Marcey and Stuart Goldner Israel Tour | May 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 Jerusalem

• Check in to hotel

• Jerusalem - AirBNB on your own

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - Every morning you will enjoy a delicious Israeli breakfast at your hotel

• Begin your day with The Temple Mount - Also known to Muslims as the Haram esh-Sharif and the Al Aqsa Compound, this hill located in the Old City has, for thousands of years, been venerated as a holy site in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam alike.

• The Western Wall Tunnels - Explore what’s under the Kotel through the Kotel Tunnels Tour. The Western Wall is impressive, but its greatness is truly discovered when you descend underground to the Western Wall Tunnels. The tunnels run along approximately 488 meters (1601ft) of the Western Wall, giving visitors a taste of the challenge that stood before Herod the Great during the biggest of all his immense building projects - the expansion of the Temple Mount.

• Old City Tasting Tour - Walk through the Muslim and Christian Quarters of the Old City seeing the historical and religious sites. See some off-the-beaten track sites in the winding alleyways and enjoy some Jerusalem delicacies. We will have a “taste of history” that interweaves stories and anecdotes, historical information, and, of course, combines the senses of smell, taste, and sound.

• Davidson Center - Walk through the Southern Wall Archaeological Gardens. Get a glimpse of the glory of the Second Temple, the heart of the ancient Jewish kingdom, and the devastation that followed. Visit the Davidson Visitors' Center and enjoy a modern and interactive virtual presentation. The museum presents a taste of the archaeology of Jerusalem from different eras - covering the First Temple, Second Temple, Byzantine, Islamic, and the Crusades periods.

• Recommendation: Dinner on own at Chakra - Chakra offers a rotating Mediterranean menu & Israeli wines in modern surroundings with a garden-style terrace. (meal not included, We can make reservations)

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Masada National Park - Ascend the mountain (by foot via the Roman Ramp or by cable car 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 - 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 'float' in the Dead Sea.

• Return to Jerusalem - And freshen up before dinner

• Recommendation: Dinner on own at The Eucalyptus - The Eucalyptus, a modern Israeli restaurant in Jerusalem, is situated in the Artist Quarter of the city, and a stone’s throw away from the magnificent walls of old Jerusalem. Owned and led by Chef Moshe Basson, Eucalyptus serves a modern interpretation of biblical cuisine. Chef Basson’s passions for biblical culture drove him to research and resurrect recipes, spices, and local and wild herbs that were part of the traditional cuisine, and were neglected and nearly forgotten for centuries. (meal not included, We can make reservations)

• Optional: Tower of David Sound and Light Show - Amidst the archaeological remains in the David Citadel courtyard the story of Jerusalem unfolds through virtual reality images. The Night Spectacular uses trompe l'oeil technology – the stones of the walls and structures fade into the scenes and the viewers are part of a multi-sensory experience.

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Yad Vashem - Visit the museum at Yad Vashem, Israel’s National Memorial to the Holocaust. Tour this memorial to the darkest moment in 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.

• Machane Yehuda Market Tasting Tour - In the heart of Jerusalem sits this bustling, multi-ethnic market bursting with life, art, and flavor. A tasting tour through Machane Yehuda Market is an adventure for your taste buds! Enjoy the hustle and bustle with all the rich fragrances, colors, and sounds this iconic Jerusalem market offers.

• Tour Nachlaot Neighborhood - In the heart of Jerusalem’s downtown, Nachlaot is one of the city’s older and more colorful neighborhoods, retaining much of its original 19th century architecture, narrow alleyways and cobblestone streets. The neighborhood was planned to accommodate the Yemenite, Kurdish, Jerusalem Sephardi, Greek and Galician Jews. The communities had their own synagogues (many still exist today) and were each housed within a walled compound built around a common courtyard and a water cistern in the center.

• Check out Jerusalemite art at Hamiffal - Hamiffal, "The Factory" is an art community that turned an abandoned 19th century building in the heart of Jerusalem into a shared platform for art and culture. This stunning space wraps itself around you with it's complexity and intrigue.

• Dinner on your own - We can make recommendations and reservations!

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Tour the picturesque Ein Karem - 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.

• Recommendation: Lunch at Majda restaurant - Majda, a restaurant in the Jerusalem Hills village of Ein Rafa, is famous for its innovative fusion cuisine, beautiful property and views from its rooftop and 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. (meal not included, We can make reservations)

• Explore Beit Guvrin National Park - The caves of Beit Guvrin hold a rich trove of artifacts that visitors like you have uncovered over the years. Don’t forget to check out the amazing Bell Caves too.

• Return to Jerusalem

• Dinner on your own - We can make recommendations and reservations!

• Jerusalem

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - And check-out from hotel

• Travel north and visit Beit She'an National Park - One of the main pagan towns during Roman rule of the region 2,000 years ago, and in the shadow of an important biblical city, Beit She’an contains a magnificent theater, Roman bathhouses, mosaics and more. It is considered one of the most well-preserved Roman sites in the region.

• Recommendation: Lunch at Rutenberg - Rutenberg restaurant is situated on the banks of the Jordan, next to the old Gesher conservation site. The three bridges over the river and 10,000 years of human history attest to the fertility of the flora and fauna of the Jordan Valley. "We believe in seasonal local cuisine and are constantly in the process of discovering the region." (meal not included, We can make reservations)

• Continue to hotel - And check-in

• Druze hospitality and dinner - Together with your hosts in their private home, prepare traditional Druze Galilean dishes and then enjoy the feast you create. Learn about Druze culture and history from your hosts and from the food you eat.

• North

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Agamon HaHula - Bikes or Golfcarts - The Hula Valley sits in part of the northern Syrian African Rift Valley which stretches as far south as Mozambique in Africa. Each migration season, over 500 million birds travel through the Hula Lake. This wetland paradise is the perfect stopover for small waterfalls, cormorants, heron, pelicans, raptors, storks, and cranes. Enjoy an early morning ride through the park.

• Hike Tel Dan Nature Reserve - Tel Dan National Park combines a lush nature reserve with a biblical archaeological experience and includes a short wheelchair- accessible trail. At the heart of the park is “Tel Dan”- the capital of the ancient northern Israeli biblical kingdom.

• Misgav Am Lookout - Misgav-Am is the northern most Kibbutz in Israel, just meters away from the border. The Kibbutz’s lookout point provides great panoramas of the Hulah valley, the Hermon, even the Mediterranean Sea, and especially of the Lebanese side of the border.

• Dinner on your own - We can make recommendations and reservations!

• North

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - And check-out from hotel

• Safed - Safed, pronounced Tzfat in Hebrew, 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. Safed’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.

• 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.

• Lunch on own in Akko

• Akko historical tour - 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.

• Continue to Tel Aviv - And check-in to hotel

• Dinner on your own - We can make recommendations and reservations!

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Explore Tel Aviv on your own - Some highly recommended activities, we can book it for you:

• Option 1: ANU Museum of the Jewish People - In June 2021, after ten years of planning and construction, the largest Jewish museum in the world opened its doors. You’re invited to join a fascinating journey that portrays the story of the Jewish people through the generations and up to the present time. The Museum represents all parts of the Jewish people and highlights the creative works and cultural riches of a variety of communities in different periods of history. This story is about all of us and each and every one of us is part of it.

• Option 2: Na Lagaat Center - Nalaga’at is one of a kind non-profit arts and cultural centre that represents a meeting place between deaf, blind and deaf-blind individuals together with the public. Thus advancing the needs and aspirations of each person, from the belief that all men are equal and each one has the right to accept responsibility and contribute to society.

• Option 3: Fashion Tour - The tour addresses the relationship Israeli fashion has with the various aspects of living in Israel including identity questions, sub-groups in Israel, immigration to Israel, wars and cultural life and social entrepreneurship. Meet old and new fashion brands, designers who use ancient crafts and other professionals who use the best technology. We will walk, talk and shop.

• Option 4: Ajami Neighborhood, Jaffa Tour - Tour the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, a predominantly Arab neighborhood in Jaffa, you’ll hear a challenging narrative about the city and its history. Continue your tour through Jaffa, enjoying the beauty of the winding streets and the beautiful port with its biblical reference.

• Option 5: Independence Trail - Inspired by the Freedom Trail in Boston, the new Independence Trail leads to 10 of Tel Aviv’s heritage sites teaching visitors the history of this great city along the way. The trail begins at the intersection of tree-lined Rothschild Boulevard and Herzl Street, home to Tel Aviv’s first kiosk. The trail ends across the street at Independence Hall, where on May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion read aloud the Declaration of Independence as Israel was declared an independent Jewish state.

• Option 6: Neve Tzedek Tour - This is the first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside of Jaffa and currently one of the most beautiful and desired locations in Tel Aviv. It was built by some of the dignitaries of the old Jewish community of Jaffa in 1887. 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!

• Option 7: Rothschild Boulevard - Rothschild Boulevard was one of the first streets to be built in the city of Tel Aviv a little over 100 years ago. In the heart of the “White City”, it is lined with Tel Aviv’s iconic architecture, the Bauhaus style, which led to its recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Many of these buildings have been beautifully restored and now house the offices of financial institutions, creative firms, cafes, and luxury residences.

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Enjoy a day of leisure to explore and enjoiy Tel Aviv on your own

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Enjoy a day of leisure to explore and enjoiy Tel Aviv on your own

• Tel Aviv

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel - And check-out from hotel

• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport

• Farewell - We hope to host you again in our beautiful country!