Egypt/Cairo
Arrive at Cairo Airport. Our hospitality personnel will
meet you and process your visa, then transfer you to your hotel for dinner and
overnight.
Day
2 Cairo/Pyramids/Sphinx/Memphis/Sakkara
After breakfast, enjoy a full day tour of Cairo. Visit
the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. Continue to the Valley Temple, Memphis, the
old capital of Egypt. On to Sakkara, the Step Pyramids and the Alabaster Sphinx.
Visit the oldest factory for handmade carpets in Egypt where profits are going
towards helping the needy children of Egypt.
Back to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
Day 3 Citadel/ Alabaster Mosque/Khan
el Khalili Bazaar/Museum
After breakfast, we will visit Old Cairo, the Citadel
of Salah El Din, the Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali and the Khan el Khalili
Bazaar, the oldest and largest bazaar in the Middle East. Later in the day,
you will explore the fascinating Cairo Museum, exhibiting the biggest collection
of ancient antiquities, including the incredible artifacts discovered in the
tomb of Tut-ankh-amun in 1922. In the afternoon, visit the church of St. Sergius
(Abu Serga) and the Crypt of the Holy Family beneath it. Continue to the hanging
church (Al Muallaqa) dedicated to the Virgin Mary and visit the Coptic Museum.
Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
Day
4 Sinai/Suez Canal/St. Catherine
Drive to the Desert of Sinai. Cross the Suez Canal.
Continue to St. Catherine oasis at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Dinner and overnight.
Day
5 Mt. Sinai/St. Catherine Monastery/Red Sea/Jordan/Aquaba/Petra
Wake up at dawn for a magnificent experience of climbing to the summit of Mount
Sinai (3,700 steps). See the sunrise from the site where the Ten Commandments
were given to Moses. Walk down to our hotel for breakfast. Visit St. Catherine
Monastery (if open).
Drive to the Red Sea, and cross on a ferry to Aqaba in Jordan, where our Jordanian
guide will meet us. Drive to Petra for dinner and overnight.
Day 6 Petra/Amman
After breakfast walk through the "Siq" (canyon), the narrow entrance to the
hidden Rose City, the ancient capital of the Nabateans. See the magnificent
Treasury, carved in the pink stone, the Roman theater, the Coronation Tomb and
the Palace Tomb. Drive on the desert road to Amman for dinner and overnight.
Day
7 Madaba/Mt. Nebo/Israel/Jericho/Bet She'an/Galilee
After breakfast, drive to Madaba to observe the fascinating mosaic floor with
the most ancient map of the Holy Land. Continue to Mount Nebo, the traditional
burial place of Moses.
Drive to the Baptismal site, visited by the Holy Father.
Continue to Allenby Bridge and cross into Israel. Your Israeli guide will meet
you upon arrival. Visit the ruins of ancient Jericho and view the Mount of Temptation.
Continue north along the Jordan Valley to Bet She'an. On to your hotel in Galilee
for dinner and overnight.
Day
8 Sea of Galilee/Capernaum/ Primacy/Mt. of Beatitudes/Mt. Tabor
Full day following the footsteps of Jesus. Begin day
cruising on the Sea of Galilee in a "Biblical" wooden boat. Visit Capernaum,
the town of Jesus, the Primacy Church at Tabgha and the Church of the Multiplication.
Drive to the Mount of Beatitudes. Experience a delicious lunch of the famous
St. Peters' fish. Drive to Mount Tabor to visit the Church of Transfiguration.
Back to your hotel for dinner and oDay 9 Nazareth/Mt. Carmel/Caesarea/Jerusalem
overnight.
Drive to Nazareth, visit the Church of Annunciation,
the carpentry shop of St. Joseph, and Mary's Well. On to Mount Carmel to visit
the Carmelite Church of Stella Maris. Continue along the Mediterranean Sea to
Caesarea. Visit the Roman aqueduct and theater as well as the Crusader walls
and moat. Continue to Jerusalem via the Judean Hills. Enter the Holy City with
a special ceremony. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.
Day
10 Jerusalem/Mt. of Olives/Old City/Via Dolorosa/Mt. Zion
Full day visit of Biblical Jerusalem. Begin the day
taking in the magnificent view of the Old City from the promenade on Mount of
Olives. Visit the Church of Pater Noster, and the Chapel of Ascension. Walk
through the ancient Jewish cemetery to the Church of Dominus Flevit. On to the
Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of All Nations and Mary's Tomb. After lunch,
enter the Old City through the Lions' Gate. Visit the Pools of Bethesda and
St. Anne's, a well-preserved Crusader church. Walk the Via Dolorosa stopping
at each of the Stations of the Cross, en route to your devotions at the Holy
Sepulcher. Continue to the Zion Gate and Mount Zion, to visit the Upper Room,
David's Tomb and the Church of Dormition. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.
Day 11 Model/Yad Vashem/Ein Karem/Bethlehem
Begin the day visiting the Holyland Model, showing Jerusalem
in its glorious days of the Temple. Visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial.
Drive to the village of Ein Karem and visit the Church of the Visitation and
St. John the Baptist's birthplace.
After lunch, drive to Bethlehem. View the Shepherds' Fields and visit the Church
of Nativity built over the site where Jesus was born. Free time for shopping
for some of the unique olive-wood crafts manufactured in town. Back to Jerusalem
for dinner and overnight.
Day
12 Judean Wilderness/Qumran/Massada/Dead Sea
Free day in Jerusalem. An optional trip will be offered
to visit the Judean Wilderness, Qumran, the fortress of Massada and swim in
the Dead Sea.
In the evening, a special farewell dinner.
Day
13
Free until the transfer to the airport for your flight
home.