BASIC YSA TOUR ITINERARY

We will visit to the old city of Jaffa, the Mediterranean coast, and to Tel Aviv, the largest Jewish metropolitan area in the world. Travel up the coast to Caesarea, Mt. Carmel, and onto Nazareth, the boyhood home of the Savior. Then a stop atop Mt. Tabor to study the transfiguration before arriving at the shores of Galilee, where we will have accommodations right on the water.

In Galilee we will have an unforgettable experience as we board a boat on the Sea of Galilee and read about the stilling the tempest before viewing the museum of an ancient Jesus’ boat. We will study at Capernaum and the Primacy of Peter then the Mt. of Beatitudes.  We will get sweeping views of from the ancient city of Tiberias, "a city set on a hill", and then on to Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus asked “Whom say ye that I am?”, and as we visit the headwater of the Jordan River and get glimpses of the peaks of Mt Hermon.

We will also travel to the archaeology site of Beit She’an, then along the Jordan River to Bethabara to visit an ancient baptismal site, and finally on to Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the world. We will stop at Bethany, the home of Mary and Martha and tomb of Lazarus. Then we drive south to Bethlehem and Shepherd's Field, to remember the birth of Christ in that sacred city.  Later, we will travel south to Qumran, the home of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  We then take a cable car up to Masada—King Herod’s ancient desert fortress. Then we stop at the beach at Ein Gedi and float in the Dead Sea! Finally we get our first glimpse of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives before sunset.

We will enjoy overnight hotel accommodations just a few blocks from ancient walled city of Jerusalem.  We will enter the through the Dung Gate to the Western Wall, enter the Rabbi’s tunnel, then tour the Pools of Bethesda, and the incredible acoustics at St Anne’s church.  We will also visit the Ophel Archaeological Gardens south of the temple wall, with its ancients steps to Temple Mount. Then on to the old City of David, with its Gihon spring, the ancient Pool of Siloam,  and the amazing experience of wading through Hezekiah’s Tunnel. 

Sacrament meeting at the BYU Jerusalem Center, a tour of  the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden, and walk to the Garden of Gethsemane will be among the highlights of the week.  We will review the last days of Jesus’ life at the House of Caiaphas, the traditional Upper Room of the last supper and the Antonio Fortress where Pilate questioned Jesus.  We will pass through the Damascus Gate to Golgotha and the Garden Tomb to ponder the resurrection in quiet reflection. 

We enjoy some free time in the Old City before we say Shalom to Jerusalem. On our way to Tel Aviv we visit the Shrine of the Book—museum of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and review our Jerusalem experience by viewing the famous Model City display nearby.  If time permits, we will experience Israel's world famous Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial before returning to David Ben Gurion International Airport.