Day 1      Tuesday, 23 June

TRAVEL TO THE HOLY LAND

We gather at London Heathrow to join a morning flight to Tel Aviv. On arrival we will be met and driven to Galilee and our hotel by the lake. Overnight by Galilee.

Day 2      Wednesday, 24 June

MT TABOR, NAZARETH & CANA

After breakfast we drive to the summit of Mount Tabor, the site which commemorates the Transfiguration of Jesus before Peter, James and John. On descending Mount Tabor we will continue to Cana, the site of Jesus’ first sign, then on to Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up, to visit the Basilica of the Annunciation and the Old Synagogue-Church. After a break for lunch we will return to the lake to visit the new Baptismal site at Yardenit, where we will have the opportunity of renewing our Baptismal Vows, before returning to our hotel. Dinner and overnight by Galilee.

Day 3      Thursday, 25 June

JESUS’ GALILEAN MINISTRY

We start our day at Tabgha visiting the Church of the Loaves and Fishes before continuing to the Church of the Primacy of Saint Peter and the Mount of the Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee. We will then drive to the ancient fishing village of Capernaum, the centre of Jesus’ Galilean Ministry. After sailing on the Sea of Galilee to Nof Ginosar, to see the First Century fishing boat, and a break for lunch we leave Galilee and drive south to visit Jacob’s Well, and from thence driving through the heart of the West Bank to the one entirely Christian village of Taybeh to meet the Parish Priest and see the work he is undertaking in this remarkable village. From thence to Bethlehem, where we will have the opportunity for seeing the stark reality of the vast wall being built around the West Bank.l. Dinner and overnight stay in Bethlehem.

Day 4      Friday, 26 June

BETHLEHEM

This morning we begin with a visit to the Basilica of the Nativity and the Shepherds Fields. We will also visit the Holy Family Maternity Hospital, to learn about its vital work in and around the municipality, before arriving at the Lutheran Christmas Church. We hope to meet the Lutheran Pastor, the Revd Mitri Raheb, author of Bethlehem Besieged (a deeply moving account of the sufferings caused by the Israeli invasion of Bethlehem in 2002), and to see the remarkable work undertaken in the educational centre attached to the church. Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day 5      Saturday, 27 June

MOUNT OF OLIVES & MOUNT ZION

After breakfast we will drive back through the wall and proceed to Bethphage, the start of the traditional Palm Sunday procession on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives. From there we will continue to the Pater Noster Convent, before walking down the Mount of Olives to visit the Church of Dominus Flevit, which commemorates the site where Jesus wept over the destruction of Jerusalem, the Church of All Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane. After a break for lunch we drive to Miunt Zion to see the traditional site of the Room of the Last Supper, the beautiful Abbey of the Dormition, and the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, and where can view the recently excavated Roman pathway and steps that lead up from the Old City. Check-in to our Jerusalem hotel for dinner and overnight stay.

Day 6      Sunday, 28 June

ST GEORGE’S - EIN KAREM

This morning we join the local Christian community for Sunday Service at St George’s Cathedral. In the afternoon we will visit West Jerusalem to see the model of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, and the Hadassah Hospital Synagogue to view the famous Chagall Windows that depict the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Finally we travel to Ein Karem to visit the traditional home of John the Baptist where we will bring the day to a close with Evening Prayer. Dinner and overnight stay at our hotel in the Old City.

Day 7      Monday, 29 June

THE VIA DOLOROSA

We will begin the day at the beautiful Crusader Church of St. Anne overlooking the Pools of Bethesda, before visiting the Convent of the Sisters of Zion built on the foundations of the Antonia Fortress, the Roman Garrison of Jerusalem. View the recently-excavated first century stone pavement (Gabbatha in the gospels) to follow the Way of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary enshrined within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, before breaking for lunch. The afternoon will be free to relax and to explore the Old City. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 8      Tuesday, 30 June

THE DEAD SEA - MASADA - QUMRAN

After breakfast we leave Jerusalem and drive east for a tour of the Dead Sea basin. We proceed down to the shores of the Dead Sea to Mount Masada and proceed to the summit by cable car to visit this mountain top fortress built by Herod. On descending Masada we will break for lunch and an opportunity to bathe in the Dead Sea’s unique mineral laden waters. In the afternoon we will visit Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947, excavations uncovered the nearby Essene Monastery, where the Scrolls may have originated. We return to Jerusalem in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight stay in Jerusalem.

Day 9      Wednesday, 1 July

ABU GOSH - OUR JOURNEY HOME

After breakfast we leave Jerusalem and visit Abu Gosh, a possible site of Emmaus to celebrate a final Eucharist, before heading on to Tel Aviv Airport for our afternoon return flight to London Heathrow.