Classic Israel

Shalom and welcome to Tel Aviv, a modern and laid-back city on the Mediterranean Sea. Receive a warm welcome by A&K and transfer to your boutique accommodation. After time to settle in, step outside and discover why Tel Aviv is such a fashionable city. Overflowing with restaurants, bars, galleries and a glittering seaside, there’s plenty to see and do.

The Jaffa

Get a taste of everyday Tel Aviv beginning with a visit to ancient Jaffa, one of the world’s oldest port cities with a history that runs through Biblical, Egyptian, Roman and Ottoman eras. It was in the sand dunes just north of Jaffa where the modern city of Tel Aviv was founded a little over 100 years ago.

Continue to Neve Tzedek, the first Jewish neighbourhood to be built outside the walls of the ancient port of Jaffa, which was home to artists and intellectuals 20 years before Tel Aviv was founded in 1909. The area has been reinvented and today is one of the city’s most colourful artistic neighbourhoods teeming with boutiques, restaurants and specialty shops. Take in the eclectic displays at the Ilana Goor Museum, tucked inside an 18th century building overlooking the shoreline of Tel Aviv and the Old City. Named after one of Israel's leading artists, this museum boasts over 500 Israeli, international and authentic works of art alongside Goor's own creations and her personal collection of art and artefacts.

The Jaffa | Meals: B

Head out of town travelling north along the coastal highway to the ancient Roman capital, Caesarea, where Herod laid out a classical city and constructed a revolutionary, artificial harbour. Close to the amphitheatre, view a partial inscription mentioning Pontius Pilate — the only secular reference to his existence. Then, visit the seaport cities of Haifa and Acre, the latter a UNESCO World Heritage Site that dates back to Phoenician and Crusader times. Whilst at Acre, tour the Knights’ Halls, view the El Jazaar Mosque and explore the elaborate covered markets. Drive to your hotel in Tiberias overlooking the Sea of Galilee.

Scots Hotel | Meals: BLD

Discover several Biblical sites today starting with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Stop at Capernaum, where you will see the ancient synagogue where Jesus taught and St. Peter's house, which was later converted into a church. You will also view Tabgha with the Church of Peter's Primacy and the Mount of Beatitudes, the site where Christ gave his famous Sermon on the Mount.

In the afternoon drive up to the Golan Heights, a rocky plateau overlooking the Sea of Galilee and bordering Syria and Lebanon. The Golan Heights is the source of the Jordan River, the home of the Tribe of Dan and has remains dating to the Roman, Hellenistic and Persian periods. Mt Bental overlooks Syria and a landscape that has been the scene of numerous battles spanning many centuries.

Scots Hotel | Meals: BLD

This morning, journey to Nazareth, believed to be the town where Jesus grew up. Visit the Church of Annunciation and the Church of St Joseph, built over the site the Byzantines thought was the house of Joseph. Continue on to Sepphoris, once a great centre of trade, culture, Jewish learning and early Christianity, before driving through the Jordan Valley to Jerusalem. Make a stop at Beit Shean, the biblical Scythopolis, to visit Israel’s best preserved Roman Amphitheatre.

Mamilla Hotel | Meals: BL

A day in the remarkable Old City begins with a dramatic view of this city sacred to so many. Enter the walled old city to experience the Four Quarters of the city - Christian, Muslim, Armenian and Jewish. Start at the Cardo located in the centre of the Jewish Quarter where you see the ancient Roman road and view the unearthed main thoroughfare and ancient marketplace lined with columns. Proceed past the Burnt House, destroyed by the Romans during the sack of Jerusalem in 70AD, to the Western Wall with the Dome of the Rock in the background. After visiting the wall walk towards the Southern Wall excavations to see the Davidson Centre for an overview of the Temple Mount complex.

This afternoon, admire the beautifully simple St Anne’s Church with the Pool of Bethesda nearby. Walk along the Stations of the Way of the Cross, a route walked by pilgrims for hundreds of years, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where you can see the devotion and prayer, by many different denominations, at the site of the crucifixion and the Tomb of Christ.

Mamilla Hotel | Meals: B

Start the day with a visit to Yad Vashem - the Jewish people’s memorial to the six million lives lost in the Holocaust. Spend time in the museum and walk along the Avenue of the Righteous, dedicated to the people who risked their lives rescuing the Jews during the Holocaust.

From here, it’s on to Bethlehem, located in the Palestinian territory, where lunch showcases local delicacies. Visit the Church of the Nativity, which sits over the cave where Jesus was born, and is one of the holiest sites in Christianity. It was originally built by the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century and spared destruction by the Persians out of respect for a mosaic of the Magi shown wearing Persian attire.

Mamilla Hotel | Meals: B

After breakfast, cross the moonscape of the Judean Desert to Masada where you’ll marvel at the ancient fortress built by King Herod. Afterwards, spend some time at the Dead Sea, the lowest land-based point on Earth, where you can take a dip in the ultra-saline waters like thousands of travellers have done in times gone by. Continue to the Qumran Caves, the site where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered in 1947, before returning to Jerusalem.

Mamilla Hotel | Meals: B

Transfer to the airport in Tel Aviv to depart.

Meals: B