Israel, Jordan & Egypt Express

Day 1 is arrival day. Touring begins the next day, so you can arrive at any time on any flight to Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv. • Upon arrival to Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel in Tel Aviv. • Evening at leisure. • Overnight in Tel Aviv.

• Meet you tour guide in the morning and set off from Tel Aviv to Masada, Israel’s foremost archaeological park. • Ascend via cable-car for a thorough visit that gives insight to the rituals, politics and culture of the people who inhabited this desert fortress, which was the last stronghold of the Jewish zealots in their war against the Romans. Visit the excavations, Herod’s palaces, the synagogue, bathhouse and cisterns, and enjoy the breathtaking view of the Roman camps and the Dead Sea. • Descend to the lowest place on earth – the Dead Sea, to experience the mineral-rich black mud and to float on its salty waters. • Passing by the oasis of Ein Gedi, proceed through the Judean Desert, ascending to Jerusalem. • Overnight in Jerusalem.

• Start the day at the Israel Museum’s Shrine of the Book with the famous Dead Sea scrolls, then a visit to the beautifully renovated model of the Herodian city of Jerusalem, dating back to the time of the Second Temple. • Visit Yad Vashem the official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953, located at the foot of Mt. Hertzl. • Enjoy Ein Karem; a picturesque village in the south western outskirts of Jerusalem. This small village has great significance in Christian traditions, since this is where according to tradition John the Baptist was born. • Visit Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus at the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square. • Return to your Jerusalem hotel.

• Enter the Old City of Jerusalem where you will see the Western Wall and the actual site of the Second Temple, the Temple Mount. • Walk the Way of the Cross, the Via Dolorosa, to Calvary and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, housing both the traditional site of Crucifixion and the Tomb of the Resurrection. • To the southwest, just outside the Old City, is Mount Zion, with the traditional tomb of King David and the Room of the Last Supper. • Enjoy the spectacular panoramic view of Jerusalem - the holy city for each of the world’s three great religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam, from atop the Mount of Olives. • Visit the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas betrayed Jesus. • In the heart of a neighborhood in downtown Jerusalem, visit Mahane Yehuda to experience the flavors, aromas, colors and the traders' interaction with the crowds, at the largest open market in Israel. • Overnight in Jerusalem.

• Drive from Jerusalem to the Sheikh Hussein border crossing for procedures to enter Jordan. • Proceed to Jerash - city of the Decapolis, located about 45km north of Amman in the fertile heights of the Gilad. Visit the ancient Roman city with colonnaded streets, the baths and the hill of the top Temple. • Drive to Amman for a panoramic city tour of the Jordanian capital including the Citadel and Roman Amphitheatre. • Overnight in Amman.

• After breakfast drive to Mount Nebo, from where Moses viewed the Promised Land. From here you will see the Jordan Valley, Jericho and the Dead Sea. • Continue south along the Desert Highway to Wadi Musa, the modern village of Petra. • Enter the site of Petra and walk, or ride on horseback, to the "Siq" (Canyon). • Walk through the "Siq" to the red rock city, the ancient capital of the Nabateans from 3rd Century BC to 2nd Century AD. • Visit the most interesting carved monuments such as the Treasury (El Khazneh - a tomb of a Nabatean king) then the field of tombs, obelisks and the altar. From this point you can view the whole of the rock city. • After the visit, return to Wadi Musa. • Overnight in Petra.

• After breakfast drive south to the towering mountains and rock formations of Wadi Rum, which mesmerised Lawrence of Arabia.
• Drive through the stunning landscapes in open Bedouin trucks, visiting the Lawrence Spring and Khazali Canyon.
• Drive north to Madaba to visit the remains of the Byzantine church with its ancient mosaic floor map, the oldest surviving original cartographic depiction of the mosaic map of the Holy Land and Jerusalem.
• Overnight in Amman.

• Transfer from your Amman hotel to Queen Alia International Airport, Amman
• Flight from Amman to Cairo.
• Upon arrival to Cairo International Airport, you will be met by our representative who will be holding a sign with your name on, at passport control. Our representative will assist with passport and visa formalities, after which you will be escorted to meet your driver who will transfer you to your hotel.
• Overnight in Cairo.

• Begin the day in the capital city starting with a tour of the Egyptian Museum with the treasures from the Tut-Ankh-Amun burial site.
• Continue to the Citadel to enjoy a spectacular view of Cairo.
• Visit the Alabaster Mosque, which adds a wonderful picture-postcard element to Cairo’s skyline.
• You will be given some time at leisure for shopping in the famous Khan-el-Khalili bazaar which is a labyrinth of cobbled alleyways. This vast bazaar tempts the senses with spices, perfume and glittering gold, silver and brass.
• Overnight in Cairo.

• Visit Memphis, the ancient capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt and home of a colossal Statue of Ramesses II and the Alabaster Sphinx.
• Continue to the “Cemetery City” of Sakkara and view the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, the oldest of all Pyramids.
• In the afternoon you will visit the Great Pyramids of Giza, the only present-day survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
• Nearby, the mystical Sphinx surveys the plains of Giza. The 20m high man-animal Sphinx, created as a “living image of the sun-god”, built by Chephren to guard the entrance to the Pyramids.
• Overnight in Cairo.

• Transfer to Cairo Airport for departing flight.