14 days: Tour of Israel and Jordan in two weeks

Highlights

Itinerary

This is the brief itinerary of the trip, day by day : 

Day 1: Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport
Day 2: Tel Aviv – Jaffa – Caesarea – Haifa – San Juan de Acre – Nazareth
Day 3: Nazareth – Sea of Galilee – Tabgha – Mount of Beatitudes – Capernaum – Nazareth
Day 4: Nazareth – Cana – Mount Tabor – Jericho – Jerusalem
Day 5: Jerusalem
Day 6: Jerusalem (Old City) – Bethlehem – Herodium – Jerusalem
Day 7: Jerusalem – Masada – Qumran – Ein Gedi – Jerusalem
Day 8: Jerusalem – Allenby border / Shaikh Hussain Bridge - Jerash – Ajloun Castle – Amman
Day 9: Amman – Madaba – Mount Nebo – Karak – Little Petra – Petra
Day 10: Petra
Day 11: Petra – Wadi Rum – Dead Sea
Day 12: Dead Sea – Desert Castles – Amman
Day 13: Amman –  – Allenby border / Shaikh Hussain Bridge -  Tel Aviv
Day 14: Tel Aviv – Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport

This is the detailed itinerary of the trip, day by day : 

Day 1: Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport - Tel Aviv
The first day of this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan Its objective is to arrive and rest from the plane trip. For this, our staff will receive you at the Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport and will give you assistance, and then make the transfer by private vehicle to the hotel. The arrival will be already at night, so there will only be time to rest in the rooms, leaving for the next day the first visits of the circuit.

Summary of the day :
Meeting and assistance at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport
Border formalities
Transfer to the hotel by private vehicle with driver
Overnight in hotel in Tel Aviv

Day 2: Tel Aviv - Jaffa - Caesarea - Haifa - Saint John of Acre - Nazareth
This two-week tour of Israel and Jordan Get going, as far as cultural visits are concerned, on this second day. After having a buffet breakfast at the hotel (as will happen in the rest of the trip), we will move to Jaffa, in the south of Tel Aviv.

Jaffa (Jaffa in Hebrew) is a coastal neighbourhood that opens onto the Mediterranean Sea and is considered one of the oldest ports in the world. Until the mid-twentieth century it was an independent municipality, but since then it forms the same entity and the same urban conglomerate with Tel Aviv, which place it as the second in terms of number of inhabitants. Despite this, its streets and its port continue to exude a very picturesque air, with constructions made of stone ashlars, which in some cases have several thousand years of history. The castle located in the upper part offers privileged panoramic views of the port, and the church of San Pedro is an elegant neoclassical building with which we will open our mouths as far as visiting Christian temples is concerned.

Next, we will move north, to another maritime settlement with more than 2,000 years of history: Caesarea, an enclave founded by Herod the Great that overtook Jaffa and of which there are still important archaeological and monumental vestiges. Among them, an aqueduct, a spectacular theater and a circus stand out. In addition, there are remains of later buildings made by Byzantines, Arabs and, above all, Crusaders, among others. The latter made an important fortification of the place, which as a whole forms the Caesarea National Park.

Nearby is the city of Haifa, the third largest in the country and scattered largely on hills that rise in front of the sea. It is what is known as Mount Carmel and, in one of them, is currently the monastery of Stella Maris, built on the cave where it is believed that the prophet Elijah could dwell. In addition, it is the home of the Virgen del Carmen, one of the most venerated invocations of Mary in the world, especially since the establishment of the religious order of the Carmelites, since the twelfth century. In addition, Mount Carmel is home to another religious attraction: the Bahai Gardens, a sacred place for the Baha’is, where the slope of the hill has been used to materialize simply spectacular terrace gardens, with a viewpoint that offers amazing views. For this, and for important discoveries for human evolution, Mount Carmel and this Baha’i site are a World Heritage Site.

The next visit of the day is, precisely, another place declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO: Acre (Akko in Hebrew). Its historic centre is really picturesque and the most iconic space is the underground fortress, built by the Hospitaller Order in the twelfth century, in the context of the European crusades to create the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem. In this fortress there are galleries and vaulted rooms among which the Hall of the Knights stands out.

And with this last and impressive visit, we will travel by road to our hotel in Nazareth, a town that we will discover the next day. In the hotel facilities dinner will be taken, the first of this great two-week, all-inclusive tour of Israel and Jordan.

Summary of the day
Visit of Jaffa
Road trip to Caesarea:
Visit of Caesarea National Park (archaeological and monumental site)
Road trip to Haifa. Visits on Mount Carmel:
Monastery of Stella Maris
Baha’i Gardens
Road trip to Acre:
Visit of the old town and the Crusader fortification
Transfer to Nazareth
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast at hotel in Tel Aviv
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel in Nazareth

Day 3: Nazareth - Sea of Galilee - Tabgha - Mount of Beatitudes - Capernaum - Nazareth
On a two-week tour of Israel and Jordan, the life and work of Jesus will continually come up. But it is this third day of travel where he reaches more prominence, since today’s itinerary covers some of the most important places of his life, both in the town of Nazareth and in the Sea of Galilee and its surroundings.

Therefore, we will take our batteries with the hotel’s breakfast buffet and leave by road to the Sea of Galilee. This large lake, with more than 50 km of perimeter, is the largest body of water in Israel. And according to the biblical account, this is where Jesus convinced several of his disciples to follow him and become “fishers of men.” In this first part of the day, we will take a boat trip, and it will be inevitable to evoke one of the miracles of the Christian Messiah: the one that led him to walk on water.

After the crossing, we will move to several places of great symbolism located on the shores of the north coast, or in its vicinity. For example, to Capernaum, where Jesus Christ began to spread His message. It was an ancient town of which today remain its important archaeological ruins, and in them the House of San Pedro has been identified, as well as a great synagogue, which could also be a place of preaching of Jesus.

Another place we will know on the north coast of the Sea of Galilee will be Tabgha, where Jesus could have worked another miracle: the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, as a memorial church recalls. Another temple of this town is the church of the Primate of San Pedro, where Jesus would have confirmed to this faithful follower his leadership at the head of the Church. Both are recent constructions, from the early twentieth century, but they help to contextualize the biblical passages that happened here. And the same goes for the church of the Beatitudes on the Mount of the same name, in the vicinity, where Jesus would have given the Sermon on the Mount.

To conclude the day, we will return to Nazareth, but with enough time to visit the town, where Jesus Christ spent his childhood, because here the members of the Holy Family had their residence. Therefore, this was where the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary took place, or where St. Joseph had his carpentry workshop. And we will talk about it in situ

, since the visit of the Basilica of the Annunciation and the church of San José, built on these sacred places, is planned.

This will end the visits scheduled on this day that, although they are relatively close to each other, will form a very intense program. Then we will return to the hotel for dinner and for a well-deserved rest.

Summary of the day
Sea of Galilee Tour: Boat Trip
Visit of Capernaum: archaeological site, with St. Peter’s House
Visit of Tabgha: Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes and Church of the Primacy of St. Peter
Visit of the Mount of Beatitudes, with church
Visit of Nazareth:
Basilica of the Annunciation
Church of San José
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast of hotel in Nazareth
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel in Nazareth

Day 4: Nazareth - Cana - Mount Tabor - Jericho - Jerusalem
On this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan, the fourth day is closely related to the life of Jesus, as it also happened on the previous day. And we will use our hotel in Nazareth as a breakfast place and starting point for the route.

The first place to visit is Cana of Galilee, where it is believed that the wedding at Cana took place, in which Christ turned water into wine, to the perplexity of the attendees, including his mother Mary. Therefore, an elegant temple was raised here: the church of the Wedding at Cana, from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In his basement rest the jars where this miraculous event would have occurred.

After that, we will continue to Mount Tabor, another prodigious place in the life of Jesus: here his transfiguration would have occurred, that is, the moment in which he became radiant and heard the voice of God who called him “son”. The Basilica of the Transfiguration recalls this episode and is located at the top of this mountain that, being a natural elevation over a plain, offers spectacular views of the environment, such as the Golan Heights or the Jordanian border, where it will take us several days later this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan.

The next stop on the route is Jericho, which we will visit if security conditions allow. It is a place of great importance for Jews, Muslims and Christians. For the Jews, it is so because it is the first city conquered by the Children of Israel, returned with Moses from Sinai. Muslims contributed in the past to the construction, for example, of the Palace of Hisham, which we will visit: it dates back to the eighth century and was commissioned by the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik. In it we will be able to see and imagine its great opulence, and we will understand why it is part of the so-called ‘Desert castles’, distributed between Palestine (West Bank) and Jordan … As we will also check at the end of this two-week tour of Israel and Palestine.

Another space to visit is Tell Jericó, that is, the oldest area of this city, with structures of several thousand years of history. And without a doubt, we cannot leave this city without first visiting the Mount of Temptations (which we will climb by cable car) where Jesus saw the appearance of a devil who tempted him after his 40 days of fasting in the desert. Of course, a monastery (of Quarantul) commemorates this biblical episode and its construction is impressive, because it is encased in the mountainside. From it, its views are also magnificent, including the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley.

Precisely the Jordan River will be the last place to visit on this intense day. We will travel by road to a very symbolic point of its course: Qasr el-Yahud, also known as the Site of the Baptism of Christ. That is, the exact place where St. John the Baptist baptized Jesus, because it was here and in the surrounding streams where he performed this rite of purification. It is located right on the border between Israel and Jordan which, for the time being, we will not cross. But we can know the enclosure, with stairs that lead to the same water so that those who wish can come into contact with them, because in fact many faithful perform a bath emulating the one Jesus did 2,000 years ago.

With Qasr el-Yahud we end the visits of this fourth day, but instead of returning to Nazareth, we will travel directly to Jerusalem, where an unforgettable experience of historical and religious tourism awaits us the next day. For the moment, we will limit ourselves to dinner and rest in the hotel, located in that sacred city.

Summary of the day
Visit of Cana of Galilee: Church of the Wedding at Cana
Mount Tabor: ascent and visit of the Basilica of the Transfiguration
Jericho and surroundings:
Hisham Palace
Tell Jericho
Mount of Temptations: Quarantul monastery
Qasr el-Yahud: Visit of the Site of Christ’s Baptism
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast of hotel in Nazareth
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel eh Jerusalem

Day 5: Jerusalem
There is no doubt that Jerusalem is one of the holiest cities in the world, laden with monuments and sites steeped in history. Therefore, this Two-week tour of Israel and Jordan must devote at least one full day to tour its most significant places.

That is what we will do on this fifth day, after breakfast at the hotel. First, we will head to the Mount of Olives, located east of the city. It is a sacred mountain for Jews and Christians. For the Jews, because here is the Jewish Cemetery, the most important for this religion because, according to the Torah, this will be the first place where Yahweh will redeem the dead. And for Christians, because here Jesus retired to pray before he was arrested, after the Last Supper. This episode is commemorated by the Basilica of Gethsemane, also known as the Basilica of the Agony or of the Nations. And the Sepulchre of the Virgin, in a building located two steps away, will further reinforce the emotion of the visit.

From the Mount of Olives, we will move to modern Jerusalem, located in the western part of the city. Here we will see externally the Knesset or Israeli Parliament, established in the 60s. Nearby is also the Israel Museum, where we will know some relics of Israeli society. In particular, the construction known as the Book Sanctuary, where facsimiles of the Dead Sea Scrolls are exposed, from the caves of Qumran, with passages from the Old Testament and other issues of Israeli society in times of the Second Temple of Solomon (III-I centuries BC). A model of Jerusalem at that time will help to understand the context of these priceless documents.

The next visit planned in the program is Mount Zion, located south of the Old City, where we will visit several places of enormous religious significance. For the Jews, the Tomb of King David, father of Solomon, stands out. And on the top floor, a room sacred to Christianity: the Upper Room, where it is believed that the Last Supper of Jesus could be celebrated with his disciples. Very close to this space is the Abbey of the Dormition, where the Virgin Mary would have experienced the Transit, entering into eternal sleep, according to Christian belief: it is a spectacular construction of the late nineteenth century, with a crypt in the subsoil where this fact could have occurred.

Undoubtedly, there are many dates, biblical passages and characters that make up the Jewish and Christian story. Therefore, it is worth moving to the outskirts of Jerusalem and visiting the Saxum Visitor Center, which is a multimedia centre where everything discovered and to be discovered in this is explained and given context. two-week tour of Israel and Jordan.

After that, it will be time to return to the hotel. And surely it will be inevitable to review in our mind all the places visited during the day, either during dinner or when going to the rooms to rest.

Summary of the day
Visit of the Mount of Olives:
Jewish Cemetery
Basilica of Gethsemane (or of Agony or Nations)
Visit of Modern Jerusalem:
Foreign Affairs of the Knesset or Israeli Parliament
Israel Museum: Dead Sea Scrolls
Visit of Mount Zion:
King David’s Tomb
Cenacle
Dormition Abbey
Visit of the Saxum Visitor Center
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast at hotel in Jerusalem
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel in Jerusalem

Day 6: Jerusalem (Old City) - Bethlehem - Herodium - Jerusalem
A full day is not enough to get to know all of Jerusalem. Therefore, in this Two-week tour of Israel and Jordan, there is a second day of visit in this sacred city, specifically the Old City, within the walls, where every square meter is full of history and symbolism for the three monotheistic religions.

As soon as we have breakfast, we will enter ancient Jerusalem to first visit the Western Wall: also known as the Western Wall, it is the only thing that remains of Solomon’s Second Temple. The troops of the Roman emperor Titus left it standing after its destruction in 70 AD, as a reminder of the strength they were able to apply, but for the Jews it was a divine sign and a link between Yahweh and the Earth. Today we can see hundreds (thousands at the end of the day) of faithful formulating their laments and wishes here.

Precisely the land formed by the ancient temples of Solomon (the First and the Second) is what today makes up the Esplanade of the Mosques, with three temples of maximum sacredness for Muslims: the Dome of the Chain, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The latter, with its spectacular golden dome, is one of the great icons of Jerusalem, and the place from which Muhammad ascended to heaven on the back of the horse Buraq and in the presence of the Archangel Gabriel. Without a doubt, an imposing place that we will visit if security conditions allow it.

After that, we will walk through the Jewish quarter, the Muslim quarter and the Christian quarter, and in this tour we will reach the most sacred places for Christianity. For example, the Via Dolorosa, which Jesus travelled on the way to the Cross. Therefore, there are 14 stations of the Via Crucis, which we will travel on foot. The latter are found, as we will see, inside the church of the Holy Sepulchre, built in the fourth century and rebuilt in the eleventh on the place where the Crucifixion, burial and Resurrection of Christ took place. Therefore, inside is the empty tomb of Jesus.

After learning about these three key points for monotheistic religions, we will leave Jerusalem to visit, very close to here, the town of Bethlehem, forever linked to the birth of Jesus. Therefore, in the cave where it is believed that the birth took place, the Church of the Nativity was built, one of the first temples of this religion, inside which is the Grotto of the Nativity. All this is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and will be part of our visit.

After the visit of Bethlehem, we will continue a few more kilometres by road until we reach Herodion, the palace-fortress that Herod ordered to be built around 20 BC as his residence and, ultimately, as his burial place. Being located on an elevated hill, the panoramic views of the surroundings add interest to the visit.

Herodion will be the last place to meet on this day, so after that we will return to Jerusalem to have dinner at the hotel and rest in the rooms. And we will do it with a carousel of images on the retina that, surely, will remain forever in the memory.

Summary of the day
Visit of the Old City of Jerusalem:
Western Wall or Western Wall
Esplanade of the Mosques
Via Dolorosa and Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Displacement to Bethlehem: visit of the Church of the Nativity
Displacement to Herodion: visit of the remains of the palace-fortress of Herod
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast at hotel in Jerusalem
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel in Jerusalem

Day 7: Jerusalem - Masada - Qumran - Ein Gedi - Jerusalem
The seventh day of this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan is a day of excursions: from Jerusalem we will leave for other nearby and very interesting places, especially from the historical and natural point of view.

After breakfast at the hotel, we will move to Qumran, a place that is mentioned in the Israel Museum when contemplating the Dead Sea Scrolls. This is the place where they really appeared, and we will understand it by visiting its unique archaeological remains: it was a settlement-refuge for the Essene population (alternative branch of Judaism) in the second century, which produced the aforementioned biblical scrolls here.

The next visit of the day also takes us back to a fascinating past: the Masada National Park, which we will climb by cable car. At the top of a large cliff perched in front of the Dead Sea is this site, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and also linked to Herod, who enlarged the enclosure from which spaces such as the baths, the palace or the synagogue are still distinguished. A spectacular space that, in addition, is more moving to know the episode that made it famous: the Jewish resistance in the first Jewish-Roman war and the collective suicide of its inhabitants so as not to humiliate themselves before the enemy, when they understood that they had everything lost.

Back in Jerusalem we will cross the Negev desert but we will stop at an amazing oasis: Ein Gedi, formed by freshwater pools and other channels that seem to spring as if by magic. His fame and mystery were already known from time immemorial and is also mentioned in the Old Testament. Nubian ibex and rock rabbits are some of its most illustrious inhabitants, which we may be able to spot with a little luck.

To conclude the day, we will return to our hotel in Jerusalem, where we will also have our last dinner in this city.

Summary of the day
Road trip to:
Qumran: visit of the archaeological site
Masada: cable car and visit of the enclosure
Negev Desert: oasis of Ein Gedi
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast at hotel in Jerusalem
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel in Jerusalem

Day 8: Jerusalem - Allenby border / Shaikh Hussain Bridge - Jerash - Ajloun Castle - Amman
After several days of intensely discovering Jerusalem and its surroundings, it is time to leave this holy city to head for Jordan. After breakfast we will leave by road to the border post of Sheikh Hussein, where we will do all the paperwork to cross into the neighbouring country.

In these first hours in Jordan, we will move through the north to know two of its most interesting destinations. First of all, Ajloun. Specifically, its castle, one of the best vestiges of the period of the Crusades in what is now Jordan. It was built by Saladin’s troops in their strategy to consolidate their offensive against the Christian crusaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, at the end of the twelfth century. A century later, the Mamluks rebuilt it with the same objective, but in this case against the Mongol invaders. In addition to its historical and architectural interest, this castle fascinates with its panoramic views of the surroundings of green hills, with Mediterranean vegetation.

The next visit of the day is Jerash, very close to Ajloun. And in this case, it takes us to another historical period that was also very important for the region: Roman domination. This city, formerly called Gerasa, is not only one of the best preserved in all of Jordan, but of the entire territory through which the Roman Empire extended. This is how we will understand it as soon as we walk through its archaeological park, where monumental structures such as its hippodrome, its temple of Zeus, its Arch of Hadrian, its Cardus Maximus, its theatres and a very elegant Oval Square that served as a forum are still standing.

After this tour of northern Jordan, we will move to Amman, the vibrant capital of the country. However, for the moment you will only have dinner and rest at the hotel, as the guided tour of the city is reserved for later.

Summary of the day
Road border crossing at Allenby border / Shaikh Hussain Bridge
Northern Jordan Road Trip:
Ajloun: visit of the medieval castle
Jerash: visit of the Roman city
Road trip to Amman
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast at hotel in Jerusalem
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel in Amman

Day 9: Amman - Madaba - Mount Nebo - Karak - Little Petra - Petra
If on the previous day we moved through the north of Jordan, on this ninth day we will do it through the centre until we reach the south. And on the way, we will stop at places full of interest.

The first destination to visit after having breakfast and starting the road route is Madaba. It is a city of great importance in Byzantine times, when many of its archaeological remains are dated. Precisely from the sixth century is the historical-artistic jewel in which we will stop longer: the mosaic map of the church of San Jorge. It not only surprises for its size and beauty but also for its documentary value: it is the oldest representation of the Holy Land, the territory that we are largely touring in this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan.

The next destination of the day is Mount Nebo, a few kilometres from Madaba. And it is a sacred place for the three monotheistic religions because it is the hill from which Moses contemplated the Promised Land, that is, everything we have visited in the previous days of this circuit, with Jerusalem on the horizon if the day is clear. In addition to a viewpoint that frames what the prophet saw with his eyes, the compound also has a memorial church and an interpretation centre.

After these two visits, we return to the vehicle to travel south on a longer route, but which we will complete with two interesting stops along the way. The first, Karak, the city on top of which rises an imposing medieval castle. On this occasion, it was built by the Crusaders at the beginning of the twelfth century, although it was also taken later by the army of Saladin.

And the second of those stops is at Al Beida, in the so-called Little Petra. As its name suggests, it is an enclave carved in rocky canyons reminiscent of nearby Petra and which it probably served. It has premises, temples and other spaces that take advantage of natural grottoes, with elegant facades that attract attention at its entrance mouth. Your visit, therefore, may well serve to open your mouth for the visit that awaits us the next day.

After leaving Little Petra, the goal of this day is very close: just 10 minutes away, in Wadi Musa. That is the town that is located in front of Petra and where our hotel will be, with dinner included.

Summary of the day
Road trip to:
Madaba: visit of the church of San Jorge and its mosaic map
Mount Nebo: visit of the sacred precinct of the mountain
Karak: visit of the medieval castle
Little Petra: nod visit carved into the rock
Arrival in Wadi Musa (Petra)
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast at hotel in Amman
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel in Wadi Musa (Petra)

Day 10: Petra
On any two-week tour of Israel and Jordan, Petra is one of the most anticipated destinations. Therefore, we dedicate a full day: the tenth of the trip, which will begin with breakfast at the hotel and will soon take us to the site of the so-called ‘pink city’.

There is a lot to see and, to speed up the route and make it more comfortable, we will use a horseback transport service. In this way we will depart from the Tomb of the Obelisks and visit the famous Siq, which leads to the most photographed monument: the Treasury, with a spectacular façade of columns and pediment, immortalized by Indiana Jones in one of his films. It is the monument that best symbolizes the zenith of the Nabataean Empire, which had its capital in Petra.

Therefore, the places of interest go much further. We will be speechless by other spaces such as the Street of the Façades, the Royal Tombs, the Theatre, the temples of Nabataean religion or the urban nucleus of Roman times, with its Columned Street in the centre. And for those who still have strength, one last surprise: the Al Deir monastery, at the top of a staircase carved into the rock of more than 800 steps.

For all these reasons, Petra was declared a World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. And for all this, we will return to the hotel (where dinner is included) with the feeling of having lived a unique tourist experience.

Summary of the day
Visit of Petra throughout the day
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast of hotel in Wadi Musa (Petra)
Lunch during the route
Dinner and hotel in Wadi Musa (Petra)

Day 11: Petra - Wadi Rum - Dead Sea
On this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan, there are still strong emotions and unforgettable places in the program. And so, you can see it on this eleventh day, after having breakfast at the hotel and hitting the road.

The morning will be dedicated to knowing the most inaccessible corners of Wadi Rum, the desert declared a World Heritage Site that so dazzled T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). To do this, we will use a 4×4 jeep that will take us through tracks and reddish dunes, next to mountains of capricious shapes, rock bridges and canyons in which ancient civilizations left their mark in the form of petroglyphs.

After two hours in which we will feel modern Bedouins, we will return to our usual vehicle to travel by road to another place without comparison: the Dead Sea. The road will make us descend progressively to -400 meters above sea level, the lowest point on the planet. And there awaits us this lake with the name of the sea that does not allow the existence of life in its waters due to its high salinity, but it does favour the buoyancy of bathers. For this reason and for the cosmetic properties of its sludge, a free bath in this place will be more than justified.

Then, in the evening, you will have dinner on this penultimate night at the hotel, on the shores of the Dead Sea.

Summary of the day
Road trip to Wadi Rum
Two-hour 4×4 desert tour
Road trip to the Dead Sea
Free time
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast of hotel in Wadi Musa (Petra)
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at the Dead Sea

Day 12: Dead Sea - Desert Castles - Amman
The Dead Sea is in the far west of Jordan, bordering Israel. On the other hand, on this twelfth day we will move to the opposite side of the country: its eastern sector, where a surprise recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO awaits us: the castles of the desert.

Therefore, after an early breakfast at the Dead Sea hotel, we will travel by road to the first of them: Qasr al-Azraq, on the outskirts of Azraq. This area, at the time, was much more humid and fertile, and this construction of the seventh century was used as a hunting lodge by the Umayyad caliph Walid II, in the eighth century. Its tougher and fortified appearance, in dark basalt stone, is due to its reform during the Mamluk era, in the thirteenth century. In addition, in the twentieth century it had an illustrious guest: T.E. Lawrence.

The second of them, that of Qusayr Amra, is a rest palace dating back to the eighth century, that is, to the times of the Umayyad caliph Walid I. This fact is important, since among the most striking of this palace are its mural paintings, with themes later prohibited by Islamic art: in the baths or portraits of monarchs of the time in its hall of kings, including those of the Spanish Visigothic Rodrigo.

In addition, we will have the opportunity to visit the third of the desert castles: that of Qasr al-Kharana, whose function is unknown, although it was probably a structure for meetings between Umayyad leaders and local Bedouins. It is very well preserved and its appearance is sturdy and imposing, especially for its location in this inhospitable corner.

After knowing these really special structures, we will return to Amman, since we still have the essential visit of this city. It will be a panoramic tour through the most emblematic places of this city, with several millennia of history. Many of them are concentrated in the Citadel, heart of old Amman. We will also know the Roman Theatre, the most important monument of the time when this city was under Roman rule and was called Philadelphia. And we will feel, in short, the frenetic pace of its streets, because it is the most populous city in the whole country.

After that, it will be time to dine at the hotel and spend the penultimate night of this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan.

Summary of the day
Road trip to the Eastern Desert Castles:
Qasr al-Azraq
Qusayr Amra
Qasr al-Kharana
Return by road to Amman
View of Amman: Citadel, Roman Theatre
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast at hotel in the Dead Sea
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight in Amman

Day 13: Amman -  Allenby border / Shaikh Hussain Bridge  -Tel Aviv
On this thirteenth day of travel, we return to Israel: we will leave for the Allenby border post after breakfast at the hotel, so that we have enough time to take advantage of the rest of the day.

Although in this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan We have dedicated several days to Jerusalem, this holy city still has much to teach, so that on the morning of this day we will visit what we did not have time in previous days. First, the Tower of David Museum, in the Armenian quarter, which makes a didactic and interactive review of the history of the city, from Canaanite times to today.

And secondly, we will move to the neighbourhood of Ein Karem, one of the most genuine in Jerusalem, for its traditional atmosphere of artisans. Here we will visit two churches full of meaning for Christians. On the one hand, that of the Visitation, where the Virgin Mary and her relative Elizabeth meet, both being pregnant (the latter, of San Juan Bautista). And on the other, the church of San Juan Bautista, above the cave where this prophet was born.

In the afternoon we will travel to Tel Aviv to also visit another important place that was pending: the White City, a neighbourhood built in the 30s of the last centuries by German Jewish architects who had to emigrate during the Nazi persecution. Its elegant buildings and its modern and retro atmosphere at the same time earned it the designation as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

After that, we will spend here the last night of this two-week tour of Israel and Jordan, with dinner and rest at the hotel.

Summary of the day
Road border crossing at Allenby border / Shaikh Hussain Bridge
Arrival in Jerusalem and pending visits:
Tower of David Museum
Ein Karem: visits of the Church of the Visitation and the Church of St. John the Baptist
Travel to Tel Aviv by road:
Visit of the White City
Meals and accommodation:
Breakfast at hotel in Amman
Lunch at local restaurant
Dinner and overnight at hotel in Tel Aviv

Day 14 : Tel Aviv - Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport
After two weeks of touring Israel and Jordan, the moment of the end arrives. And we will organize the day so that the return home is comfortable and smooth. After the breakfast included in the hotel, we will analyse the time that is available to set a meeting time and transfer you to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport. Already in the terminal we will provide you with the last necessary assistance and we will say goodbye with gratitude and enthusiasm of a future reunion.

Summary of the day
Breakfast at hotel in Tel Aviv
Transfer to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport
Airport assistance and farewell

Tour Booking Conditions

You May Also Like