Israel 8 Day Private Family Tour

Arrival in Israel. Meet Noah Tours’ representative who will assist with customs. Proceed to the hotel. Dinner and overnight in Tel Aviv.

Drive north to Caesarea, once the Roman capital of the region. See the excavations of the Crusaders’ city, the aqueduct, and the theatre which has been restored as a concert venue. Proceed to Haifa for a panoramic view from Mount Carmel and visit “AF AL PI CHEN”, the naval museum of the illegal immigration to Israel at the time of the British mandate. Drive to Acre; walk along the old harbor and local market. Continue to the northernmost point of Israel at Rosh Hanikra. Descend by cable into the limestone grottoes. Dinner and overnight in the Kibbutz Hotel.

Drive to Safed, the center of the Kaballa movement. Visit the Joseph Caro and the Ha’Ari synagogues, the most important synagogues in the city. Stroll around the Artists’ quarter. Continue to the Golan Heights: stop at an observation point over the city of Kuneitra and the Syrian territory. Stop at Tel Facher, a former Syrian army camp, and visit the Banias springs. Next, a visit to Tel-Hai: see the “Roaring Lion” monument and learn about the heroic battle of Josef Trumpeldor and his comrades in 1920. Dinner and overnight in Kibbutz Hotel.

Drive to Tiberias to visit Rambam’s grave. Proceed to Beit Shean, the biggest archeological park in Israel with beautiful excavations from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Stop at Beit Alpha to see the beautiful mosaic floor of a synagogue from the Byzantine period. Onto Gan Hashlosha (Sachne), where you will have an opportunity to enjoy the water springs located at the foot of the Gilboa mountain, the famous mountain on which King Saul was killed in the battle against the Philistines. Continue via the Jordan valley to Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

At the start of the morning, drive to the crest of Mt. of Olives, where the entire city of Jerusalem unfolds before you. Visit the Western Wall for prayer. Walk along the Cardo, the ancient Roman road, then visit the four Sephardic synagogues restored after the 1967 war in the Jewish quarter. Tour the Western Wall Tunnels. Visit the local Arab bazaar. Walkthrough Jaffa gate to David’s Tower museum and see the ancient remains of the city beginning with the First Temple period. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Visit Mea Shearim and learn about the unique lifestyle of the ultra-orthodox communities. Drive by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and see the Menorah with the Biblical emblems. Next visit the Israel Museum, Shrine of the book where the Dead Sea scrolls are housed, and the new Holyland model – a miniature replica of Jerusalem as it was during the Second Temple period. Drive to Mount Herzl, the military cemetery, and Yad Vashem, the memorial to the Holocaust. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Drive through the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea. Stop at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. Continue to Masada, ascend by cable car, and tour the ancient fortress; visit the remains of the walls, palaces, synagogue, bathhouses, etc. Descend by cable car. Enjoy floating in the salty water of the Dead Sea. Drive back to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for flight.