Depart on your flight from Chicago as you travel to Israel.

Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel-Aviv and travel to your hotel in Netanya for dinner and your overnight stay.

Visit Caesarea Maritima. See the Roman aqueduct and theater at Caesarea, a center of early Christianity (Acts 10), and where Paul was imprisoned for two years (Acts 23:33). Continue to Mount Carmel and recall Elijah’s dramatic victory over the prophets of Baal (I Kings 18). Explore the Nazareth Village, a living presentation of the life, times, and teachings of Jesus. Visit Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus (Matthew 2: 23), and Mount Precipice, where an angry crowd from the synagogue attempted to throw Jesus off a cliff (Luke 5:28 -30). Visit the Franciscan Wedding Church in Cana, where the first miracle of Christ is remembered (John 2). Couples wanting to have their vows renewed may do so here. Follow an ancient caravan route through the Jezreel Valley to Tel Megiddo, an exciting archeological dig with layers of twenty different cities all built on top of each other. Check into your Galilee hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

See Mount Arbel (Isaiah 9:2) and look out over the Sea of Galilee. Explore the Church of the Loaves and Fish at Tabgha, the traditional site of the feeding of the 5,000 (Luke 9:10 -17). Visit the shore of the Sea of Galilee at the Primacy of St. Peter Chapel. Enjoy a St. Peter fish lunch on your own. On the Mount of Beatitudes, contemplate the text of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus preached there (Matthew 5-7). Visit Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, and visit the synagogue built on the site where Jesus taught (Matthew 4:13, 23). Celebrate baptism in the Jordan River at Yardenit. Return to your hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

Walk the streets of Bethsaida, one of the “cities of woe” mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 11, where Jesus chose five of His disciples (Matthew 4:18 -21; John 1:39 -51). As you pass through the Golan Heights, see Mount Hermon. Visit the ruins of Caesarea Philippi, where Peter told the Lord, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!” (Matthew 16: 16). You will also visit the ancient remains of Tel Dan and the altar built by King Jeroboam I (I Kings 12:25 -30). At Kibbutz Nof Ginosar, see the 2,000-year-old “ancient boat,” a rare example of the kind of boat in which Jesus might have sailed. As the day comes to an end, sail the Sea of Galilee on a very special boat ride, complete with an onboard worship service. Return to your hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

See Jacob’s Well in Shechem (Nablus), where Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman (John 4). Visit the baptismal site at Qasr el Yahud, where many believe that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist (John 1). As you stop in Jericho to view the ruins of the city conquered by Joshua (Joshua 6: 1, 2, 20), in the distance, you can also see the traditional site of the Temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1 -11). Enjoy a visit to a Bedouin camp and experience a camel ride. Check into your Jericho hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

Journey to the oasis of Ein Gedi, where David and his men sought refuge from Saul (1 Samuel 23). Enjoy a visit to Masada, the spectacular mountaintop fortress built by Herod that later became the final tragic stronghold of the Jewish rebellion against the Romans. Ride the cable car to the top to explore the fortress and look down upon the remains of the Roman camps and siege ramp below. Take a “dip” in the Dead Sea. Travel “up” to Jerusalem and look out over the city from the Haas Promenade before checking in to your hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

In Bethlehem, gaze out over Shepherds’ Field and visit the cave revered as Jesus’ birthplace (Luke 2:1 -20). Visit the Church of the Nativity, built above the cave and considered the world’s oldest functioning church (Luke 2). Visit Herodion, Herod the Great’s palace fortress and burial site. Stand on the Mount of Olives for a remarkable view of Jerusalem (the Golden City); Jesus stood here before ascending into heaven forty days after His resurrection (Acts 1:9-12). Stop at the Chapel of the Ascension to remember the commission of Christ to His followers. In the Kidron Valley, across from the walls of Jerusalem, pray as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36) by the Church of All Nations, Dominus Flevit Church, and the Tombs of the Prophets Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi. Learn about the Jerusalem of Jesus’ day with a look at the first-century model of the city of Jerusalem, now housed at the Israel Museum. The museum itself contains 10,000 years of archeological artifacts, as well as the Shrine of the Book exhibit that displays the Dead Sea Scrolls containing the book of Isaiah. Return to your hotel in Jerusalem for dinner and an overnight stay.

Walk the Temple Mount (conditions permitting), once the site of the Temple of Solomon (II Chronicles 3), and home to the Dome of the Rock. Walk through the Old City and enjoy the preserved, ancient culture found in the narrow streets as well as the modernized Cardo in the Jewish Quarter. See the Burnt House, where the remains of Jewish families’ homes from the time of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD can be seen. Spend time in prayer at the Western Wall (the only remnant of the Second Temple of Jerusalem), and sit on the Teaching Steps where Jesus taught. Conditions and time permitting, walk to the Eastern Gate through a Muslim cemetery. Stop at the Citadel Museum (Tower of David), which preserves portions of the city’s history from the First Temple period on. Wander through the excavations of the City of David. Walk the steps to the Pool of Siloam, recently uncovered at the foot of the city. Visit the site of King David’s Tomb. Stand in the Upper Room, revered as the place of the Last Supper (Mark 14: 12 - 26). Beneath the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, you can walk through some of the ancient rooms of the house belonging to Caiaphas, the High Priest. Many believe that Jesus was held overnight here before His crucifixion (Luke 22). Return to your hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

Walk the twelve stations of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa and into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Shopping and lunch are on your own in Old Jerusalem. At the Garden Tomb, see the site of Golgotha, share communion together, and experience the reality of the Resurrection (John 20). You will have the opportunity to do some optional shopping in New Jerusalem. Return to your hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

Visit Yad Hashmona Biblical Garden, where you will receive hands-on exposure to ancient mannerisms and customs of the Israelites. Visit Beit Shemesh, which sits atop a hill where the Ark was returned to the Israelites by the Philistines (I Samuel 6). Stop at the Valley of Elah, where David defeated Goliath (I Samuel 17). See the ancient city of Ashdod, where civilization has existed since the 17th century BC, including the Philistines. Enjoy dinner in the ancient port of Joppa, where Jonah embarked and later, Peter. Stop at Simon the Tanner’s House before dinner in Joppa. Transfer to the airport for your return flight to begin.

Return to the USA.