GOLAN HEIGHTS
Departure Days: Sundays & Wednesday
Duration: 1 day

A brief overview of the tour

Drive north along the coastal road, on route stop at overlook of Megiddo. Drive through the Jordan Valley, stop at the Baptismal site on the Jordan River. Ascend to the Golan Heights with an overview from Hammat Gader of the triangular border with Syria, Jordan and Israel. Onwards to the city of Katzrin, the Talmudic capital of the Golan. Visit the ancient sinagogue of Katzrin. Ascend Mt. Bental, overlook Kuneitra Valley and stop at former Syrian fortification. Return to Hotels.

Important and useful notes

• 05:50 am transfer from Jerusalem to join the tour in Tel Aviv.
• Please be at your pick up point on time. There might be some delay (up to 20 minutes) due to traffic or other operational issues
• Airport drop off is available for additional 60$ per person.
• Tour is required a minimum number of participants.
• Change of vehicle required for transfers of pick up / drop off destinations to save time, avoid traffic and delay!
• Hat and comfortable shoes required.
• Business class - small groups in luxury van / minibus.

A detailed description of the tour

Leaving Tel Aviv we pass Herzliya and Netanya, as we travel north along the scenic coastal plain and then turn eastwards through the plain of Armageddon (Rev 16:16), with a view of biblical Megiddo. (II Ch. 35:20-27)

At ancient Katzrin we explore the excavated and partially restored remains of a typical large village of the Mishnah and Talmud period (first to fifth century), its synagogue, its homes and its olive press. The black basalt rock is testimony to extinct volcanoes on the heights.

On Mount Bental we explore the former Syrian fortifications, bunkers and trenches taken by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967. In the distance is the Syrian city Kuneitra and in the foreground the camp of the Canadian contingent to the UN forces supervising the cease-fire between Israel and Syria, brokered in 1974 after the Yom Kippur War and never broken. The Syrian capital Damascus is a mere sixty kilometers away hence Syria’s reticence to break the cease-fire. The route we travelled today is more than likely the one used by Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus (Acts 9:1).