10 Day Pilgrimage to the Holy Land

10 Day Trip for Christian Visitors

A once-in-a-life time opportunity to visit the Holy Land and experience the sacred sites. Your pilgrimage to Israel and Jordan will be an experience you will never forget. You will follow in the footsteps of Christians who have been coming on pilgrimage to this land from all over the world for nearly 2,000 years. Time will be available for both group prayer services and private prayer at some of Christianity’s most holy sites. On your travels you will explore ancient archeological sites and experience natural wonders of the land. You will see the very beginning of the Christian faith and understand how inter-religious tensions have shaped this land for generations. Also, during your visit you will get to experience a taste of the modern State of Israel and explore its culture, society and politics.

Day 1: Monday

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Arrive in Israel
• Hotel Breakfast
• Look out over Jerusalem
• Depart for tour of the Mount of Olives
• Recite the Lord’s Prayer at the Pater Noster Church, where traditionally Jesus is said to have taught this prayer. (Luke 11:2-14)
• Visit the Dominus Flevit from where Jesus beheld the City of Jerusalem and wept as he foresaw its destruction (Luke 19: 37-42).
• Lunch
• Then descend down the mountain to the Garden of Gethsemane where olive trees still grow as in the time of Christ. There enter the Church of All Nations, also known as the Church of the Agony (Mark 14:32-42)
• Return to hotel
• Dinner

Day 2: Tuesday

Overnight: Jerusalem

• After breakfast depart to explore the Old City of Jerusalem – one of the World’s most contested pieces of real estate.
• Enter the old City at the famous Jaffa Gate.
• Then walk to Mt. Zion to see the Room of the Last Supper (Matthew. 26:17-30, Mark. 14:12-26,Luke. 22:7-39  John. 13:1-17:26) and Tomb of King David
• From here walk through the Jewish Quarter down to the Western Wall – the holiest Jewish spot where people can often be seen weeping and placing their prayer requests between the stones of the ancient wall.
• On the way down view the Dome of the Rock standing on the spot of King Solomon’s Temple above the Rock on which Abraham was to sacrifice his son Isaac. (Genesis 22:14)
• See an amazing hidden world beneath the City in the Western Wall Tunnels tour which reveals archeological remains of the King Herod’s Temple renovations from over 2000 years ago.
• Emerge onto the Via Dolorosa
• Visit the Church of Holy Sepulcher, site of the Crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ.
• After lunch visit the Shrine of the Book, located at the Israel museum, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls – the oldest copies of biblical works in existence. We will also get to see a model of the city of Jerusalem, at the time of the Second Temple.
• Return to hotel
• Dinner

Day 3: Wednesday

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Breakfast
• Visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum – the State museum commemorating the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War.
• Lunch
• Head to the village of Ein Kerem on the outskirts of Jerusalem. This village was the birth place of John the Baptist and the site of the meeting between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, mother of John. Have the opportunity to offer the mother’s prayer (Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55) at the Church of the Visitation and the father’s prayer (Benedictus, Luke 1: 68-79) at the Church of John the Baptist.
• Return to hotel
• Dinner and meeting with leaders from the Israel-Asia Center. Learn about the many ties between China and the State of Israel and the state of current relations.

Day 4: Thursday

Overnight: Jerusalem

• Breakfast
• Drive to Bethlehem. See Rachel’s tomb.
• Visit Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity.
• Then travel to the Dead Sea. Enjoy the opportunity to bathe in its famous salt waters, at the lowest point on earth
• After lunch ride the cable car up to Masada, an ancient desert fortress on a mountain, built by King Herod more than 2000 years ago and the last hold-out in the Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire.
• Return to Jerusalem stopping at Qumran (summer time only) where the Dead Sea scrolls, one of archeology’s most important finds, were discovered.
• Dinner at hotel

Day 5: Friday

Overnight: Tel Aviv

• After breakfast and hotel check out, travel to Tel Aviv-Jaffa
• Tour the Jaffa Port, arguably the World’s oldest functioning port. Jaffa has an eventful history. The Biblical figure Jonah set out on his journey from this place, St. Peter stayed here in the home of Simon the Tanner (Acts 10-11) and Napoleon almost destroyed the City.
• Lunch
• Then head to Independence Hall, the small room from where the State of Israel was born on May 14, 1948. Learn about the history of that period and how the modern State came to be.
• Finish your tour of Tel Aviv with a visit to Rabin Square, the site of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.
• Check into hotel
• Dinner

Day 6: Saturday

Overnight: Tiberias area

• Breakfast and depart Tel Aviv for Haifa.
• Visit the beautiful Bahai Gardens which dominate the city.
• Then drive to the Muhraqa on Mount Carmel, the site of Elijah’s battle against the false prophets of Baal (I Kings 18).
• After lunch explore the amazing excavations of Megiddo, the place referred to in the book of Revelations as Armageddon. This is the place, prophesied to be the site of the final battle between good and evil (Revelations 16:16).
• Head to Tiberias and check into hotel
• Traditional Peter’s Fish Dinner

Day 7: Sunday

Overnight: Tiberias area

• Breakfast
• Drive to Nazareth, home of Joseph and Mary. Enter the beautiful Church of the Annunciation, built over the traditional site of their home.
• Continue through the Jezreel Valley to Tabor. Ascend to the top of the mountain from where Deborah commanded the Israelites against the forces of Sisera (Judges 4) and visit the stunning light-filled Church of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13).
• After lunch visit the baptismal site on the River Jordan
• Then drive to Capernaum, home town of St. Peter, stopping in Tabgha, site of the multiplication of fish and loaves (Mark 6: 30-46) at the foot of the Mount of Beatitudes (Matthew 5-7).
• End the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.
• Dinner

Day 8: Monday

Overnight: Tiberias area

• Breakfast
• Visit the Banias Springs, one of the three sources of the Jordan River
• Then explore the Golan Heights
• Enjoy a traditional Druze lunch
• Lookout over Syrian and Lebanese borders in order to understand the ongoing strategic significance of this area.
• Tour the region in a 4×4 jeep driven by former Israeli army soldiers.
• End your day immersing in the natural hot springs at Hamat Gader before returning to your hotel for dinner

Day 9: Tuesday

Overnight: Wadi Musa or Petra

• Breakfast then check out of hotel
• Enter the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan at the Sheikh Hussain Crossing point in the Jordan Valley
• Meet your Jordanian tour guide and drive to the ancient Greek city of Jerash
• After lunch, continue on to Madaba, a Byzantine City and the site of an amazing mosaic map that depicts the entire region in the 6^th
• Close by is the purported site of Nebo from where Moses overlooked the entire Land of Israel and where he died and was buried in an unknown spot.
• Travel to Wadi Musa and check into hotel
• Dinner

Day 10: Wednesday

• After breakfast depart to tour the incredible red-rock city of Petra. Explore famous sites like the Siq, the Treasury and the tombs.
• Lunch
• Drive through the Wadi Musa and Wadi Ram deserts
• Cross back into Israel at the Aqaba-Eliat Crossing
• Fly to Tel Aviv and transfer for international departure flights.

All tours feature

• Chinese speaking guide (or translator at specific sites where Chinese speaking guides are unavailable)
• Deluxe bus transportation
• Full board (three meals a day provided even when not specifically indicated in the itinerary)
• All entrance fees included
• 9 nights accommodation in a choice of 3* or 4* hotels (10 nights for Hong Kong travelers)

Specific program is subject to change at the discretion of the tour operator due to weather, security and other factors.

Summary Schedule