Day 1      Saturday,13 February

Daytime flight to the Holy Land. On arrival we will be met and then driven north to our hotel by the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Day 2      Sunday, 14 February

After breakfast we drive to Nazareth and join members of the local Anglican community for Eucharist at Christ Church. Late morning we will visit the Church of the Annunciation, built over the traditional site of the home of Mary and Joseph. We then continue to Joseph’s workshop and the synagogue Church, before breaking for lunch at St Margaret’s hostel. In the afternoon we visit Sepphoris, a large Herodian Roman city, now a fascinating archaeological site. Finally we visit the village of Cana, the site associated with Jesus first sign - the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast, before returning to our lakeside hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 3      Monday, 15 February

A day on and around the Sea of Galilee. We begin the day sailing on the Sea of Galilee and pausing to take the whole scene in. Rejoining our coach we visit Capernaum, the centre of Jesus’ ministry, the church of the loaves and fishes and the church of the Primacy at Tabgha where we will celebrate the Eucharist on the lake shore. In the afternoon after a break for lunch at a Galilean restaurant we drive up to the summit of the Mount of the Beatitudes and reflect on Jesus’ teaching as we look over the scene of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. We end a memorable day renewing our baptismal vows at the site where the River Jordan leaves the Sea of Galilee. Return to our hotel for Dinner and our final night’s stay in Galilee.

Day 4      Tuesday, 16 February

Today we head south from Galilee, but we begin the day with a visit to Mount Tabor. Leaving the lake we drive south across the plains of Armageddon and proceed to the summit of Mount Tabor, the scene of Jesus’ Transfiguration where he was revealed in glory to his closest disciples as he began his final journey to Jerusalem. We follow the same route he took down the Jordan Valley to Jericho. There we view the Mount of Temptation and travel for a closer view on the cable car. We visit the old town of Jericho, seeing the excavations and recalling Jesus’ encounters here with Zacchaeus and Bartimaeus. We then drive to our hotel just outside Jericho and time to relax before dinner and overnight stay.

Day 5      Wednesday, 17 February

A day to relax and enjoy the extraordinary landscape of the Dead Sea and the Judean desert before following the traditional pilgrims’ approach to Jerusalem. In the morning we visit Masada by cable car to see Herod’s impressive fortified Palace on the summit. Then to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947. We will break for lunch there before having the opportunity to bathe in the unique mineral laden waters of the Dead Sea. Then by coach up from the lowest point on earth to Jerusalem, calling at Bethany, the home of Jesus’ friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus before reaching our hotel within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem and dinner.

Day 6      Thursday, 18 February

We begin the day visiting the Mount of Olives, then following the path Jesus took, calling at the church Dominus Flevit and then visiting the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane. Our coach then takes us across the KidronValley and up Mount Zion to visit St. Peter in Gallicantu built over the site of the High Priest’s house and the dungeon where Jesus was held overnight before Good Friday. We also visit the traditional Room of the Last Supper before breaking for an Arabic lunch nearby. In the afternoon we drive to West Jerusalem to visit the Model - A scaled model of the Old city based around the time of Jesus, before continuing to Yad Vashem, the holocaust memorial museum and park in West Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight stay in Jerusalem.

Day 7      Friday, 19 February

The Day of the Cross. Our coach will take us to St. Stephen’s Gate in the Old City from where we will visit the Crusader church of St. Anne by the Pool of Bethesda and the Convent of the Sisters of Zion on the foundations of the Roman Antonia Fortress where Jesus was condemned by Pilate. From there we will follow the Way of the Cross along the narrow streets of the Via Dolorosa to Calvary in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After a break for lunch we will proceed to Bethlehem driving through the enormous nine-metre high separation wall. Here we visit the Church of the Nativity, venerated by Christians of all traditions as the birthplace of Jesus. We will visit some of the remarkable Christian work there fostering reconciliation and a better future. We will stay in Bethlehem for a Palestinian dinner at a local restaurant and opportunity to engage in discussion with local Palestinian Christians, before returning to our hotel in Jerusalem.

Day 8      Saturday, 20 February

After breakfast we will drive around the city walls and enter the city via the Dung gate and if permitted we will ascend Mount Moriah to view the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque. We then proceed around to the Western (Wailing) Wall, the most holy site in Judaism. After a break for lunch we will drive to the village of Ein Karem, the home of John the Baptist to visit the Church of the Visitation. Return to Jerusalem and our hotel in the afternoon. Farewell dinner and overnight stay in Jerusalem.

Day 9      Sunday, 21 February

After breakfast we will join the local congregation at St. George’s Anglican Cathedral for the Eucharist. We then drive down towards Tel Aviv Airport, stopping for a brief lunch break enroute to Ben Gurion and our late afternoon return flight to the U.K.