Itinerary

Day 1 Monday 26 November

TRAVEL TO THE HOLY LAND

We meet at London Heathrow Airport to join an evening flight to Tel Aviv. (EL AL Israel Airlines flight LY318 22:30) Dinner served in-flight and a movie screened.

Day 2 Tuesday 27 November

MOUNT TABOR

We arrive at dawn and on exiting the arrivals hall we will be met by our guide and driven north to Galilee and our hotel on the shore of the lake. The morning will be free to relax. In the afternoon we begin our pilgrimage with Mount Tabor, at the Basilica which commemorates the Transfiguration, where we will celebrate the Eucharist and reflect on the biblical texts. We will return to Tiberias and our hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 3 Wednesday 28 November

CANA & NAZARETH

This morning begins with a visit to Cana, the site of Jesus' first sign - the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast, before continuing to Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation. We will spend the morning in Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up, visiting the synagogue-church, market and the church over the well. We will celebrate the Eucharist and offer special intention for the Shrine at Walsingham, England’s Nazareth. After a break for lunch at the nearby Anglican hostel of St Margaret we return to the Sea of Galilee to the place where the Jordan River leaves the Sea of Galilee, Yardenit, and where there will be the opportunity to renew our Baptismal vows. We then return to our lakeside hotel to view the ancient boat (from the time of Jesus) and the film about its discovery and preservation. Dinner and overnight by the Sea of Galilee.

Day 4 Thursday 29 November

JESUS’ LAKESIDE MINISTRIES

After breakfast we leave our hotel by boat and sail on the Sea of Galilee. We will then drive to the summit of the Mount of Beatitudes, where we will listen to the teachings of Jesus, and celebrate the Eucharist in the open air overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the places where Jesus lived and worked. We then return to the lakeside to visit the Church of the Loaves and Fishes and the Church of the Primacy at Tabgha before breaking for lunch. In the afternoon we drive to Capernaum the centre of Jesus' Galilean ministry to visit this well excavated site. View the House of Peter and a partially rebuilt 4c. Synagogue and foundations of an earlier Synagogue that dates back to the time of Jesus. We then return to our hotel via the excavated site of Beth Saida. Dinner and overnight stay by Galilee.

Day 5, Friday 30 November

JOURNEY UP TO JERUSALEM

This morning we leave the rolling hills of Galilee for Jerusalem. We drive in south westerly direction and then south along the Mediterranean coast (Via Maris) and visit the ancient Roman and Crusader city of Caesarea Maritima. It was here that Peter baptised the first Gentile, Cornelius the Centurion and where Paul was imprisoned before been sent to his trial in Rome. We will visit the city’s fortifications and theatre which has been carefully reconstructed and is used for grand concerts today. Leaving Caesarea we proceed up through the hills of Jerusalem to the Holy City. If time permits we will drive around the walls of the city and proceed up Mount Scopus for a breathtaking view of the Old City and its beautiful medieval walls at Sunset, before proceeding to our hotel within the Old City. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 6, Saturday 1 December

MT OLIVES, MT ZION & BETHLEHEM

After an early breakfast we drive up to the summit of the Mount of Olives and start walking down the to the Church of Dominus Flevit, the site which commemorates the site where Jesus wept over the destruction of Jerusalem, the Pater Noster Church ad finally to the Basilica of the Agony at Gethsemane. We then cross the Kidron Valley to Mount Zion to visit Saint Peter in Gallicantu, the church built over Caiaphas’ house which commemorates Peter’s denial, the Dormition Abbey and the Room of the Last Supper. We then drive through the 9-metre high separation wall into Bethlehem and break for lunch. In the afternoon we visit the Basilica of the Nativity, the oldest church in Christendom, before proceeding to the Shepherds Fields where we will listen and reflect on the Scriptures and celebrate the Eucharist. In the evening we will meet members of the local Christian community and enjoy a traditional Palestinian dinner. Return to hotel.

Day 7 Sunday 2 December

THE OLD WALLED CITY

We enter the walled city by the magnificent Damascus Gate and walk to the Western Wall of the second Temple. If permitted we will ascend the Temple Mount to visit the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque. We will then visit the Crusader Church of St Anne over the Pool of Bethesda. We then continue to the Convent of the Sisters of the Zion built on the foundations of the Roman fort where Jesus was condemned by Pilate. We will celebrate the Eucharist here and open the Scriptures in the place where it happened, before we follow the Way of the Cross along the narrow streets of the Via Dolorosa to Calvary enshrined within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The rest of the afternoon will be free to explore the Old City. Dinner and overnight stay in Jerusalem.

Day 8 Monday 3 December

JERICHO & THE JUDEAN WILDERNESS

This morning we leave Jerusalem and drive down through the Judean hills to the desert oasis of Jericho, situated at over 850 feet below sea level and is the oldest inhabited town in the world. Here we will view the traditional sycamore tree and view the Mount of Temptation which overlooks this green and fertile oasis. We then continue to Qumran to view the recently excavated Essene monastery where the Dead Sea scrolls were found and probably where the scrolls originated. We will break for lunch and the opportunity to bathe in the unique mineral-laden waters of the Dead Sea. Late afternoon we return to Jerusalem for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 9 Tuesday 4 December

EMMAUS & OUR JOURNEY HOME

We leave Jerusalem after a leisurely breakfast and loading our bags onto the coach we drive over to Abu Gosh, the possible site of Emmaus to celebrate a final Eucharist and to open the Scriptures in the place where it happened. After our final act of worship we have an early lunch before proceeding to Tel Aviv Airport and our return afternoon flight to London. For those who wish have the option of continuing their journey to Mount Sinai and St Catherine’s Monastery (for details please see seperate page.)