a guided tour. The museum is also named after Marcel Janco (1895-1984), a renown painter and one of the founders of the Dadaist movement (anti-artists) was a contemporary of Pablo Picasso who belonged to the Dadaists Group in Paris.
On to the World Heritage Site of Acre. Acre is an exceptional historic walled port-city with continuous settlement from the Phoenician period. The present city is characteristic of a fortified town dating from the Ottoman 18th and 19th centuries. Acre preserves substantial remains of its medieval Crusader buildings beneath the existing Moslem fortified town dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.

The remains of the Crusader town of Acre, both above and below the present-day street level, provide an exceptional picture of the layout and structures of the capital of the medieval Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Present-day Acre is an important example of an Ottoman walled town, with typical urban components such as the citadel, mosques, khans, and baths well preserved, partly built on top of the underlying Crusader structures. Visit the Crusaders Halls and Al Jazar Mosque.
Drive to Galilee area for dinner and overnight.
Overnight in Galilee

Day 6  - Monday, September 11, 2023: Mt Beatitude - a jeep ride along the Golan Heights - Pelter Winery – Mt Bental - Nazareth
After breakfast, visit Mount of Beatitudes; North of the Sea of Galilee, atop the Beatitudes Mount, lies a beautiful church with an octagonal dome that represents the 8 “Beatitudes” of the sermon that Jesus Christ blessed his disciples with 2000 years ago. Enjoy a splendid panoramic view of Tabgha and Capernaum.

Continue to a jeep tour, ascending the Golan Heights to visit one of the most famous wineries of Israel; Pelter Winery. Enjoy a wine tasting. On to Mt Bental, for a stunning panoramic view of the Golan Heights, overlooking the border between Israel and Syria. Learn about the Geopolitics of the region.

End the day in Nazareth, Jesus’ boyhood home for a tour of the city. Visit the Church of the Annunciation.

Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

Overnight Galilee hotel

Day 7 - Tuesday, September 12, 2023: Massada - Swim and Float at the Dead Sea - Wadi Kelt view point
Enjoy the famous Israeli buffet breakfast in your hotel. Drive along the Jordan Valley and the shoreline of the Dead Sea to visit Massada. 500 meters high above the Dead Sea, the fortress of Masada is set on a giant cliff, 600 m. length, 300 m. width and 2000 years old - the greatest castle in history build by King Herods. A cable car takes the visitors up to the cliff, to an unforgettable tour of the palaces, the warehouses and resident areas, the water complex, the impressive fortified system and to the most fascinating views of the Judean Desert.

Descend Masada and enjoy the Dead Sea experience; Swim and Float at the lowest place on earth.

Drive to Jerusalem; Time permits stop for a view point on St. George's Monastery, build in the 5th century CE on the cliff of Wadi Kelt.

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 8 - Wednesday, September 13, 2023: Mt. Olives - Via Dolorosa - Austrian Hospice view point - Church of Holy Sepulcher - Jewish Quarter - Western Wall

After breakfast ascend Mt. of Olives for a view point on Jerusalem:  Overlooking the Old City, the mount is covered partly in olive trees, cemeteries and churches - commemorate the Christian events of Jesus.

As we walk along the Via Dolorosa we shall enjoy a special view from the Austrian Hospice rooftop in the Old city. On to visit the Church of Holy Sepulcher. We then proceed on a tour of the Jewish Quarter, which was reconstructed in 1967. A special point of interest in the restored Jewish Quarter is the "Cardo", meaning the "heart" of this ancient Byzantine City.

On to the Western Wall; Most sacred place for the Jewish people, the remains of the wall that surrounded Temple Mount. Visit the underground Western wall tunnels.

Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 9 - Thursday, September 14, 2023: Mt. of Olives - Yad Vashem – Bethlehem – Separation wall in Jerusalem;

Enjoy breakfast in the hotel.

Our first visit is to Bethlehem, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus. Visit Church of Nativity.

After breakfast visit the City of David. Proceed to the Israel Museum; Visit the scale model of Jerusalem from the Second Temple period and the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book.  

Our last stop for the tour is Yad Vashem, the official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 and located on Mt. Herzl. 
Overnight in Jerusalem

Day 10 – Friday, 15.09.2023: Amman / Mount Nebo / Petra
Drive from Jerusalem to the Allenby border crossing for procedures to enter Jordan. Meet and assist at Allenby Bridge, transfer to your next destination. Madaba (St. George Church & Mosaic Map) - The mosaic-filled city of Madaba is just 30 minutes south of Amman on the Kings Highway. The major highlight is the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George or the Church of the Map that portrays the old Holly Land with 2 million pieces of mosaic, a huge well -preserved work of art comprises a map of the entire region of Jordan and Palestine in the north, to Egypt in the south.

Mount Nebo - Moses Mountain, situated 10 kilometers west of Madaba, overlooking the Jordan Valley, Dead Sea, West Bank and Jerusalem, where believed the alleged sites of the tomb of Moses. The major highlight is the Byzantine Church built by the 4th century to memorial Prophet Moses death, and the spot where Moses view the “Land of Canaan” the Holy Land that he would not enter

Amman Citadel Mount - The area known as the Citadel sits on the highest hill in Amman, Jebel Al Qala’a (about 850m above sea level), and is the site of ancient Rabbath-Ammon. Occupied since the Bronze Age, it's surrounded by a 1700m-long wall, which was rebuilt many times during the Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as the Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad periods. There's plenty to see, but the Citadel's most striking sights are the Temple of Hercules and the Ummayad Palace.

Overnight in Petra Hotel

Day 11 – Saturday, 16.09.2023: Petra
Breakfast in Petra Hotel
Petra visit - Known as the ‘Pink-Rose City’ or the “Lost City” is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. a breathtaking walking tour today through the ruins of ancient Petra – the city that the Nabateans carved out of solid rock dating back to 300 BC! special moments to walk through a passage the Siq, which dramatically opens up to reveal the Treasury Building (Al-Khazneh). We will see also the Roman Theatre, Corinthian tomb, Palace of Pharos’s Daughter, the Carved Roman Theater and the Royal Courts, along with one of the oldest Cathedral of the Bishop high-chair.
Overnight Wadi Rum Camp

Day 12 – Sunday, 17.09.2023: Wadi Rum
After breakfast drive south to the towering mountains and rock formations of Wadi Rum, which mesmerized Lawrence of Arabia.

Wadi Rum Visit - A moonscape of ancient valleys and towering weathered sandstone mountains rise out of the pink and white colored sand. It was the place where the famous British Army Officer T.E. Lawrence and Hollywood Producers are particularly drawn to it for science fiction films set on Mars like the famous Movie Martian (a movie –set in Wadi Rum in 2015). You will visit the different aspects of the desert like the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Thamudic Inscriptions, Canyon, and Sand Dunes. Extra activities can be done at extra cost and not included in the prices like Camel rides, Ballooning, Star gazing Experiences, ATVs (18+ years only) along with camping under Desert Camps (Like on Mars!)

Drive through the stunning desert landscapes on a jeep safari, visiting the Lawrence Spring and Khazali Canyon.

Overnight in Amman.

Day 13 – Monday, 18.09.2023: Amman / Toronto
Transfer to the Queen Alia International Airport, Amman
Flight from Amman to Toronto.

Useful tips for travel in Israel

GENERAL
Keep your valuables in the hotel safety deposit box. This is often a free service.

• In Israel’s warm climate, you are encouraged to drink more than you are used to, and to wear a hat.

• Although drinking water is safe in Israel, it would be wise to drink bottled (mineral) water

• When your tour includes visits to Holy sites, please remember to dress appropriately. Your guide will advise you on this. When touring, always wear comfortable but closed shoes.

FORGET THE FORMALITIES — THIS IS ISRAEL

• Leave the jacket and tie and evening dresses behind. Israel is a very, very informal country, in every way, including the dress code. The Friday evening Shabbat meal at your hotel might be the dressiest you’ll need to get during your visit. But “dressy” in David’s Land means khaki pants and a button-down shirt for gents and what Americans call “business casual” or “smart casual” for the ladies.

• During the day, when you’re out touring in the warmer weather, shorts, T-shirts and sandals/sneakers are fine for both guys and gals (provided that religious sites are not on the day’s agenda).

DRESS CODE

• Sunglasses – the glare of the sun can be strong, even in winter

• Hat – you’ll need this to protect yourself from the sun’s rays

• Comfortable flat walking shoes – preferably those that have been “broken in” and not new

• Bathing suit or maybe even two (including an old one you can use for bathing in the Dead Sea)

• Travel adapters and electric converters for any small electrical devices you might bring along small day/backpack to carry your water and other essentials in for the day’s touring

• “Modesty Gear” A tour of Israel means you’ll be visiting religious sites and sites holy to the world’s three great monotheistic faiths.

• Be prepared for this with modest dress. Your “modesty gear” should include: For men/women – Long pants (not shorts) / skirt below knees – walking shorts to the knee acceptable shirt with at least short sleeves – no tank tops for men or women

• Head covering – This is essential for visiting Jewish religious sites (a baseball cap will suffice).

CURRENCY + MONEY CHANGING

• The local currency is the New Israeli Shekel (NIS). You can pay for many tourist services in foreign currency (cash and Travellers’’ Checks). Most overseas credit cards are accepted in Israel. The best place to change money is in a bank. Banks are usually open Sunday through Thursday in the morning hours.

• You are likely to get a less favourable rate of exchange at the hotel or at a money change store. You can use most ATM and Cash point cards at Israeli automatic cash machines

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