With this round trip tour you will explore Israel from a historical, religious, human, geopolitical and culinary perspective, while enjoying the amazing biodiversity and changing landscapes that this tiny country has to offer.
You will stay in hotels in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee and you will tour sites with different guides.
The itinerary below can be customized to your wishes, we have a list of options for day tours to look at.
If you are interested we will be happy to schedule a video meeting with you to hear about your preferences and for you to learn about the local peculiarities and to avoid them having a negative influence on your trip.
Price per person:
$2,900 based on 6 participants
$3,700 based on 4 participants
$5,750 based on 2 participants
A word from travelers that did this tour.
DAY 1 – Transfer airport to Hotel at Sea of Galilee via Nazareth
Your guide will be waiting for you at Ben-Gurion Airport, the largest international airport in Israel and the main gateway to the country.
On the way we will stop in Nazareth, a unique city with Christian legacy, a Muslim majority and located in the Jewish state. World renowned as the childhood home of Jesus, Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel, and an important site for pilgrims and tourists, coming to visit the Basilica of the Annunciation. A bustling mini-metropolis, Nazareth offers shop-lined thoroughfares, stone-paved alleys lined with Ottoman-era mansions, and in recent years, has been reinventing itself as a sophisticated cultural and culinary destination. Everything in Nazareth is open for business on Shabbat (Saturday) and its friendly vibe and stunning location, right in the middle of the Lower Galilee.
You will be sleeping two nights in a garden room in Nof Ginosar Hotel, located in Kibbutz Ginosar at the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Other options are the Magdala Boutique Hotel and The Scotts luxury spa hotel in Tiberias.
DAY 2 – Capernaum, Misgav Am, Birkat Ram, Mount Bental, Golan Heights Winery
Visit Capernaum, Jesus Home Town and center of His ministry. Visit the remains of Peter’s house, the Synagogue where Jesus taught the multitude about the Bread of Life.
Misgav Am is a kibbutz (communal settlement) in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel. It is located on the border with Lebanon and from its visitor center you have a great panoramic view of the Hula Valley, Mount Hermon, the Lebanese side of the border and even the Mediterranean Sea.
Birkat Ram is a large, lake that is located in the crater of a dormant volcano. It is located in a Druze area of the Golan Heights.
Mount Bental, another dormant volcano, is a popular mountain peak, with great panoramic views over Syria. On top you find a now disused Israeli army out-post and it was one of the locations of heavy fighting during the 1973 Yom Kippur war and an excellent location to learn more about geopolitics if you are curious about the Arab-Israeli conflict and military battles.
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Alternative: Christian oriented day tour: Sea of Galilee, Tabgha, Capernaum, Mount of Beatitudes, Yardenit- Baptismal Site |
DAY 3 – Arbel, Bet Shean, St. George Monastery
Close to Migdal/Magdala is the National Park of Arbel, also the name of a vertical cliff towering magnificently over the Sea of Galilee and looking out towards the Golan Heights and Mt Hermon. It received the preservation status as a National park because of its diversity of habitats it contains and its fascinating heritage sites and antiquities found at Arbel. These sites include the Arbel Fortress and the impressive cave village, where historic battles were fought during the days of King Herod (2000 years ago).
Next is a visit to Bet She’an National Park with its spectacular ruins of the glory that was the Roman and Byzantine city of Bet She’an. Rising above them is the high mound on which Biblical Bet She’an stood. Here King Saul’s body was presented on the walls of the Philistine town. This city was ruined in a huge earthquake 749 A.D but restoration work makes it alive again.
Continue south through the Jordan Valley and end the day by overlooking the Wadi Qelt and the Judean Desert. St. George Orthodox Monastery, or Monastery of St. George of Choziba, a monastery located in Wadi Qelt, in the eastern West Bank. The sixth-century cliff-hanging complex, with its ancient chapel and gardens, is active and inhabited by Eastern Orthodox monks.
In the evening you check into Eldan Hotel in Jerusalem. Other options are Brown JLM or Harmony Boutique Hotel, 5* Mamilla Hotel or King David Hotel or the The American Colony, one of the Small Luxury Hotels of The World.
DAY 4 – Jerusalem Old City, Mount Zion, Western Wall Tunnels
Western Wall – remnant of the retaining wall that enclosed the Second Temple which was destroyed in the year 70. To see the rest of the wall’s 583 meters awaits you will go deep beneath the Old City in the Western Wall Tunnels, an incomparable foray into Jerusalem’s archeological past.
Temple Mount – The location of the two Jewish Temples, the head quarters of the European Christian Crusaders and now of the Al Aqsa Mosque and Golden Dome of The Rock Shrine.
Via Dolorosa – the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion
Holy Sepulcher – the Church that commemorates the hill of crucifixion and the tomb of Christ’s burial
Cardo – part of Jerusalem’s colonnaded main street 1500 years ago
Broad Wall – section of the 1st temple wall, built by King Hezekiah over 2700 years ago
One of the Old City’s eight gates, the Zion Gate, connects Mount Zion to the Old City. Zion is one of the Bibles earliest names for Jerusalem, mentioned in the Bible when David first established the city as his capital. The Tomb of David on Mount Zion has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries. In another part of this ancient complex is the Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper.
Across from it is the Dormition Abbey, built in 1898, where Catholic tradition marks the Assumption of Mary.
DAY 5 – Free day no guide in Jerusalem
Options to visit:
Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum
Israel Museum
Machaneh Yehuda Market
Old City Markets
City of David
DAY 6 – Masada, Dead Sea (Ein Bokek Vert Hotel), Qumran (optional)
We begin our day by driving to Masada – this World Heritage site will tell us the story of the Judean kingdom’s sad ending while we overlook the Judean wilderness, the Dead sea and the mountains in Jordan.
We will start by understanding the area’s geography and topography and then hop on the cableway for the 400 meter ascension to the Masada mountain top.
Explore the two main historical eras when Masada was inhabited and learn about King Herod and the great Jewish revolt.
After Masada we continue south to Ein Bokek and visit the Vert Hotel where you can use a heated saltwater pool, two jacuzzi pools, a wet and dry sauna and a sulfur pool.
The hotel gym equipped with advanced facilities as well, but the main reason for this visit is to float in the Dead Sea.
It is optional to stay and relax using the hotel facilities. If not we will visit Qumran and the settlement of the first century sect known as the Essenes, the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
DAY 7 – Tel Aviv Bike Tour 4 hours
In the morning you will leave Jerusalem for Tel Aviv and check in Bobo Rothschild 65, Lily & Bloom or The Vera Boutique Hotel, 5* The Drisco, Carlton or The Norman, another one of the Small Luxury Hotels of The World.
Your guide is waiting for you at the hotel for a bicycle tour.
Tel Aviv is a perfect city for biking, visiting the different neighborhoods, enjoying Bauhaus architecture in the White City, the central part of Tel Aviv, which is a UNESCO Heritage site.
On this tour you visit:
Jaffa
Sarona (19th century German Templers Settlement)
American Colony
Neve Zedek
Rothschild Boulevard
Dizengoff Square
The Tachana (First Railway Station)
Florentine (Tel Aviv’s Bohemian/Hipster neighborhood)
Beach Promenade
DAY 8 – Tel Aviv Food Tour Carmel Market
Your guide will meet you at your hotel and will walk with you to the famous and busy Carmel Market, which is connected to the Yemenite Quarter, one of the oldest neighborhoods of Tel Aviv. Now it is home to people of all ethnicities, but it has retained a unique, village-within-a-city feel with narrow, cobble stone streets lined by small houses . It has often been praised as Tel Aviv’s coolest hangout place.
Total guiding time 3 hours, of which two our tour of smelling and tasting Middle Eastern delicacies like kibe, sabich, Druze pita with labneh and tabbouleh, falafel and malabi desert.
End of the tour is at Carmel Market.
DAY 9 – Free day, no guide in Tel Aviv
Options to visit:
Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art
Sarona
Bauhaus Center
Rabin Center
David Ben Gurion House
DAY 10 – Caesarea, Akko
About an hour drive from Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean coast, you will visit the ancient amazing port city of Caesarea. Judea’s port city was built over 2000 years ago by King Herod. We walk through the ancient theater, the Crusader city and the fantastic aqueduct. We won’t skip the famous “Pilate stone”.
Akko is another amazing port city with a mix of archeology, authentic Middle Eastern markets, the blue Mediterranean sea, and some delicious ethnic food. You will visit a unique underground Crusader city, walk through a recently discovered 12th century tunnel made and used by the Templars.
DAY 11 – Transfer from hotel to Airport
A driver will pick you up from your hotel and bring you to Ben Gurion National Airport.
Airport authorities advice to come to the airport 4 hours before departure.
You will be picked up 4.30h before your flight departure.
Price indication is based, 2 persons per room, on availability on dates in regular season.
Lower price during July 1 – August 31
Higher price during and around Pesach/Passover, Jewish New Year and the Sukkot Holiday (click here for future dates).
Included in this tour
6 days with private driving guide
1 day 4 hour bike tour with private guide , inc. bike rental
1 day 4 hour food tour with private guide, no transportation
2 nights accommodation Sea of Galilee on HB basis
4 nights accommodation Jerusalem on BB basis
4 nights accommodation Tel Aviv on BB basis
Entrance fees to above mentioned sites
1 x Private wine tasting
Dead Sea spa day with lunch
Transfer Jerusalem to Tel Aviv
2 x Transfer Tel Aviv hotel to Ben Gurion International Airport
Not included
Any tour not mentioned in the program.
Lunches & Dinners where not mentioned.
All kinds of tips for guides and driver.
Personal insurance.
Contact us to schedule a video call.