Itinerary

Day 1 Sunday 25 November

We fly to Tel Aviv from London Heathrow on British Airways, then travel north to Galilee for dinner at the Benedictine-run Pilgrim House, where we are staying.

Day 2 Monday 26 November

We visit the site believed to be the place of the Transfiguration – Mount Tabor – as well as Nazareth, and the site of Jesus’ First Sign in Cana. We visit the Church of the Annunciation, and will also visit local Anglican Christians in the nearby parish of Shefa Amr. We conclude the day renewing our bapitismal vows by the Jordan.

Day 3 Tuesday 27 November

During the day we will visit sites by the Sea of Galilee associated with Jesus’ ministry, including the Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, and the churches associated with the recommissioning of Peter and the Feeding of the Multitude. We will also journey into the Golan, to one of the sources of the River Jordan on the slopes of Mount Hermon, and, as we journey, learn something of the occupation by Israel of this Syrian territory.

Day 4 Wednesday 28 November

We will drive south to the Jordan Valley, briefly visiting Jericho. We then drive to Massada and return to Qumran and the Dead Sea. We then head towards Bethlehem, where we will stay in Manger Square for two nights.

Day 5 Thursday 29 November

We will spend a full day in Bethlehem, visiting the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherds’ Fields, as well as encountering the remarkable work of some local Christian and Palestinian organisations.

Day 6 Friday 30 November

This morning we leave Bethlehem (encountering the Separation Wall and its checkpoints), heading for Bethany and then the Mount of Olives, which we will descend on foot, stopping at shrines and sites until we reach the Garden of Gethsemane. In the afternoon, we visit the Israel Museum to see a model of Jerusalem at the time of Christ, before reaching our hotel in the Old City, where we will spend the rest of our stay.

Day 7 Saturday 1 December

In the morning we will visit the Western Wall, the most sacred place in the world for Jews, before ascending Mount Zion, where we visit the Abbey of the Dormition and the church of Peter’s betrayal of Jesus, St Peter in Gallicantu. In the afternoon we will travel to Hebron to visit the tombs of Abraham and Sarah, and to meet members of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme.

Day 8 Sunday 2 December

In the morning we join the local Anglican community at worship at St George’s Cathedral, before going to the beautiful village of Ein Karem, the birthplace of John the Baptist, where we will remember Mary’s journey to visit her cousin Elizabeth.

Day 9 Monday 3 December

We make an early morning Pilgrimage walking the Via Dolorosa and visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We then hope to visit the Temple Mount, if allowed to do so by the authorities, before In the afternoon taking a tour around Jerusalem with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition.

Day 10 Tuesday 4 December

After a visit to a possible site of Emmaus in the village of Abu Ghosh, we head on to Tel Aviv to catch our afternoon British Airways flight back to London Heathrow.