Day One
Sunday

• Depart the U.S.

Overnight: Flight

• Arrive at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

• Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.

• Transfer to the lively city of Tel Aviv, known as the ‘the Big Orange,' get ready for its sites of history and culture as well as the sprawling beaches and fun nightlife.

• Check into your hotel on the Mediterranean.

•  Meet your guide at the hotel lobby and depart for dinner.

• Welcome dinner and orientation at Maganda, a Middle Eastern grill restaurant, located in Tel Aviv's Yemenite Quarter.

Overnight: Tel Aviv

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Check out of the hotel.

• Begin your Israel tour with an introductory dialogue with a representative of Israel's Reform movement or a political science analyst.

• Depart the hotel.

• Visit Independence Hall, site of David Ben Gurion's monumental proclamation of the State of Israel in May 1948.

• Visit the Nachalat Binyamin pedestrian mall, with its restored buildings and sidewalk artists, and continue walking through the colorful Carmel Market and onto Sheinkin, one of Tel Aviv's trendy streets.

• Depart Tel Aviv and drive north along the coastal highway.

• Lunch on your own at the Caesarea port.

• Guided visit through old Caesarea, one of the land of Israel's most important coastal cities during the Roman Empire.

• Continue north to the Upper Galilee.

• Check into a kibbutz guesthouse. Dinner at the guesthouse.

Overnight: Galilee

• Breakfast at kibbutz guesthouse.
• Drive to Metulla, Israel's northernmost town and discuss some of the issues relating to the security of communities in northern Israel while overlooking Southern Lebanon.
• Walk through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve located on the largest tributary of the Jordan River and near the biblical settlement of Dan.
• Take a jeep tour up to the Golan Heights to enjoy the beautiful natural scenery and gain insights into the strategic complexity of the Golan region.
• Lunch on your own in Katzrin, the capital of the Golan.
• Visit and enjoy a wine tasting at the award-winning Golan Winery, located in Katzrin.
• Enjoy rafting or kayaking on the Jordan River (only applicable for tours departing May through September).
• Return to the kibbutz for dinner at the guesthouse.

Overnight: Galilee

• Breakfast at kibbutz guesthouse.

• Check out and depart kibbutz guesthouse.

• Explore Safed, a center of Jewish mysticism for hundreds of years, and a contemporary artists' colony.

• Stroll through the quaint art galleries.

• Continue through the Western Galilee to Rosh Hanikra, a rock formation at the very northern tip of Israel.

• Lunch on your own.

• Visit Acre, a UNESCO heritage site, and a multi-era experience from the days of the Crusades through contemporary history.

• Continue south to Haifa, with a first viewing of Haifa Bay from Mount Carmel.

• Check into your hotel.

• Free evening and dinner on your own in Haifa.

Overnight: Haifa

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Check out and depart the hotel.

• Overview of the Bahai Gardens the holiest site of the Bahai religion, located on Mount Carmel.

• Drive to Jerusalem along the Trans-Israel Highway for a close view of the security fence that runs along the seam zone between Israel and the Palestinian territories.

• Upon entering Jerusalem stop at Mount Zion to recite the ‘Shehechiyanu' blessing, traditionally recited upon entering Jerusalem, followed by an introduction to the city.

• Walking tour through the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.

• Continue guided visit through the Old City with a stop at the Davidson Archaeological Park and center, followed by a guided visit through the Southern Wall excavations.

• Experience the sites, smells and tastes of Jerusalem with a stroll through the Machane Yehuda market and lunch on your own.

• Check into your hotel.

• Kabbalat Shabbat services at a local reform synagogue.

• Festive Shabbat dinner.

Overnight: Jerusalem 

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• OPTION 1

  • Day visit to Masada and the Dead Sea, with lunch on your own.

• OPTION 2

  • Shabbat services and lunch on your own. Free afternoon.

• OPTION 3

  •  Day at leisure.

• ALL

  • Enjoy dinner on your own in Jerusalem, at a choice of a wide array of restaurants. (Recommended restaurant list will be made available.)

Day Eight
Sunday 

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Depart the hotel.

• Guided visit through the newly renovated Yad Vashem complex, followed by a memorial service.

• Lunch on your own.

• Guided visit through the City of David's new excavations.

      OR

• Visit the Western Wall Tunnels, the underground continuation of the Western Wall alongside the Temple Mount.

• Return to the hotel.

• Enjoy dinner at Olive and Fish, a meat and fish restaurant located across from the Liberty Bell Park.

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Check out of your hotel.

• Transfer to Ben-Gurion International Airport for departure flight to the U.S.

• Arrival on the same day.