Transatlantic Flight • Israel

We will take flights from our home cities and arrive in Israel the following afternoon or evening at the Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.

Israel • Jericho

We will then travel to Jericho and a good night’s rest in the Oasis Hotel.

Israel: Bethabara • Jericho • Judean Wilderness 

This morning, we will journey to the Jordan River Valley and stop at Bethabara, which is important for several reasons. This is the site of the Lord parting the Jordan River for the Children of Israel’s crossing into the Promised Land, Elijah’s translation and ascent into heaven, John the Baptist’s wilderness ministry, and most importantly, the site of the Savior’s baptism. We will then visit Jericho, touted as the oldest city on earth and nearly 850 feet below sea level. We will have lunch and afterward visit the archaeological dig of tel-Jericho, the ancient Old Testament city miraculously conquered by Joshua and the Children of Israel. We will take cable cars to the Mt of Temptation Monastery (Jebel Quarantul), built to remember the 40 days that the Savior fasted in the Judean Wilderness. We will then take a short journey to Wadi Qelt to see the Judean Wilderness, where the Savior spent 40 days with His Father, while fasting, and afterward was tempted of the Devil. Here we will also observe the scene of the parable of the Good Samaritan; and discuss the area where the Prophet Elijah lodged during much of the 3½ year drought he brought by sealing the heavens from rain. In the evening, we will rest and relax in our hotel in Jericho.

Masada • Qumran • Dead Sea

Our morning drive will take us south along the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth’s surface. Here we will take a cable car to the top of Masada, King Herod’s ancient plateau palatial fortress. From high above the Dead Sea, Masada is best known as the location of a Roman siege against Jewish Sicarii in AD 74.  As we drive north, we will stop at Qumran for a walk-through of the ruins of the mystic Jewish sect of the Essenes. Here we will discuss the importance of this unique society and their connections to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Ending this eventful day, we will have the opportunity for one of the most unusual floating experiences of a lifetime at the Dead Sea. In the evening, we will rest and relax in our hotel in Jericho.

Beit Shean • Sea of Galilee • Capernaum • Tabgha • Magdala

Our morning drive will take us north up the Jordan River Valley to Beit Shean National Park, where we will visit the most complete ruins of a Roman city in all Israel, known as Scythopolis. We will learn of the Roman cities of the Decapolis visited by the Savior in His mortal ministry. We will continue north along the Sea of Galilee to the site of ancient Capernaum, where Jesus stayed at Peter’s home during His Galilean ministry, site of many of His miracles and healings, and of His “Bread of Life” sermon within its synagogue. After lunch, if there is time, we will travel to Tabgha, where a mosaic commemorates Jesus’ feeding the five thousand with a few fishes and loaves, and St. Peter’s Primacy, remembering the Savior’s commission to Peter to feed His lambs. Our next visit will be to Magdala, considered to be the hometown of Mary Magdalene, where there are remains of an ancient synagogue and special chapels dedicated to the women of the New Testament gospels. As time allows, we will visit the Valley of the Doves located beneath Mount Arbel, following the path that Jesus took from the Sea of Galilee to the area of Nazareth. Concluding this wonderful day, we will return to our Ein Gev to rest and relax; you may even wish to swim in the Sea of Galilee. 

Sea of Galilee • Mount of Beatitudes • Caesarea Philippi  

Our day will begin with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee followed by a visit to the boat museum, where an ancient fishing boat from New Testament times has been preserved. We will then ascend to the Mount of Beatitudes, the traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount, where we will have the opportunity to contemplate the Savior’s teachings concerning our discipleship. We will continue to travel north to Banias, ancient Caesarea Philippi, at the foot of Mount Hermon, where Peter declared his testimony that Jesus is the Christ and the Only Begotten Son of God. On the Golan Heights, we will stop at Mount Bental to view nearby Syria. We will travel through Druze villages and stop at Birket Ram. At the end of the day, we will return to our hotel at Ein Gev.

Mount Tabor • Nazareth • Jezreel Valley • Caesarea • Jerusalem

We will begin our day traveling to the base of “an high mountain apart” (Matt. 17:1) and take taxicabs to the top of Mount Tabor, the probable site of Christ’s transfiguration during the visit of Moses and Elijah to confer priesthood keys upon Peter, James, and John. We will travel to the city of Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus, where we will visit the Nazareth Village, developed to show life as it existed at the time of Jesus. Here we will reflect on His early life, his  homecoming to preach at the synagogue of His hometown, and enjoy a traditional first-century lunch. Next, we will visit the Church of the Annunciation, built over the traditional site of Mary’s home and the visit from the angel Gabriel, and the Church of Joseph, built over the traditional site of Joseph and Mary’s home after they returned to Nazareth from Egypt. We will drive through Jezreel Valley to the Mediterranean Sea coast for a visit to Caesarea Maritima. Here the apostle Peter taught and baptized the first gentiles to become Christians, and the apostle Paul gave his stirring testimony of Christ before King Agrippa. Lastly, we will ascend to Jerusalem, where we stay at the Leonardo Hotel for our remaining time in Jerusalem. After dinner we will visit the Western Wall as the Jewish people welcome Shabbat.

BYU Jerusalem Center • Bethlehem

We will begin our first Sabbath Day in Jerusalem, arriving early to tour the grounds and then attending sacrament meeting on the Mount of Olives at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies with its auditorium’s spectacular view of Jerusalem. Following our Sabbath worship meeting, we will travel to nearby Bethlehem, where we will have a delicious traditional Palestinian meal. After lunch we will visit the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square to see the traditional site of the grotto in which the Savior of the world was born into mortality. Afterward, we will visit the Latin Shepherds’ Field to contemplate the angelic proclamation given to the shepherds that the Messiah had been born in the City of David. On our return to Jerusalem, we will drive past the Herodion, a mount that served as a fortress for Herod the Great, and where many scholars believe he was buried. In the evening, we will return to the hotel.

Jerusalem–City of David • Old City • Bethany 

We will begin our exploration of Jerusalem with a visit to the Old Testament City of David, which also includes ruins from the time of the prophets Jeremiah and Lehi. We will then enter Hezekiah’s Tunnel and wade through this exciting third-of-a-mile historic marvel that provided water during the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in the time of King Hezekiah and Isaiah. (Those who wish to may choose to walk through the ancient dry tunnel.) At the end of this exciting experience, we will sit around the newly excavated Pool of Siloam and share the account of the Savior healing the man born blind and sending him to go to this pool to wash his eyes. We will orient ourselves from various viewpoints of Jerusalem from Seven Arches Hotel Overlook. We will enter the Old City through Jaffa Gate and walk through the Christian Quarter to the area known as the Muristan, where we will have lunch. After lunch we will visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with its many chapels. We will then walk through the Jewish Quarter to the Roman Cardo, which was originally built by the Roman emperor Hadrian, and see Hezekiah’s Broad Wall, built as a defense against the Assyrian armies. We will drive to the east side of the Mount of Olives to the Palestinian city of Bethany, where we will visit the traditional tomb of Lazarus and site of the home where he lived with his sisters, Mary and Martha. After an exciting day we will return to the hotel.

Temple Mount • Model City and Shrine of the Book • Yad Vashem 

Early in the morning we will enter the Old City to tour the Holy Mount, or Mount Moriah—known as the Temple Mount to the Jews—site of the temples of Solomon and Herod, and referred to as the Haram al Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary by the Moslems—a location of the magnificent Dome of the Rock and the El Aqsa Mosque. At the foot of the Temple Mount, we will visit the Davidson Archeological Center, where we see the ancient temple stones thrown over the Temple Mount onto the Roman road below, and visit the ancient steps and gates that led to the temple. After lunch in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, we will travel to the Israeli Museum to see the Model City, which is a scale model of Jerusalem at the time of the Savior, and visit the Shrine of the Book, which displays items from the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the mid-afternoon, we will travel to nearby Yad Vashem, a premier museum dedicated to the Jewish Holocaust. 

Bethphage • Mount of Olives • Gethsemane • Orson Hyde Memorial Gardens • Mount Zion • Pool of Bethesda • Via Dolorosa  

On this full, but special day, we will commemorate the Savior’s last week in mortality while walking in His footsteps. We begin with a visit to Bethphage, located on the back side of the Mount of Olives, where the Savior began his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem riding upon the foal of an ass. We will next visit the Pater Noster Church, which has the Lord’s Prayer inscribed upon the walls in 140 languages and is the traditional location of Christ’s instructions to His apostles regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of His Second Coming. We will then descend the Mount of Olives to Dominus Flevit, near where Christ wept over Jerusalem. If it is open, we will visit the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene and then continue down the path to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations; At the foot of the Mount of Olives we will visit the Orson Hyde Memorial Gardens with its magnificent views of the Old City and the Kidron Valley. 

In the afternoon we will visit the probable site of the Palace of Caiaphas the high priest, where the Savior was illegally tried after His arrest. The modern church of St. Peter in Gallicantu is the traditional site of Peter’s denial of knowing Jesus of Nazareth. This area of Mount Zion provides an excellent overlook of Aceldama and Hinnom Valley, symbolic of hell in Old Testament times. We will enter the Old City through Herod’s Gate to visit the Church of St. Anne, marking the traditional site of the home of Jesus’ maternal grandparents and where Mary was born. Nearby is the Pool of Bethesda, where on a Sabbath the Savior healed a lame man who had waited years for help into the pool’s healing waters. We will walk the traditional Via Dolorosa, commemorating the Savior’s path during the last hours of His life. We will begin near Antonia Fortress, where Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. According to interest and time, we will visit or point out the following on the Via Dolorosa: Church of Condemnation, Antonia Pavement, Sisters of Zion Convent, and Ecce Homo arch. We will return for our final night at the hotel.

Gethsemane • Garden Tomb • Jerusalem

We will begin this day of special remembrance by entering a private garden on the Mount of Olives in the area of the Garden of Gethsemane. We will conclude our morning at the Garden Tomb. Here we will see Gordon’s Calvary, a proposed site for Golgotha and the Savior’s crucifixion. Nearby we will see a rock-hewn tomb in a garden where here, or somewhere nearby, the body of Christ was interred and from which He arose on that glorious resurrection morn.

Our final afternoon in Jerusalem will be free to shop and visit optional sites (we have a list of suggestions to choose from according to your preferences as time allows (such as a view from the rooftops of the homes in the Old City, David’s Citadel Museum, the Rampart Walk around the walls of the Old City, the Third Temple Institute, the Hurva Synagogue, and the four Sephardic synagogues with their Jewish traditions regarding Elijah’s return, etc.).  After dinner and final packing at our hotel, we will travel to the Ben-Gurion Airport for our scheduled flights home. 

Return Flights Home 

Returning home, we will take with us treasured memories of wonderful experiences in the Holy Land!