Day 1:  USA - Tel Aviv.  Tour members gather at the ticket counter at the airport three hours prior to their departure to Tel Aviv.  Dinner and breakfast are served in-flight.

Day 2:  Tel Aviv - Galilee.  Arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport. Exit the terminal and meet our guide. Transfer to our hotel in Nazareth or Tiberias, with a stop on the way at Caesarea Maritima, if time permits (this depends on your flight arrival time). Dinner and lodging at your hotel.

Day 3:  The Ministry of Christ in the Galilee.  This morning we visit the Basilica of the Annunciation starting at the Grotto (where the Annunciation took place), then we visit the house of the Holy Family under the Church of St. Joseph (Holy Mass at the Grotto of Annunciation). Then, we drive to the Sea of Galilee to visit the Mt. of Beatitudes where our Lord gave the Sermon on the Mount.  Continue to Tabgha to see the splendid mosaic of the loaves and fishes with which Jesus fed the Five Thousand.  Visit the Church of St. Peter’s Primacy and then go to visit Capernaum to see the house of St. Peter and the Synagogue where our Lord preached.  One of today's highlights is a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee.  We finish our day with a visit to the Jordan River to renew our Baptismal Vows, then drive back to the hotel for dinner and lodging.

Day 4:  Cana of Galilee – Transfiguration – Jericho - Jerusalem.  Drive to Cana of Galilee to visit the church of the wedding where Jesus performed the first of his signs, changing water to wine.  Here, couples can renew their wedding vows.  Next we head towards Mount Tabor—the Mount of the Transfiguration—and visit the beautiful Basilica and the rock under the altar where the Transfiguration took place (Holy Mass in the Basilica of Transfiguration).  We spend some time on this peaceful mountain for meditation and reflection.  Leaving the mountain, we drive via the Jordan Valley to Jericho, where we view the Mount of Temptation and the Sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed in order to see Jesus.  We continue our drive up to Jerusalem and check into the hotel for dinner and lodging overnight.

Day 5:  Bethlehem – Ein Karem.  This morning, we drive to Bethlehem to visit the place of our Lord’s birth in the Basilica of the Nativity.  We see the Grotto of the Nativity, the Church of St. Catherine (where the Midnight Mass is celebrated), and the Caves of St. Joseph and St. Jerome underneath the church (Holy Mass in the Nativity Church).  A visit to the Shepherds’ Fields, where the Angels appeared to the shepherds who were watching over their flocks during the night.  In the afternoon, we drive to the nearby village of Ein Karem to visit the birth-place of St. John the Baptist and the Church of the Visitation, where Mary came to visit her kinswoman Elizabeth and proclaimed the ´Magnificat’.  If time permits, we stop to visit the Holy Land Model before returning to the hotel for dinner and lodging.

Day 6:  Introduction to Jerusalem.  After breakfast, we drive to the top of the Mt. Olives for a panoramic view of Jerusalem and a better understanding of its geography and some of the key sites surrounding the area.  Visit the Church of Pater Noster where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, and then proceed down the Palm Sunday route to the Church of Dominus Flevit, where our Lord wept over the city.  We continue our walk on the Palm Sunday route to the Garden of Gethsemane, where we find the Rock of Agony where Jesus prayed before his betrayal (Holy Mass in the Garden of Gethsemane).  Before going back to the hotel, we have free time at the dimly-lit church for prayer and reflection.  This afternoon, we go on Mount Zion to visit the Church of the Dormition Abbey and then the Cenacle, the place of the Last Supper and Pentecost.  Today, we also visit the Church of Saint Peter In Gallicantu and the house of Caiphas, the high priest of the Jews, where Jesus was imprisoned for the night and where Peter denied our Lord.  After this, we return to our Hotel for dinner and lodging.

Day 7:  Jerusalem, The Passion of Jesus´ Last Hours.  Early this morning, we attend the Mass at the Church of Holy Sepulcher.  After Mass we return to the hotel to have breakfast, before leaving to visit the Old City of Jerusalem.  We’ll start at the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, including St. Anne’s Church and the Pools of Bethesda.  From there we continue to the Judgment Hall known as the Antonia Fortress where Jesus was led to be condemned to death by Pontius Pilate.  At that place we start following the Via Dolorosa through the markets of the Old City, praying at the Stations of the Cross:  we reflect on the greatness of His sacrifice, stopping at each of the fourteen stations of the Cross until we reach the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  There, we visit Calvary and the empty Tomb of our Lord and the different sections of the church.  We have free time at the church for prayers and reflection before going back to the hotel for dinner and lodging.

Day 8:  The Wilderness:  Bethany - Qumran – Masada - Dead Sea.  Today we have a rather different experience.  We drive to nearby Bethany to visit the church and the Tomb of St. Lazarus (Holy Mass in Bethany).  From here, we drive to the Dead Sea area to see the caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden.  We also visit the archeological site there and see a three-dimensional movie about the place.  We continue to Masada  to visit the fortress palace of Herod the Great and the last stronghold of the Jewish Zealots.  Then, we drive further south along the Dead Sea and stop for a swim in the mineral-rich waters of the Dead Sea, renowned for its healing properties, before returning for dinner and lodging at the hotel in Jerusalem.

Day 9:  Jerusalem - USA.  Departure from Jerusalem to the Tel Aviv airport for return to North America.  The end of a most enjoyable pilgrimage.

For Biblical & historical backgrounds of sites in the Holy Land, see the Holy Land in Depth at www.questtravelgroup.com.