This tour is available also with private guide. For information call us at 1.877.977.4268
DAY 1 Thursday
FLIGHT
Overnight flight to Israel.
DAY 2 Friday
BEN GURION AIRPORT / TEL AVIV
Arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, where you will be met by IBMT Tours representative and transferred to your hotel. Overnight in Tel Aviv.
DAY 3 Saturday
TEL AVIV
Day At Leisure
DAY 4 Sunday
CAESAREA / HAIFA / ACRE / ROSH HANIKRA
Drive north to Caesarea, once the Roman capital of the region. See the excavations of the crusaders’ city, the aqueduct and amphitheatre which has been restored as a concert venue. Proceed to Haifa for a panoramic view from Mount Carmel and visit “AF AL PI CHEN”, the naval museum of the illegal immigration to Israel at the time of the British mandate. Drive to Acre; walk along the old harbour and localmarket; continue to the northernmost point of Israel at Rosh Hanikra. Descend by cable car into the limestone grottoes. Overnight at a Kibbutz guesthouse.
DAY 5 Monday
SAFED / TEL FACHER / BANIAS / TEL HAI
Drive to Safed, center of the Kaballa movement; visit the Joseph Caro and the Ha’Ari synagogues, the most important synagogues in the city; stroll around the Artist’s quarter. Enjoy a Jeep tour at the foot of the Golan. Continue to the Golan Heights; stop at Gadot overlook, the memorial for the fallen of the Golan, located over former Syrian bunkers; view the monument built in honor of the Alexandroni brigade. Proceed for a magnificent observation point over the city of Kuneitra, and the Syrian territory. Next, visit Tel Hai to see the “Roaring Lion” monument and learn about the heroic battle of Josef Trumpeldor and his comrades in 1920. Meet with a Kibbutz member and learn about their unique lifestyle. Overnight at a Kibbutz guesthouse.
Drive to Tiberias to visit Rambam’s grave; proceed to Beit Shean, also called “Scythopolis”, the biggest archeological park in Israel with beautiful excavations from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Stop at Beit Alpha to see the beautiful mosaic floor of a synagogue from the Byzantine period. Onto Gan Hashlosha, (Sachne) where you will have an opportunity to enjoy the water springs located at the foot of the Gilboa mountain, the famous mountain on which King Saul was killed in the battle against the Philistines. Continue via the Jordan valley to Jerusalem with a stop at Mount Scopus for a blessing as you enter the city. Overnight in Jerusalem.
DAY 7 Wedneday
JERUSALEM: KOTEL TUNNELS / SEPHARDIC SYNAGOGUES / DAVIDSON CENTER / TOWER OF DAVID
Tour the Old City of Jerusalem. Start with a visit of King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion. Walk along the Cardo, the ancient Roman road; visit the four Sephardic synagogues restored after the 1967 war in the Jewish Quarter. Tour the Western Wall Tunnels; visit Davidson Center and walk through the Roman Cardo to the local Arab bazaar. Walk through Jaffa Gate to Tower of David Museum and see the ancient remains of the city beginning with the First Temple period. Overnight in Jerusalem.
DAY 8 Thursday
JERUSALEM: YAD VASHEM / MT. HERZL / AMMUNITION HILL / ISRAEL MUSEUM
(Option for a Bar Mitzvah ceremony in the morning) Following our great breakfast at the hotel will be driving to Mea Shearim and learn about the unique lifestyle of the ultra orthodox communities. Drive by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament and see the Menorah with the biblical emblems. Next visit the Israel Museum, Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea scrolls are housed, and the new Holyland model a miniature replica of Jerusalem as it was during the Second Temple period. Drive to Mount Herzl, the military cemetery and Yad Vashem, the memorial to the Holocaust. Visit Ammunition Hill, a former Jordanian army stronghold, conquered by the Israeli army in the Six Day War and converted into a national memorial site and museum. Overnight in Jerusalem.
DAY 9 Friday
QUMRAN / MASSADA / DEAD SEA
Drive through the Judean Desert to the Dead Sea. Stop at Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea scrolls were found. Continue to Masada, ascend by cable car and tour the ancient fortress; visit the remains of the walls, palaces, synagogue, the bathhouses etc. Descend by cable car. Next stop for lunch and Spa facilities in one of the leading hotels in the area.and enjoy a "Swim" in the Dead Sea. Overnight in Jerusalem.
DAY 10 Saturday
AT LEISURE
Overnight in Jerusalem.
DAY 11 Sunday
JERUSALEM / BEN GURION AIRPORT
After breakfast, transfer to Ben Gurion Airport for departure.
Choose your preferred dates and book your trip today
Still traveling but wanted to thank you for planning a marvelous trip. It is truly a trip of a lifetime.
Best,
Susan Lachtman
The IBMT Bar Mitzvah tour was fantastic! It was the perfect blend of family time and peer group time, of sites with religious/historic significance and just plain fun. The guide was personable and informative, and even the bus driver was great. All the details were attended to and you didn’t have to concern yourself with or worry about a thing. It was a true vacation. We would highly recommend it to anyone. If you are going to Eilat, Petra is a must!
We went on a church group to the Holyland with IBMT Tours and had a great trip, everything was planned for us perfectly. There was over 123 people in four different bus groups and things went smoothly, I thought it was going to be hectic with that many people in the group but IBMT did a wonderful job and made sure the buses did not go convoy, every bus had its own time table and itinerary for the day, our guide Dani was so knowledgeable and loving. We love you IBMT and we will recommend you guys. Thanks for everything you have done for us.
We just returned from Israel on an IBMT Bar Mitzvah Tour for our three grandsons. We had enough family members to warrant our own bus. After checking out many tour companies we went with IBMT and all of us were glad we did. The hotels were fabulous and the rooms allotted even more so. From the INBAL in Jerusalem, KFAR BLUM in the Galilee, the SHERATON in Tel Aviv, to the ROYAL BEACH in Eilat we couldn’t have asked for more. Our meals were equally excellent. Beginning with a welcome reception at the INBAL to the closing dinner at the CANAAN restaurant in Tel Aviv one and all loved them.
It was a busy tour made even more so by my husband who was determined the grandchildren see “everything”. Fortunately for us, we had the best guide when Ornan (from IBMT) gave us GADI. All of the groups loved their guides but Gadi was special. He was able to reach the kids (ages 7-13) as well as the adults. His knowledge, willingness to adjust the schedule, and good nature gave him a soft spot in all of our hearts. He filled in at Yad Vashem when the guide droned on a bit too much for some of us. He searched out a cemetery where a father, grandfather and great grandfather was buried and proceeded to enlighten us on the rituals and customs of a military cemetery. He adjusted our times to include those little extras. When weather precluded the camels, we visited Qumran. After the Bar Mitzvahs, some wanted to walk down Masada - again, no problem.
We loved everything. Friday night dinner with an Israeli family (coincidentally the husband was from Toronto), meeting the soldiers on the kibbutz, the Druze lunch, sampling different foods at the shuk, the bullet factory and on and on. Although the weather was precarious in December, it didn’t stop us and we were able to celebrate Chanukah in Israel...menorahs everywhere, sufganiyot of every kind, celebrations in the street galore.
Would we recommend this tour...without a moments hesitation. We had a family trip of a lifetime. Thank you also to our bus driver Louie, whom we all loved and who got us around safely.
“Gadi” - what else can we say ... g double o - d, j-o-b. Good job, good job. V-e-r-y-n-i-c-e, very nice, very nice.💕
I cannot imagine a better, more organized, more perfect experience! IBMT went above and beyond all expectations!
Loved the trip! The itinerary was fantastic and really kept us moving. We were able to see and do so much. Best of all was our tour guide Natalie. She was very kind, patient and extremely knowledgeable on every aspect of Israel.