Itinerary
Friday - Tel Aviv / Caesarea / Megiddo / Tiberias
• CTO's tour guide will pick you up from the specified point in Tel Aviv.
• Visit the port city of Jaffa (Joppa) where we will take a short walking tour in picturesque alleys of the old, fortified town. Pass by the house of Simon the Tanner and marvel at the views from the hill top.
• Drive north along the coastal road - Via Maris, to the archaeological ruins of Caesarea, built by Herod the Great in honor of Augustus Caesar.
• From here we go on to visit Megiddo where the book of Revelations mentions a great battle at the place called "Armageddon", an ancient city inhabited continuously for more than five millennia (6000-500 B.C.).
• Drive eastwards, towards the Sea of Galilee, descending to Tiberias, regarded as one of the four Holy cities in Judaism, where the Jewish Talmud - the primary source of Jewish religious law - was compiled, with tombs of Rabbis scattered across the city.
• Overnight in Tiberias.
Saturday - Sea of Galilee / Golan Heights
• Drive to the southern part of the Sea of Galilee to visit the Yardenit Baptismal Site.
• Visit the sites on the north shore, the stage for many of the events in Jesus' life.
• Drive along the shore of the sea to Capernaum – known as “His Town”, the center of Jesus’ ministry, where he spent much time healing the sick and performing miracles.
• On to Tabgha, the site of Christ’s miracle of feeding the 5,000, visiting the Church of Multiplication, where the mosaic floor depicts a basket with loaves and two fishes and the Church of the Primacy of St Peter, commemorating Jesus' reinstatement of Peter as chief among the Apostles.
• Continue to the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the sea, where Jesus preached the “Sermon on the Mount” and it is believed that he picked his 12 apostles.
• Ascend to the Golan Heights for a panoramic view of the peaks of Mt. Hermon and the rugged Golan plateau.
• Visit Banias (Caesarea Philippi), one of the sources of the River Jordan, where Jesus took his disciples, revealing his purpose and His Church before his last trip to Jerusalem, and where Simon identified Jesus as the Messiah.
• Return to Tiberias for another night in town.
Sunday - Nazareth / Cana / Beit Alpha / Jordan Valley / Jerusalem
• Sail on a boat on the Sea of Galilee to experience the tranquility and scenery little changed during the past 2000 years (subject to conditions and extra fee if available).
• Travel through the Galilee to Nazareth, where Jesus spent his childhood, and the Church of Annunciation, built on the site where archaeologists believe the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary. You will also see Mary’s Well and Joseph’s Church.
• Stop at Cana to visit the Wedding Church where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine.
• Visit the ancient synagogue at Beit Alpha, located at the foot of the northern slopes of the Gilboa Mountains which has one of most preserved and beautiful mosaics in Israel.
• Drive through the Jordan Valley, passing by Jericho, before ascending through the Judean Mountains to Jerusalem.
Overnight in Jerusalem.
Monday - Check-out
• Breakfast in the hotel (included).
• Check-out.
Please note that the sequence of the tour and sites visited may be amended due to circumstances at the company’s or the guide’s discretion.
Tour Itinerary - Galilee Country Break