Jerusalem, Masada & Dead Sea, 3 Days

Heading south through the Judean Hills and past the Inn of the Good Samaritan we travel below sea level to the lowest point on Earth. We take a cable car to the summit of Masada, a plateau where King Herod built a palace-fortress over 2,055 years ago. After touring Masada we drive through the desert past the Ein Gedi oasis and Qumran to one of the best Dead Sea beaches. Here you can spend time relaxing and floating in the water. Overnight stay: Jerusalem

In Jerusalem see the city from Mt. Scopus; travel through the Kidron Valley, site of ancient Jewish tombs and enter the Old City via the Zion Gate. See the Armenian Quarter and in the Jewish Quarter stop at the Cardo, the Byzantine-era main street and the sacred Western Wall. Visit the City of David, an excavated 3,000 year old underground kingdom with tunnels hewn from rock that brought water from the Spring of Gihon. Overnight stay: Jerusalem

Visit the places where Jesus spent time on the Mount of Olives including the Church of ascension; Church of Pater Noster and Dominus Flevit. Visit the Church of All Nations and the garden of Gethsemane. See the Pools of Bethesda and walk into the Old City of Jerusalem stopping at the Church of St. Anne and Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Retrace Jesus’ path down the first stations of Via Dolorosa, as the Lord did on his way to Calvary.