Day 3: Start the day at the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book with the famous Dead Sea scrolls, then a visit to the beautifully renovated Model of the Herodian city of Jerusalem, dating back to the time of the Second Temple. Visit Yad Vashem the official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953, located at the foot of Mt. Hertzl. Enjoy Ein Karem; a picturesque village in the southwestern outskirts of Jerusalem. This small village has great significance in Christian traditions since this is where according to tradition John the Baptist was born. Visit Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus at the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square. Return to your Jerusalem hotel.
Day 4: Enter the Old City of Jerusalem where you will see the Western Wall and the actual site of the Second Temple, the Temple Mount. Walk the Way of the Cross, the Via Dolorosa, to Calvary and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, housing both the traditional site of Crucifixion and the Tomb of the Resurrection. To the southwest, just outside the Old City, is Mount Zion, with the traditional tomb of King David and the Room of the Last Supper. Enjoy the spectacular panoramic view of Jerusalem – the holy city for each of the world’s three great religions – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, from atop the Mount of Olives. Visit the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas betrayed Jesus. In the heart of a neighborhood in downtown Jerusalem, visit Mahane Yehuda to experience the flavors, aromas, colors and the traders’ interaction with the crowds, at the largest open market in Israel.
Day 5: Leave Jerusalem and drive north passing by Jericho, the oldest city in the world. Travel through the Jordan Valley and the new settlements to Beit Shean, and visit the excavations of this beautifully preserved Roman City. On to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation and Christian holy sites. Proceed to Safed, city of the Kabbalah and center of Jewish mysticism, to visit the beautiful streets of the artists’ colony. Overnight in a kibbutz hotel in the Galilee.