Caesarea, Golan and Galilee Tour, 3 Days

Tour the coastal cities of Israel as we drive north of Tel Aviv and make our first stop in Caesarea. Here we tour the remains of an ancient Roman port city and see the amphitheater, hippodrome and ruins of palaces, temples and bathhouses. We travel further north along the coast to the port city of Haifa. Here we see the terraced Baha’i Gardens on Mt. Carmel and learn about the Baha’i faith. Continuing all the way to Israel’s border with Lebanon the tour takes you to the sea caves of Rosh HaNikra. Here we can enter the cave chambers and tunnels where waves crash against the rocks. We return south and the tour visits the Crusader city of Acre. Here we tour the Crusader fortress built in the 12th century, the Ottoman structures and a former Turkish and British Mandate citadel prison.

The Golan Heights Tour takes you north through the Plain of Armageddon and past Megiddo into the Galilee. The Galilee has rolling hills, farmlands, vineyards and the beautiful Sea of Galilee. Crossing the Jordan River we ascend the Golan Heights through lush countryside. We pass Hamat Gader, a site with hot springs used by the Romans and modern-day spa-goers. We travel to the Shalom Observatory and from this elevated point we have stunning views all the way to the Sea of Galilee. In Katzrin we see an excavated Jewish village from the Mishnah and Talmudic eras. Nearby we visit the Golan Antiquities Museum and see archaeological discoveries from the Golan plus a film on the ancient Jewish city of Gamla. At Mt. Bental we explore the remaining Syrian bunkers and trenches captured by Israelis in the 1967 Six Day War.

This tour day starts with a look around the kibbutz to learn about this unique community. The tour travels to the foot of Mt. Hermon and the Hermon River. We stop at the Banias a former site of a Roman city dedicated to the God Pan. The lush forests, streams and waterfalls of the Banias are so beautiful it has been compared to the Garden of Eden. We tour Kal’at Nimrod, a 13th-century fortress perched on a hilltop where there are brilliant views of the Golan. Next, we stop for lunch in a Druze restaurant before traveling to the holy Jewish city of Safed. Here we tour the Caro Synagogue, Ari Synagogue and the Artists’ Quarter before returning south and leaving the Galilee and Golan.