Serby Family Trip to Israel | July 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 (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Explore Jerusalem on your own

• Jerusalem (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Visit City of David - Take a trip back in time through the layers of Jerusalem’s past. It was on this hill where Jerusalem was built 4 millennia ago. Continuously excavated over the last 120 years, discoveries are regularly made. Tour the palace of King David, ritual purification pools, and Hezekiah’s Tunnel built to protect the water supply. Walk through newly uncovered sites and marvel at Central Valley's excavation. See the tour's highlight - monumental foundational stones of the Western Wall which lie at the foot of the Temple Mount. Exit the site onto the magnificent road where the Jewish pilgrims walked, over 2,000 years ago.

• Old City, Jerusalem - Since the 19th century Jerusalem's Old City has traditionally been divided into four quarters; Jewish, Christian, Moslem and Armenian. Walk through narrow alleys, meet people and place to get a better understanding on the complexity of a city that is holy to these three major religions

• Western Wall - We take the time to reflect at the Western Wall – Ha Kotel Ha’Ma’aravi or simply HaKotel. Over generations, Jews came to pray here, as it was the closest they could come to the Holy of Holies on the Temple Mount. When you see the Wall, you aren't just seeing it with your eyes - there is so much more. There are thousands of years and the weight of millions of Jews there. Your eyes may just see giant bricks and people praying, but your heart sees infinitely more. What does being here mean to each of us individually and as part of the Jewish people?

• Explore what’s under the Muslim Quarter 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.

• Jerusalem (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• 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 - 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.

• Jerusalem (on your own)

Activities:

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

• Travel south 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 - 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.

• Beresheet (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Jeep ride in Makhtesh Ramon - Ride through the stunning Negev Desert and get to know the endless variations of the landscape. Explore the area of Makhtesh Ramon and immerse yourself in the details of the land around you.

• Visit the Mitzpe Ramon Visitors Center - Learn the geological story behind this unique and amazing work of nature through interactive exhibits. At the center, pay tribute to Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first and only astronaut, who tragically died on a space mission in 2003.
  
  View the crater from a stunning vantage point, at the heart of the promenade which stretches along the Ramon Crater mouth. There is a hanging terrace providing a marvelous observation point over the depths of the crater.

• Bedouin Hospitality - Learn about the Bedouin heritage, lifestyle, and culture firsthand from a local. Experience the Bedouin's famous customs of hospitality over traditional coffee, tea, and conversation, followed by “hafla” dinner.

• Optional: Stargazing - When night falls in the desert, a whole new setting is revealed, and what could be better than stargazing in Mitzpe Ramon, one of the best locations to do this in Israel (and in the world!)?

• Beresheet (on your own)

Activities:

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

• Hike in the Ein Avdat National Park, in a beautiful canyon in the Negev desert - The Ein Avdat Spring flows down in a waterfall towards an 8-meter deep pool of water. The canyon is part of Nahal Zin, which is the longest wadi or dry riverbed in the Negev desert.

• Travel north - And lunch en route

• Tour 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.

• Check in to hotel

• North (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Morning Hike in 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.

• ATV Ride In the Golan - Explore the Golan with its scenic views, fresh air and excellent routes, and varied terrain. You'll be in the driver's seat!

• Mount Bental - Drive to Mount Bental for a geopolitical discussion overlooking the Israeli-Syrian border. The Golan Heights are a geological and biogeographical region and is a plateau formed by a volcanic action.

• Druze Cooking Workshop and Meal - 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 (on your own)

Activities:

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

• 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.

• 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.

• Lunch on own in Akko

• Caesarea National Park - On the Mediterranean coast, Caesarea National Park is one of Israel’s most impressive archeological sites. Here, amazing ancient harbor ruins, beautiful beaches, and impressive modern residences sit side-by-side. The city was initially built by King Herod in the 1st century BC, who dreamt of a major seaport to connect the Province of Judea with Rome. For this purpose, the king's men designed an entirely artificial harbor that was in use for about a millennium. Caesarea became a central city in Roman and Byzantine times as can be seen from the massive archeological remains on site. View the spectacular Roman amphitheater, still used today as a performance venue, as well as the hippodrome that held 20,000 spectators for chariot races.

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

• Tel Aviv (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• 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.

• Tour 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, but the two were united into one municipality in 1949, yet each part kept 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.

• Lunch on own at 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.

• Neve Tzedek - 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!

• Tel Aviv (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• 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.

• Levinsky Market Tasting Tour - The Levinsky Market specializes in spices and Mediterranean delicacies. It is, in many ways, the best market in Tel Aviv, known for its variety, freshness, and special atmosphere. Whether you are looking for a rare Indian spice or some good quality saffron - this is the place. Shops offer a cornucopia of excellent cheeses, smoked fish, wines, and other delicacies. Tour the market and have "tastings" throughout.

• Graffiti Tour - Explore Florentine through an urban graffiti tour. Who are the people going out at night and changing the face of the neighborhood? What stories do these images and words tell us about the people living here? What is unique about graffiti in Israel and in Tel Aviv specifically? We will walk through Florentine, the neighborhood of Tel Aviv best-known for graffiti art, to answer these questions and many more during this dynamic and inquisitive tour.

• Tel Aviv (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Explore Tel Aviv on your own

• Tel Aviv (on your own)

Activities:

• Breakfast at your hotel

• Explore Tel Aviv on your own

• Tel Aviv (on your own)

Activities:

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

• Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport

• Farewell - Safe travels! we hope to host you again in our beautiful country!