10 Day Family tour with Petra
Day 1
Tour Tel Aviv visit Independence hall, Aylon institute clandestine ammunition factory, Palmach Museum, Afternoon rest & beach.
Day 2
Check out and head north to Caesarea or Beit She'arim ancient Jewish cemetery (Jewish treasure hunt), continue to explore the ruins of the Crusader city of Acco, from there go north (time permitting) to Rosh Hanikra "grotto's" and to the hotel for the night.
Day 3
Climb the Golan Heights in the footsteps of the Golani Brigade during the six day war but this time in a Jeep. Understand the strategy of maintaining the Golan in Israeli hands, stopping at an IDF stronghold, looking into Syria, climbing on tanks, visiting an ancient synagogue in Katzrin and maybe visiting a local brewery or winery or Olive press.
Day 4
Visit the Hula valley for a wet hike in a tributary of the Jordan river, ascend the Manara cliff by cable car for a spectacular view into Lebanon and rappel down the 120 ft. cliff, then float down the Jordan river by kayak or rafting and conclude the day in the ancient city of Tzfat with its unique synagogues and kabalistic atmosphere.
Day 5
Drive down the Jordan valley towards Jerusalem with a few stops on the way: Beit Alfa ancient synagogue, Gan-Garoo; the only petting kangaroo farm outside Australia. Finally, end up in Jerusalem for a "Shehechianu Blessing" at Mt. of Olives with an introduction to the history of the city and the reason it's so important to the three major monotheistic religions.
Day 6
Full day walking tour of the Old city of Jerusalem. Due to the heat, we will spend a large portion of the day underground visiting the city of David (the original Jerusalem D.C.) and wading thru the 2700 year old Hezekiah aqueduct (water will reach 2 feet), continue underground all the way to the Kotel (Western wall) from a very surprising approach. Then visit a few more amazing places in the Old city: Cardo, Kotel, Davidson center archeological park, the Church of the holy Sepulcher and some more.
Day 7
Morning visit to Yad Vashem, the national holocaust museum & memorial then continue to a real firing range to experience some counter terrorism sessions. If we have time we might enjoy the longest zip line in the country – 450 meters long. Afternoon we will visit the fun Machne-Yehuda food market.
Day 8
Drive down to the lowest place on earth – the dead sea, stop on the way for a beautiful (short) camel ride at "land of Genesis" with Abraham's hospitality continue to the Ein Gedi oasis for a lovely hike and floating in the Dead Sea before taking the cable car up Masada to hear the story of the Zealots that fought against the Romans till the last bullet….
Day 9
Drive down South towards Eilat stopping at the Timna park to see the ancient copper mining, the famous "Solomon's pillars" and some more. On the way possible to do a desert safari & view the desert animals from very close. Arrive at Eilat and check into your hotel hopefully with time for some snorkeling in the Eilat bay.
Day 10
You'll be picked up from the hotel in the morning and transferred to the border crossing. On the other side your Jordanian guide and driver will meet you for a full day tour of Petra, and (in the summer only) a short jeep ride thru wadi Ram (where the movie "Laurence the man of Arabia" was filmed). At the end of the day you'll be delivered back to your hotel or to the airport for an evening flight to TLV.