JERUSALEM OLD AND NEW TOUR
Daily Tour
Duration: 1 day

A brief overview of the tour

After an overview of Jerusalem, see the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane and view the monumental burial tombs while driving along the Kidron Valley, we will walk along the Byzantine Cardo, in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. From the Western Wall (Kotel), we will follow the Via Dolorosa, the Stations of the Cross, ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. End with a visit to Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum, and a brief tour of the New City of Jerusalem.

Important and useful notes

• On Fridays, Saturdays & Jewish Holidays, when the Holocaust Museum is closed, the tour will include a visit to the Church of All Nations at the Garden Gethsemane, King David's Tomb and the Hall of the Last Supper on Mount Zion.
• Airport drop off is available for additional 65$ per person.
• Change of vehicle required for transfers of pick up / drop off destinations to save time, avoid traffic and delay!
• 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
• No entry for children under the age of 10 to Holocaust Museum.
• Modest dress: Covered shoulders/ No shorts required.
• Business class - small groups in luxury van / minibus.

A detailed description of the tour

We start with a breathtaking overview of Jerusalem. As if in the palm of our hand, we see the Old City and the Temple Mount area spread before us and imagine the Second Temple destroyed in 70 CE and Solomon’s Temple before that, destroyed in 586 BCE.

As we drive along the Kidron Valley we have an excellent view of Mount Olives ,the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations as well as of the monumental ancient Jewish burial tombs. We enter the Old City through from Mt. Zion, passing the Armenian Quarter to the excavated Byzantine Cardo. Although this fifteen hundred year old main street of Jerusalem was partially destroyed and unused during the Moslem conquest it had a brief new lease of life during the Crusader period and the excavated Crusader shops are now modern stores.

Continuing through the Jewish Quarter we proceed to the Western Wall (Kotel). This two thousand year old wall is part of the encircling and supporting wall built by king Herod when of the Temple Mount area was enlarged.

As we walk along the Via Dolorosa we join the many pilgrims who are following the Stations of the Cross ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the church built over the place of the crucifixion of Jesus and the burial tomb. Originally built in the Byzantine period, it was partially destroyed during the Persians and Moslem conquests and then rebuilt and slightly altered by the Crusaders.

After a short stroll through the market place we exit the Old City and continue to Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum commemorating both the annihilation of six million Jews and those righteous among the nations who endangered their lives while trying to save Jews.