• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Drive along the Sea of Marmara - following in the footsteps of Odysseus and other adventurers who sailed this storied waterway on their way to new adventures. Briefing on the bus.
• Lunch in the little town of Gelibolu.
• Head to the Gallipoli Peninsula - site of a protracted and ultimately costly battle of World War I. The battle was ultimately a success for the Turks, who prevented the Allies from gaining control of the Dardanelles (Hellespont) Strait, but it resulted in more than 130,000 casualties and countless wounded.
• Arrive in Eceabat - embark on a ferry ride across the Dardanelles to Canakkale, a busy port town and once a center of Jewish life in the area.
• Visit the 150-year-old main synagogue of the town, open only once a year by a dedicated group of former Canakkale residents who return to clean and maintain the building and pray together in the synagogue of their youth. Few Jews actually remain in Canakkale.
• Check into your hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel - open buffet meal.

Overnight: Canakkale

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Drive to Pergamum, an ancient Greek city from the time of the Attalid Dynasty, 281-133 BCE.  The Acropolis of Pergamo is modeled on the famed Athenian Acropolis.
• View the white marble Sanctuary of Trajan, the Hellenistic Theatre, seating capacity 10,000, and the remains of the impressive Library or Athenaeum, believed to have contained, at one time, 200,000 volumes.
• Head to Izmir, whose ancient provenance suggests that it was an inhabited area in prehistoric times. Currently, Izmir ranks as Turkey's third largest city and second largest port after Istanbul. Izmir is also the area where the poet Homer, author of the Iliad and The Odyssey, is said to have been born in the 9th century BCE.
• Check into your hotel.
• Dinner on your own.

Overnight: Izmir

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Tour the ancient city of Ephesus - home to the largest collection of Roman ruins in the Eastern Mediterranean. One of the most important ancient sites in Turkey, it was also an important city in ancient Greece. See the Agora, the Odeon and the Temple of Hadrian, followed by a visit to the carefully reconstructed façade of the Library of Celsus.
• Walk down the marble road to the Great Theater of the City - in its heyday, an estimated 44,000 theatergoers could be seated there.
• Lunch on your own.
• Return to Izmir.
• Da'at Encounter: Festive Shabbat hotel dinner with representatives and leaders of the local community.

Overnight: Izmir

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Da'at Encounter: Meet and visit with members of Bikur Holim and Beth Israel Synagogues.
• Following lunch en route, drive to Sardis, the capital of Ancient Lydia and the well-heeled King Croesus (560-546 BCE).
• See the famous Temple of Artemis, sometimes called the Temple of Diana. In its day, it was double the size of the Parthenon. Walk the length and breadth of the third century ancient synagogue, thought to be the largest synagogue outside of ancient Palestine.
• Lunch at the famous Ramiz Restaurant in Akhisar.
• Continue to Bursa, the ancient capital of the Ottoman Empire and a key spot on the Silk Road during medieval times.
• Check into your hotel.
• Dinner at the hotel - open buffet meal.

Overnight: Bursa

• Breakfast at your hotel.
• Check out of the hotel.
• Visit the 500-year-old Gerush Synagogue. Constructed by Sephardic Jews from Spain who joined Bursa's historic, Jewish community, it is still in use today.
• Walk the streets of the Koza Han or Silk Bazaar and then visit Yesil Mosque or the Green Mosque, richly decorated and tiled, and the Yesil Tomb, the symbol of Bursa and one of the most beautiful examples of Ottoman tomb architecture.
• Drive back to Istanbul and check into your hotel.
• Festive farewell dinner served at the Bab-I Hayat Restaurant in the Spice Market.

Overnight: Istanbul

• Breakfast at the kibbutz guesthouse.
• Check out and depart the kibbutz guesthouse.
• Explore Safed, a center of Jewish mysticism for hundreds of years, and a contemporary artists' colony, including:
• Guided visits to the Ari, Caro and Abuhav Synagogues with their great stories and mystical messages.
• A stroll through the quaint art galleries and shopping in the artists' colony.
• Da'at Encounter: Participate in a program focused on kabbalah through artwork.
• Continue to the Western Galilee.
• Drive north to Rosh Hanikra, a rock formation 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, and a multi-layered experience from the days of the Crusades through contemporary Israel, including guided visits to:
  • The newly renovated Crusaders' City.
  • The famous British prison used in pre-state days for Jewish and Arab prisoners and the site of the famous prison break re-enacted in the movie Exodus.
  • The Ottoman fortifications around the city.
• Continue to Haifa.
• Check into the hotel.
• Da'at Encounter: Visit a Druse village in the Carmel Mountains for a window into the unique world of the Israeli Druse community, with a home hospitality dinner.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Check out and depart the hotel.
• Drive to Jerusalem via the Trans-Israel Highway for a close up view of the ‘Security Barrier' along the seam zone between Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
• Stop at Mount Scopus to say the traditional “shehechiyanu” blessing, recited upon entering Jerusalem, followed by an introduction to the city.
• Walking tour through the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, for guided visits to some of the sites excavated over the past 30 years, including:
  • The Cardo, a Byzantine street that is now the oldest shopping arcade in the world.
  • The Hurva Square, the central square of the Jewish Quarter.
  • Guided visit through the 2,000-year old Herodian Mansions in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City OR Guided visit to the Davidson Archaeological Park with a special visit to the Davidson Center, followed by a guided visit to the Southern Wall Excavations.
• Visit the Western Wall Tunnel, the underground continuation of the Western Wall alongside the Temple Mount.
• Experience the sites, smells, and tastes of Jerusalem while walking through the Machaneh Yehuda market with lunch on your own.
• Check into the hotel.
• Da'at Encounter: Kabbalat Shabbat services at a Reform synagogue in Jerusalem, followed by a dialogue with Israeli members of the congregation.
• Festive Shabbat Dinner.  

• Early breakfast at the hotel.
• Depart the 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, and the Children's Memorial, with a memorial service (children under 10 will have a separate program).
• Lunch on own.
• Guided visit through the City of David's new excavations, which have redefined the origins of Jerusalem; and possibly wade through the 2,600 year-old-Hezekiah's Water Tunnel in the Kidron Valley (weather permitting, water shoes recommended).
• Return to the hotel.
• Enjoy dinner at Olive & Fish, a meat and fish restaurant, located across from the Liberty Bell Gardens.
  Adults
• Da'at Encounter: An Inside View into the Israeli Political Arena, dialogue with a political analyst.
  Youth
• Da'at Encounter: Special Mifgash with the Israeli youth movement, including a falafel dinner.