Timeless Egypt, Israel & Jordan (EIJ1)

Flight from Toronto to Cairo.

Upon arrival at Cairo airport, you will be met by our representative, assisted through formalities and transferred to your hotel.

Visit Saqqara where the famous Unas Pyramid is located, King Zoser Step Pyramid, Mastaba Tomb of TI. In the afternoon, you will visit the great Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, a colossal lion with a pharaoh’s head. Overnight at hotel. (B)

Enjoy a day of leisure in Cairo. Optional tours available. Overnight at your hotel. (B)

Transfer to the airport for your flight from Cairo to Luxor. The town of Luxor is located in Upper Egypt and lies on the right bank of the Nile. Upon arrival in Luxor, transfer to your Nile cruise for embarkation.
In the afternoon, visit the great Luxor Temple and the magnificent Karnak Temple of Amun with its famous Hypostyle Hall, the Statue of Ramses II, the Obelisk of Queen Hatsheput. Even in the time of the Pharaohs, this great temple was regarded as the finest creation of an abounding in architectural accomplishments. Overnight in Luxor aboard your cruise. (BLD)

After breakfast, begin sightseeing in Luxor including the West Bank, where some of the richest treasures in the world are located such as the Tomb of Tut Ankh Amun in the Valley of the Kings. Visit some of these tombs. Continue to visit Hatsheput’s Temple. The temple was built at the beginning of the New Kingdom, in the reign of Queen Hatshepsut. Also see the Colossi of Memnon. Overnight in Luxor aboard your cruise. (BLD)

Visit the Horus Temple of Edfu, one of the three beautiful temples of the Ptolemaic Period and almost perfectly preserved. Sail to Kom Ombo. The two main gods of Kom Ombo were the crocodile-headed Sobek and the falcon-headed Haroeris. The complex itself was built in a unified plan accommodating two temples in a single building: the right side belonging to Sobek and the left to Haroeris. Visit this site offering beautiful murals and reliefs. Sail to Aswan and overnight on your cruise. (BLD)

In Aswan, the Nile parts into many arms divided by immense granite rocks and islands, in particular the island of Elephantine. There is only a small area of fertile land producing what are considered the finest dates in all of Egypt.
In the morning, you will visit the High Dam and the Philae Temple, dedicated to the Goddess Isis, among other deities. In the afternoon, you will sail on an Egyptian felucca to view the Elephantine Island, the Botanical Gardens on Kitchener Island and the Aga Khan Mausoleum. Overnight in Aswan aboard your Nile cruise. (BLD)

Disembark from the cruise in the morning, and enjoy some time of leisure in Aswan. Optional tours to Abu Simbel available. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Cairo. Transfer to your hotel. (B)

Enjoy a day of leisure in Cairo. Overnight at your hotel. (B)

Hotel check-out. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Tel Aviv. Upon arrival at the airport, you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel in Tel Aviv for an overnight. (B)

Enjoy a short visit to the Negev capital. Continue to Masada. Ascend by cable car to the fortress, which was the last stronghold of the Jewish Zealots in their war against the Romans. Visit the excavations, Herod’s palaces, the synagogue, bathhouse, etc. Enjoy the breathtaking view of the Roman camps and the Dead Sea. Descend for a possible “float” in the in the salty water of the world’s lowest place. Via Ein Gedi & Kalya, proceed to Jerusalem for overnight. (B)

Drive to Mt. Scopus for a panoramic view of Jerusalem. Continue on to the Garden of Gethsemane and Church of the Agony. Continue to Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book with the famous Dead Sea scrolls, then a visit to the beautifully renovated Model of the Herodian city of Jerusalem, dating back to the time of the Second Temple. Continue to Yad Vashem, the memorial to the six million Jewish people who were killed in the Holocaust. Return to your hotel. (B)

Walk through one of the Gates to the walled Old City: the renewed Jewish Quarter; the Western Wall, the Temple area; the colorful bazaars; Via Dolorosa and the stations of the cross ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Drive to Mt. Zion and visit the tomb of King David, the Room of the Last Supper and Dormition Abbey. In the afternoon, continue to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity and return to Jerusalem for overnight. (B)

Leave Jerusalem to Beit Shean. Visit the excavations of this beautiful preserved Roman City. Proceed to Tiberias, the old center of Jewish learning. Drive along the shores of the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, to visit the ruins of the ancient synagogue. Continue to a Kibbutz Hotel for overnight. (B)

Drive to the Golan Heights. Visit the former Syrian fortifications, and the Druze villages, Via Banias, source of the Jordan River. Proceed via the Hula Valley to Safed, city of the Kabala, to visit a synagogue and the artists’ colony and then to Nazareth to visit the Christian Holy Sites. Return to the Kibbutz Hotel for overnight. (B)

After Breakfast, drive west to Acre for a visit of the old, famous Crusader stronghold and medieval fortifications. Continue to Haifa for sightseeing, including the Bahai Shrine, Persian Garden and Mount Carmel for a panoramic view of the city and the bay. Proceed along the coast to Caesarea to visit the Roman Theater and the Crusader fortress. City tour of Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Overnight at your hotel. (B)

In the morning, drive to the border to begin your visit to Jordan. You can opt for a flight or a land border crossing. For the land border crossing, you will be dropped at the border crossing – no tour escort is provided (luggage/exit charges are paid locally). Once over the border you will be received on the Jordanian side by our representative and transferred to Amman. Overnight at your hotel. (B)

After breakfast, you will take the Ancient Silk Road. Stop in Madaba, home of the most famous Byzantine Mosaic map of the Holy Places of the Biblical world. Continue to Mt. Nebo with its spectacular view of the Holy Land. Take the King’s Highway to Petra. En route, see Shoback Castle, once a Crusader glory. Once called “Mont Real,” Showbak dates from the same turbulent period as Karak. The castle’s exterior is impressive, with a foreboding gate and encircling triple wall. Overnight at your hotel. (BD)

After breakfast, start sightseeing of Petra’s unique city: Red-Rose City. Start at the gate via a horse ride and make your way through the Siq to reach this city, built by the Arab Nabateans who carved their monumental tombs, palaces, temples and treasury (Al -Khazaneh) from the desert rocks sandstone in its natural hues of rose and gold. After, drive to Wadi Rum – the largest and most magnificent of the Jordan’s landscape, valley of the moon, with sandy deserts and sandstone hills. Drive to the famous Wadi Rum, with its moonlike landscape of Wadi Rum is unique to the world. The desert of Rum is dotted with massive mountains, coloured in shades of red, yellow, and orange. Their hues spill over to colour the sand dunes around the desert and the horizon of its breathtaking panorama. Overnight in Wadi Rum at your camp. (BD)

After breakfast, visit a Bedouin village where you will be taken in a jeep for a tour to explore the desert. Afterwards, begin your drive to Amman for your return flight home with a connection. (B)

** You can extend you stay in Jordan – please discuss this with us.

Flight back home.