DAY ONE: Friday
DEPARTURE

• Depart the U.S. to Egypt.

Overnight: Flight

• Arrive at Cairo International Airport.
• Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.
• Transfer to the hotel and check in. (Transfer from airport to hotel is included.)
• Dinner at the hotel.

Overnight: Cairo

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Tour the Cairo Museum, home to more than 120,000 artifacts.
• Tour Old Cairo, and the late 19th century Ibn Ezra Synagogue where the Cairo Geniza was discovered. The Geniza housed more than 200,000 fragments of Jewish manuscripts dating from the 9th - 19th centuries, offering a wealth of information both scholarly and historical.
• Visit Coptic Cairo - the Hanging or El Muallaqa Church and the Coptic Museum.
• Mosques of Cairo - see either the Ibn Tulun Mosque, the oldest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world or the Sultan Hassan Mosque, a colossal campus including both Mosque, Madrasa and Mausoleum.
• Dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight: Cairo

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Check out of the hotel - depart for the airport and early morning flight to Luxor, the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes and vast site of New Kingdom ruins - temples, tombs and monuments. 
• Arrive in Luxor and board the cruise ship.
• Lunch aboard the cruise ship.
• Visit the Temple of Karnak or Ipet-Isut - a vast complex of buildings covering about 200 acres; its sheer hugeness of scale is overwhelming.
• Cross to the West Bank of the Nile and the Valley of the Kings and Queens - see the magnificent Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir-El Bahri and the 60-foot Colossi of Memnon, the twin statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III from the 14th century BCE.
  Temple of Luxor - built during the New Kingdom, on the east bank of the Nile, it was dedicated to the three popular worship figures of the time.
• Afternoon tea on board.
• Dinner on board followed by a belly-dancing performance

Overnight: Sonesta St. George, Cruise

• Sail to Esna, ancient Upper Kingdom Egyptian city with remains from the later Ptolemaic period as well.
• Breakfast on board.
• Morning at leisure.
• Lunch and afternoon tea on board.
• Captain's welcome cocktail party in the evening.
• Evening entertainment - Dinner and dancing.

Overnight: Sonesta St. George, Cruise

• Breakfast on board.
• Morning at leisure.
• Lunch on board.
• Afternoon: visit Edfu's Temple of Horus - second in size only to the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, it is also the best-preserved temple in Egypt and when first discovered in 1798, was buried under 39 feet of Nile river silt.
• Return to the ship for afternoon tea and sail to Kom Ombo.
• Dinner and galabya party on board.

Overnight: Sonesta St. George, Cruise

• Breakfast on board.
• Visit the temple shared by the two goddesses, Sobek and Haroeis, in Kom Ombo, ancient Egyptian remains from the Pharaoh and Ptolemaic periods as well.
• Visit the High Dam in Aswan, representing thousands of years of man's attempts to control the Nile, as well as the nearby Granite Quarries in use since the time of the Pharaohs.
• Temple of Philae - a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this ancient temple complex was moved in the early 1970s from the Philae islands to Agilkai, about 1/3 of a mile away in order to save it from the dam's flood waters.
• Sail the Nile on a felucca - a traditional-style, wooden boat with triangular sails. Pass by Kitchener's Island, or the Island of Plants, and the Agha Khan Mausoleum on the west bank of the Nile near Aswan.
• Afternoon tea on board.
• Dinner on board.
• Evening entertainment - Nubian folklore show.

Overnight: Sonesta St. George, Cruise

• Breakfast on cruise ship.
• Check out and disembarkation.
• Flight from Aswan to Cairo for a day at leisure.

OR

• Optional tour to Abu Simbel to view the four 65-foot figures guarding the Temple of Ramses II.
• Flight: Aswan-Abu Simbel-Cairo
• Return to Cairo.
  

Overnight: Cairo

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Morning tour of the Necropolis of Sakkara (City of the Dead). Located on the western bank of the Nile, this vast cemetery was the royal burial place of choice for the ancient capital of Memphis. Visit Djoser's Step Pyramid, Egypt's oldest burial complex and the 35-foot tall statue of Ramses II nearby.
• Lunch on your own.
• The Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as Khufu's Pyramid or Pyramid of Cheops, it is the only remaining wonder of the original Seven Wonders of the World. Visit Giza and the three adjoining Pyramids, the Sphinx and the nearby Solar Boat Museum, which houses the reconstructed boat that was used to transport Pharaoh Khufu's remains across the Nile to his burial place, 4,600 years ago.
• Dinner on your own.
  

Overnight: Cairo

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Transfer to the Cairo International Airport.
• Flight to Tel Aviv (Flights are included).
• Welcome by our representative and assistance with arrival formalities.
• Transfer to Tel Aviv, known as the “city that never sleeps” with its centers of culture and recreation such as the Habima Theater, sprawling beaches, Dizengoff Street and Rabin Square. Airport transfer included.
• Check into the hotel.
• Free day to acclimate to Israel.

• Breakfast at your kibbutz guesthouse.
• Walk through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve located on the largest tributary of the Jordan River and near the biblical settlement of the tribe of Dan.
• Take a jeep tour climbing into the Golan Heights, following in the footsteps of IDF soldiers and their battles in the Six Day War, Enjoy the beautiful, natural scenery and gain insight into the strategic complexity of the Golan, followed by a tour of the Golan Heights.
• Cross the Golan Plateau to the border with Syria and observe the abandoned city of Kuneitra and the United Nations outpost located nearby.
• Lunch on your own.
• Enjoy rafting or kayaking on the Jordan River (weather permitting, water shoes recommended) or visit the Hula Nature Reserve and the Ophoria Interactive Experience, connecting birds, water and the Zionist endeavor.
• Da'at Encounter: Dialogue with a kibbutz member.
• Return to your kibbutz for dinner at the guesthouse.

• Breakfast at your kibbutz guesthouse.
• Check out and departure.
• Explore Safed, ancient and modern center of Jewish mysticism, and the city's contemporary artists' colony, including guided visits to: The Ari, Caro or Abuhav synagogues with their great stories and mystical messages, followed by a shopping stroll through the quaint artists' colony and galleries.
• Drive north to Rosh Hanikra, a collection of rock grottoes at the very northern tip of Israel. Rosh Hanikra was created when the strong Mediterranean waters carved subterranean tunnels out of the soft limestone rock, creating beautiful caves and formations.
• Lunch on your own.
• Visit Acre (Akko), a UNESCO Heritage Site with history ranging from the Crusader period into modern times. The tour includes guided visits to the newly renovated Crusader city, Jezzar Pasha Mosque, one of the most important mosques of Israel's Muslim community, and the Ottoman Fortifications around the city.
• Da'at Encounter:Visit a Druze village in the Carmel Mountains for a window into the unique world of the Israeli Druze community, including dinner at a Druze home.
• Drive to Haifa and check into your hotel.
• Evening at leisure.

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Check out and departure.
• Stand on top of Mount Carmel for a scenic overlook of the Haifa Bay and Bahai Gardens and Shrine, one of the holiest sites of the Bahai religion.
• Drive to Jerusalem via the Trans-Israel Highway for a close up view of the ‘Security Barrier' along the seam line between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
• Upon entering Jerusalem stop to recite the ‘shehechiyanu' blessing, traditionally recited upon entering Jerusalem, followed by an introduction to the city.
• Guided visit through the Old City of Jerusalem, travelling through 3,000 years of Jewish life.
• Experience the sites, smells, and tastes of Jerusalem while walking through the Machaneh Yehuda market, with lunch on your own.
• Check into your hotel.
• Optional Kabbalat Shabbat services at local synagogues in Jerusalem, on your own.
• Festive Shabbat dinner.

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Optional Shabbat services.
• Optional Day visit to Masada and the Dead Sea, with lunch on own (optional with additional cost).
• Afternoon at leisure.
• Enjoy dinner on your own in Jerusalem, at a choice of a wide array of restaurants.

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Da'at Fitness Walkabout Jerusalem: Integrate Wellness and fitness into your trip experience with your athletic trainer in Liberty Bell Park.
• Early breakfast at your hotel.
• Guided visit through the newly renovated Yad Vashem complex, the Jewish National Memorial to the
  six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, including the new Historical Museum, the Children's Memorial, and a memorial service.
• Lunch on your own.
• Return to the Old City and experience the special energy at the Western Wall (the Kotel), followed by a visit to the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall alongside the Temple Mount.
• Guided visit through the City of David's new excavations, which have redefined the origins of Jerusalem and wade through the 2,600-year-old Hezekiah's Water Tunnel in the Kidron Valley (depending on weather conditions. Water shoes recommended).
• Da'at Encounter: Israeli Society @ 2011 Dialogue with a scholar.
• Enjoy dinner at Olive & Fish, a meat and fish restaurant, located across from the Liberty Bell Gardens.