22 Days | 21 Nights
Welcome to Egypt! You may arrive at any time at your hotel in Cairo. Cairo is a fascinating city and home to the mighty Nile, the longest and the most vital river in the world. In the late afternoon, visit Cairo’s most famous open-air market, the Khan El Khalil Grand Bazaar, located in the old area of Al-Qahira. Here you can buy souvenirs such as silverware, faux antiques, stained glass lamps, incense, and more. Overnight at your hotel in Cairo.
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to enjoy an excursion to Giza Pyramids. Khufu's pyramid is the northernmost and largest of the three. In classical antiquity, it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and is the only one to have survived. Khephren's monument can be easily identified by the casing stones that still cling to its pointed top. The much smaller pyramid of Mycerinus had not been completed by the time of the king's death. Its intended granite revetment was only partially applied. The Great Sphinx is part of the funerary complex of Khephren. Its impressive leonine body with the royal head is sculpted in an outcrop of the native limestone. Part of the face, including the nose, has been deliberately damaged. Proceed to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities near Tahrir Square in Cairo. It houses the world’s largest, most precious, and rare collection of genuine artifacts, over 250,000 piece are displayed dating back to 5000 years. In the evening, board an overnight sleeper train to Aswan. The approximate travel time from Cairo to Aswan is 13 hours.
Arrive in Aswan in the morning. The remaining time of the day you will have a free day of leisure on your own to explore other historical sites, add an optional tour or visit the local market or bazaar in Aswan. In the evening, visit a local Nubian family to have a home-cooked dinner. Overnight at Aswan.
Breakfast at hotel. No other service provided. You will have a free day of leisure on your own to enjoy and explore other historical sites, add an optional tour or you may just relax and stay calm at the hotel. If you opt to visit Abu Simbel for an additional cost, be ready to start your day very early. You will travel 3 hours to go there and explore for about 2 hours. Then travel back to Aswan for another 3 hours. Overnight at Aswan.
Breakfast at the hotel and check-out. Board the felucca boat. You’ll start an overnight trip along the Nile River aboard a felucca or Egyptian traditional sailboat. Enjoy your lunch and be amazed by the beauty of the Nile River and breathe some fresh air. In the afternoon, take a walk in the colorful Nubian village and see how the locals live their everyday life. Enjoy a leisurely dinner and overnight on board.
Breakfast on board felucca and disembark. Drive 3 hours to Luxor where you have free leisure to visit the sites on East Bank. along the way, you have the option to visit the Kom Ombo Temple or the Temple of Edfu. In the afternoon, continue to visit the Karnak Temples, which are the largest structures ever built in the history of mankind. The principal building is that of the god Amun Ra, which is the melting pot of religion and politics. The remaining time of the day is free leisure on your own. Transfer to hotel in Luxor, check in, and overnight.
After breakfast, the tour starts by crossing the River Nile to Luxor West Bank. Pay a visit at Colossi of Memnon. The first monument one encounters on a visit to the west bank of Luxor is the site of the funerary temple of Amenhotep III. The temple itself has all but completely disappeared, but the colossal twin statues of the king, which once stood proudly in front of the entrance to the temple, are still there to greet the visitor. Continue to see the magnificent Valley of the King. The most concentration of royal tombs in Ancient Egypt. It is where cut in rocks tombs for 62 famous kings of the New Kingdom, all are highly decorated and filled with priceless artwork. Afterward, join a local family to have some traditional home-cooked meals. The rest of the afternoon is free leisure on your own. In the evening, hop in again on a sleeper train for your return to Cairo.
Arrive in Cairo. Transfer to Cairo Airport for your flight to Amman, Jordan. Welcome to Jordan! Upon arrival, our representative welcomes you at Amman Airport. Transfer about 50 minutes to your Amman Hotel, check in, remainder of the day is free.
After breakfast, drive southwards via Desert Highway for about 4 hours to Wadi Rum, known also as the “Valley of the Moon”. Hop in a 4x4 and with your Bedouin driver uncover more of the vast desert. The rugged landscape, the changing colours of sands and mountains, the serene atmosphere will make you understand why Wadi Rum is one of the most impressive desert landscapes in the world. The setting had been used for Hollywood movies. You see canyons, red sand dunes, Nabatean rock inscriptions and a natural rock bridge formed over centuries. Check into your campsite, where dinner and the desert night with a hopefully starry sky awaits you.
After breakfast at the camp, head out to hike around the area for about 3-4 hours. Explore some sites with peculiar rock formations and bask in the other-worldly silence of the desert. Take a stop for a tea and have a lunch break. Return to your camp to have a leisurely dinner and overnight at Wadi Rum Camp.
After breakfast at the camp, drive 1.5 hours to Petra, the spectacular rose rock city. Prepare yourself for walking over uneven terrain. Petra is the biggest attraction of Jordan and was first established around the 6th century B.C. by the Nabataean Arabs. Meet your local guide who will give you an understanding of Petra’s history within the next 2.5 hours. Start with a walk to the canyon, the so-called Siq, at its end you see the most beautiful monument, the Treasury. The building rises over 40 meters, and is carved into the sandstone like most of Petra’s architecture. Continue via the Street of Facades, passing by the Theatre to the Royal Tombs. Your guide says farewell. Free time to uncover Petra on your own, climb for example the 800 stairs to the impressive Monastery El Deir. Return along the same trail back to the main entrance. Transfer to your hotel to check in, and overnight Petra.
Breakfast at the hotel. Today you have a free day to explore, enjoy or, hike other trails in Petra. Overnight at Petra Hotel.
After breakfast we drive to Kerak, to visit the famous Crusader castle built in 1132/34 by King Baldwin I. of Jerusalem. Afterward, we drive to the lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea, where you have leisure time at the beach and the chance to float on salty water and try the dark mud on the shores for healthy skin. Continue to Mt Nebo, the place where Prophet Moses gazed at the Promised Land before he died. You visit the old monastery and overlook the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and parts of the Holy Land. After we proceed to Madaba, to view the famous mosaic 6th-century map of Palestine in St. George’s church. Transfer to your hotel in Madaba, and overnight.
Today drive northward for about 1.5 hours to Jerash, the best example of a Roman provincial city in the whole Middle East. The well-preserved ruins had been hidden for centuries in the sand before the excavations started in 1925. Wander along the spectacular Forum, paved and colonnaded streets, the Nymphaeum, theatres, and the Temple of Artemis. Transfer back to your hotel in Madaba and overnight.
Breakfast at the hotel and check out. Head out to Allenby border to cross to Israel. Welcome to Israel! Our local representative will meet you at the gate of the border and transfer you to your hotel in Jerusalem. Remaining time of the day is free leisure at your own. Overnight in Jerusalem.
Rise and shine for an early start of your Jerusalem tour. We enter the Old City through the Lion’s Gate, known also as St. Stephen’s Gate; stopping at St. Anne's Church and the Pool of Bethesda. Then we follow the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross, the Via Dolorosa, ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church is built over the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. In the afternoon, you have free leisure to explore the Old City of Jerusalem or visit the Mahane Yehuda market on your own. Have dinner with a local family in Jerusalem and enjoy some home-cooked meals. Overnight in Jerusalem.
Start the day off with a panoramic view of the city. Drive to the Mount of Olives for a spectacular view of the city and the most important Jewish cemetery. Walk down Palm Sunday Road to the Garden of Gethsemane. We see along the way the Chapel of Ascension, the Pater Noster Church, the Dominus Flevit Church and the Maria Magdalena Church, marking all important events in the life of Jesus. From the Church of All Nations we drive to the nearby Mount Zion. See here the Last Supper Room, the Dormition Abbey and the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, the traditional site where St. Peter denied Jesus three times. Afternoon transfer to Bethlehem, to see the Church of the Nativity, built over the birthplace of Jesus Christ. If you like we shall also visit the Milk Grotto and the Shepherds Fields. Afternoon visit to the holocaust museum Yad Vashem. Return to your hotel in Jerusalem and overnight.
After breakfast at the hotel, pick up from your hotel lobby and head for the desert fortress Masada. Learn about the heroic story of the Jewish fighters who preferred to commit suicide instead of living under Roman rule. Ascend by cable car and tour the mountain fortress built by King Herod, where the zealots of the first century made their last stand against the Romans. Visit the remains of the walls, the palace, synagogue, water cisterns. Continue to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. The water of the lake is so salty, it allows you to float. Transfer and overnight at your hotel in Jericho and have dinner.
Travel to Tiberias, where if weather permits, you’ll take a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Then visit Tabgha, where the Bible says Jesus performed the ‘Feeding of the 5000’ with loaves and fish. See the church and its ancient mosaics that were built to mark the spot of this miracle. A short way up the lakeshore is Capernaum, home to two ancient synagogues and a church said to have been the home of Saint Peter. Sit down to a traditional St Peter’s fish lunch as your leader tells you how the famous fish got its name. Visit the Church of the Annunciation, where Mary was visited by an angel with the news that she would conceive and bear God’s Son. Continue on to the eclectic city of Haifa, where you’ll spend the evening. On arrival in Haifa, take in the views over the perfectly landscaped Baha’i Gardens - with 19 terraces flowing down to a domed shrine, these gardens are considered Haifa’s crowning glory.
In the morning visit to Rosh Hanikra, at the northern tip of Israel's Mediterranean coastline, along the Lebanese border. Take a cable car down to the beautiful sea grottoes, carved out of the soft, white chalk cliffs. Then continue to the ancient port city of Akko. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and we start our day exploring it. The Romans, Ottomans, Crusaders, Byzantines, and British ruled and shaped the town. The main attractions are the Hospitaller Fortress with the underground halls, the Templar Tunnel, Al Jazzar Mosque, Al Umdan Caravanserai, and the Citadel which had been used as a prison in the British Mandate period. It is a great experience to just wander around the narrow alleyways or walk along the city wall facing the Mediterranean Sea. The remaining time of the day is free on ou own. You have the option to visit Bahai Gardens in Haifa. Overnight in Haifa hotel.
Breakfast at the hotel. The first stop is the Mediterranean harbor city of Caesarea, where you’ll visit Caesarea National Park to see the ancient Roman ruins of Herod’s Harbor and the Caesarea Roman Theater, one of the biggest amphitheaters built during the Roman era. Then continue to Jaffa, one of the ancient gateways at the Mediterranean to the Holy Land. Through its port, the Cedar trees of Solomon’s Temple were brought. Your walking tour starts at the Clock Tower and takes you to Mahmoudiya Mosque, and St Peter’s Church along small alleys with artist galleries and craft shops. We drive to Neve Tzedek in Tel Aviv and continue our exploration on foot to see the eclectic Bauhaus style. The influence of the Bauhaus gave Tel Aviv the nickname White City and the reason for Tel Aviv to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You see the Rothschild Boulevard, Rabin Square, the Independence Hall and end the day at the vibrant Carmel Market (Saturdays closed). Overnight at Tel Aviv.
Breakfast at the hotel. Latest check out at 12:00 noon. You may depart from Tel Aviv at any time. End of service.