Luster Israel Trip | October 2023

Activities:

• Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport - Your VIP agent will be waiting to greet you at the sleeve of the plane. After assisting with arrival procedures and collecting your baggage, you will be taken to meet your driver.

• Transfer to Tel Aviv & check-in to your hotel

• Enjoy a relaxed day on your own

• Welcome dinner in a local restaurant on your own - We will be happy to give recommendations and help with making reservations closer to date (meal and transfers are not included)

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Begin with a morning tour of Old Jaffa - Meet your guide at the Jaffa Clock Tower for a two hours opening tour in Old Jaffa.
  Jaffa is one of the most ancient port cities in Israel and the Mediterranean basin. Today, Jaffa is a mixed city, where Jews and Arabs live alongside each other. Tel Aviv, Jaffa's younger sister, was established centuries later, in the year 1909. Though the two were united into one municipality in 1949, each part has retained its unique feel and atmosphere. Jaffa has been regenerated in recent years with the old narrow streets and courtyards becoming a highly popular part of Tel Aviv’s urban tapestry. (Guided morning tour included, transfers excluded on this day)

• Enjoy the rest of the day exploring on your own - See suggestions below (not included, we can arrange)

• Jaffa Flea Market - Wind your way through the Flea Market which features everything from antiques to hip new clothing and design stores, cafes, restaurants, and bars.

• Peres Center for Peace and Innovation - The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation is a leading non-profit and non-governmental organization focused on developing and implementing unique and cutting-edge programs. The center presents the incredible story of Israel, the "innovation nation", and showcases the diverse fields and people behind Israeli innovation. (must book in advance, not included)

• Neve Tzedek - This is the first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside of Jaffa and is now one of the most beautiful and desirable locations in Tel Aviv. It was built in 1887 by dignitaries of the old Jewish community of Jaffa. Looking to head out of the ever-growing and over-crowded Jaffa, they built, what was considered back then, modern and comfortable housing.. In recent years, after a period of neglect, the neighborhood was restored and has become a trendy fun beautiful part of the city and a good place to try some Israeli Gelato!

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Feel the weekend's atmosphere and tour the city on own - Guide and transfers are not included on this day.

• Recommended: Nahalat Binyamin Arts and Crafts Market - An open-air market in the heart of Tel-Aviv that has become synonymous with quality Israeli crafts and folk art. The market is comprised of over 100 stands representing specialty crafts and folk art in virtually every medium imaginable: wood, stone, sand, glass, ceramics, and various metals with most if not all containing materials or themes found only in Israel. (open on Tuesdays and Fridays)

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Drive north and tour Akko Old City and market - Walk through 4,000 years of history in this ancient city and UNESCO World Heritage site. The ancient city of Akko, situated on the Mediterranean coast, is one of the oldest ports in the world, and a city shared by Jews and Muslims. Walk narrow streets past towering ramparts, deep moats, green domes, venerable synagogues, slender Muslim minarets, and secret passageways. Discover the subterranean city built beneath Akko in the Middle Ages by the Crusaders. Learn about the city’s ancient history, as well as its important role in Israel’s modern history.

• Optional: eat lunch at the legendary Uri Buri restaurant (not included)

• Travel to Rosh Hanikra - ("Head of the Grottos"), with the stunning chalk-white cliffs at Israel’s northernmost coastal border. Enjoy the view of the Mediterranean coastline stretched out before you, then take the cable car down beneath the cliffs to the grottos below and tour the system of underground marine caves eroded by pounding waves over thousands of years.

• Lookout over The Bahai Gardens - From the Louis Promenade at the top of Mount Carmel, we will admire the stunning scenery. Nicknamed the Balcony of the Country, a 400-meter long promenade at the top of the Baha'i Gardens offers a view of the entire Haifa Bay, all the way to the border with Lebanon. This impressive spot offers a truly spectacular view, so have a camera ready!

• Travel back to Tel Aviv

• Dinner at a local restaurant - (on own, not included)

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Tour of Tzfat - Spend the morning in Tzfat which sits at a higher altitude than any other city in Israel and has been known since the 16th century as a major center of Kabbala, Jewish mysticism. Tzfat’s mystical aura adds to its special status as one of Israel’s four holy cities, along with Jerusalem, Tiberias, and Hebron. The old synagogues, narrow alleyways and artists’ studios add to the hilltop city’s unmistakable charm.

• Lunch at Havat Rom - 'farm to table' - A visit to a magical organic farm, located on a mountain with a beautiful view of Meron Mountain. This is an agricultural organic farm, where they use ancient knowledge along with modern tools. Trying to find the balance between humans and nature. Enjoy a light meal from the fresh produce and excellent cheese.

• Winery visit and tastings at Tulip Winery - Visit the very special Tulip Winery in Kfar Tikva, Village of Hope. The winery employs the developmentally disabled adults who live in Kfar Tikva and produces excellent wines.

• Alternatively - visit to Sea of Galilee and optional private boat ride in a wooden eco-boat in the Sea of Galilee - (not included)

• Authentic dinner on route

• Travel back to Tel Aviv

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel & check-out - Private transfer from Tel Aviv hotel to BNG Airport.

• Fly from Tel Aviv to Ramon Airport and transfer to Jordan - Assistance at the border is included.

• Private transfer to Wadi Ram

• Wadi Rum - In Wadi Rum you shall pass the famous “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” on your way to the Visitors Centre, where you will have a short stop. Here you will board a local open 4 X 4 Vehicle escorted by a Bedouin guide to take you out into the desert for 3 hours. You will visit the Lawrence Spring, the Famous Ghazaly Gorge with its ancient Rock inscriptions. Lunch Break at a Bedouin Camp. At the end of the tour we drive for about an hour to Petra for check in at the hotel.

• Check-in and dinner at the hotel (included)

• Movenpick Resort Petra

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel & check-out - You can leave your lugguge in the storage room and come back before you need to leave to drive back to Israel.

• Petra - guided tour - Visit Petra, Jordan's jewel, the capital city of the Nabateans. Petra is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face of the rose red stones of the Wadi Mousa Mountains by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. Upon arrival, you will take a horseback ride (optional), and walk through the Siq - the only access to this city.

• Lunch in Petra (included)

• Transfer from Petra to the Allenby border with assistance on both sides

• Private transfer to Jerusalem & check-in

• Dinner at a local restaurant on own - We'll be happy to give restaurant recommendations in Jerusalem (meal and trasfers aren't included)

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Full walking day tour, no transfers included

• Begin with a tour in the newly opened Tower of David Museum and lookout - Start learning about Jerusalem at the Tower of David Museum which has pioneered the use of new and interactive digital technologies, games and apps for children, families and adults that, will orient you to what you will see in Jerusalem the rest of the day.

• Continue to Mount Zion - The traditional site of the tomb of King David, holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. On the ground level are several Jewish synagogues. The second level the contains the Cenacle room where two major events in the early Christian Church are commemorated: the Last Supper and the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles.

• Multicultural tour of Jerusalem Old City - Tour the Old City and meet the people and places that make this place so unique. In the Jewish Quarter, uncover the layers of Jewish history from the time of the First Temple until the present day. In the Christian Quarter, visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and, if conditions permit and you are interested you can visit the Temple Mount holy for the Jewish People and one of the most important sites in Islam. Throughout the tour explore the complexity of a city that is holy to the three major religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

• Lunch break at the Arab Market - Browse in the famous Arab shuk (market) in the Muslim Quarter. Check out the local hummus and sweets, the many stalls selling spices, pastries, pottery, sheepskin, embroidered clothes, and so much more. Meet store owners whose stores have been in their family for generations. (meal not included, guide will give recommendations)

• Take time to reflect at the Western Wall - The Kotel, sacred because it is one of the last remnants of the Second Temple that was destroyed by the Romans. Feel the stones that have witnessed so much in the history of the Jews. Place your special and personal prayer in the cracks of the stones.

• Machane Yehuda Market - Take a taxi or the light train to this bustling, multi-ethnic market. Immerse yourself in the world of Middle Eastern cuisine as you indulge in a tasting tour through Machane Yehuda Market. Learn about the market's rich history, and meet the vendors who bring this place to life, as you experience the vibrant energy unique to this iconic culinary destination. The tour will replace a meal.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Tour of Masada National Park - Ascend the mountain from the east to explore Masada, scene of the epic stand by Jewish rebels at the end of the Great Revolt against Rome nearly 2,000 years ago. The new museum at the Visitor Center reveals the secrets of the daily life of the rebels, the story of the excavations, and how the site became one of Israel’s most important symbols.

• Dead Sea Resort for swim and lunch Hod - Israel’s Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, a stunning, other-worldly landscape of shimmering blue water ringed by bare, orange and yellow hills. The waters of the Dead Sea hold a potent solution of minerals and salts that have strong healing properties. Together with its ethereal beauty, these health-giving minerals make the Dead Sea’s beaches and spas popular vacation spots for Israelis and tourists alike. At one of the local hotels, have lunch and 'swim' in the Dead Sea.

• Optional: bike tour to beautiful secret spots in the shore of the Dead Sea OR Ein Gedi Oasis

• Travel back to Jerusalem & dinner on own

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Enjoy a day to explore on your own - See suggestions below: we can arrange private tours based on your interest (guide and transfers aren't included)

• Mea Shearim tour - A taste of the Ultra-Orthodox world-walk the streets of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, get to know the people, the food, and feel the vibrations of this life. On a busy Thursday night, when people are preparing for Shabbat, gain a more complex appreciation for the people by listening to their music, visiting synagogues, various institutions, seeing unique leisure, fashion, and art this world encompasses, and, of course by eating freshly baked challah.

• Yad Vashem - Visit the museum at Yad Vashem, Israel’s National Memorial to the Holocaust. Tour this memorial to the darkest moment in the world and Jewish history, its children’s memorial, and exquisite gardens. Yad Vashem is an unforgettable place of tribute and remembrance. You'll be guided by a member of the Yad Vashem staff.

• Hebrew Music Museum - Go on a musical journey through the world, across different cultures, historical periods and musical styles. Learn about rare ancient musical instruments, observe and play music.

• Friday night Shabbat dinner (on own) - Optional: join a local family for a traditional Shabbat dinner.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Enjoy a free day to explore on your own - See suggestions below. No guide and transfers are included.

• Israel Museum - Visit the unique collections and expansive grounds of the Israel Museum, the country’s national museum. Linger over the renowned international and Israeli art, the world’s most complete Judaica collections and the charming Billy Rose Sculpture Garden. You can also visit the Shrine of the Book, home to the exceptional archaeological finds of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other rare ancient manuscripts.

• Ein Kerem - Tucked into the hills of Jerusalem is the biblical Ein Kerem, whose name means "the spring in the vineyard." Step into another world while you visit this quaint neighborhood.

• Tour of Bethlehem - The traditional birthplace of Jesus. View the Shepherd's Fields. You still are able to see the soot marks of fires that the shepherds lit to keep warm. Continue to the Manger Square which stands in front of the Church of the Nativity. As you enter the church, proceed down to the Grotto of the Nativity which marks the spot of Jesus’ birth.

• Suggestion: Lunch at Majda restaurant - Majda, a restaurant in the Jerusalem Hills village of Ein Rafa, is famous for its innovative fusion cuisine, beautiful property, views from its rooftop, and for an appearance on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. The menu is full of creative local dishes all prepared by Yakub and Michal, the Arab-Jewish couple who own Majda.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel & check-out - We can offer a late check out for an additional cost OR you are welcome to leave your luggage at the hotel's storage room.

• Free day to tour on your own - See suggestions on days 10 and 11.

• Private transfer to Ben Gurion and fly back home - VIP fast-track assistance is included, your assistant will meet you at the entrance to the airport and take you through check-in and security procedures.

• Farewell - we look forward to hosting you again in our beautiful country