COHEN FAMILY ISRAEL WINTER 2020 DAVID AND LILY'S B'NAI MITZVAH - Guide- Alan Harkavy December 21-January 4

COHEN FAMILY
      ISRAEL WINTER 2020
DAVID AND LILY’S B’NAI MITZVAH
      December 21-January 4

       Guide- Alan Harkavy

Itinerary

DAY 1- MON DECEMBER 21- ARRIVAL (NO GUIDE/TRANSFER ONLY)
  ● Welcome to Israel!!!
  ● Land at Ben Gurion Airport at 10:15 a.m. on Air Canada Flight AC 80 where you will be
     met by a VIP service representative once you exit the plane & be accompanied to your
     flight to Eilat (Ramon airport)
  ● Depart from Terminal 1 on Arkia or Israir flight ### to Ramon Airport in Eilat
  ● Transfer from Ramon Airport to Yitzhak Rabin Arava Border Crossing into Jordan
  ● Overnight: Hilton Doubletree, Movenpick Aqaba Resort, Intercontinental or similar
     5 star hotel in Aqaba, Jordan

DAY 2- TUE DECEMBER 22- PETRA AND WADI RUM (JORDANIAN GUIDE/DRIVER)
  ● Jordanian breakfast at the hotel
  ● Meet your Jordanian guide and early departure from hotel to Petra
  ● Tour the stunning rose-red, Nabatean city of Petra declared a UNESCO World Heritage
     Site
  ● Attractions include the "Siq", "Treasury", "Monastery" & more
  ● Lunch at a local restaurant
  ● Go off road for a desert adventure into Wadi Rum
  ● Attractions include the Seven Pillars, Lawrence's Spring and Khazali Canyon
  ● Dinner at Bedouin Camp
  ● Overnight: Glamping in a Wadi Rum luxury Bedouinn Camp

DAY 3- WED DECEMBER 23- FROM EILAT THROUGH THE ARAVA AND NEGEV
DESERTS TO MITZPE RAMON (GUIDE/ DRIVER)
  ● Breakfast at the Bedouin Camp and check out
  ● Transfer to the Arava Border Crossing and return to Israel
  ● Meet your Israeli guide and driver
  ● Drive through the Yotvata Hai Bar Nature Reserve
  ● Lunch on own en route
  ● Travel to Mitzpe Ramon (approx. 2 hours drive)
  ● Explore the ancient ruins of Ein Saharonim or the Carpentry inside Machtesh Ramon
  ● Learn about Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut and how the makhtesh was formed at the
     Mitzpe Ramon Visitor Center
  ● Check in to hotel; settle in and relax
  ● dinner at hotel
  ● Star gazing in the Ramon Crater, weather permitting
  ● Overnight: Isrotel Beresheet Spa Hotel in Mitzpe Ramon

DAY 4- THURS DECEMBER 24- THE RAMON CRATER (GUIDE/DRIVER)
  ● Full Israeli breakfast at hotel
  ● Jeep/ATV tour and Rappelling in the Ramon Crater!
  ● Lunch on own

● In the afternoon experience the thrill of sand-boarding on the Negev dunes
   ● Dinner at hotel
   ● Evening hike with Alan under the moonlight to the Camel lookout on the edge of the crater
     (optional)
   ● Overnight: Isrotel Beresheet Spa Hotel in Mitzpe Ramon

DAY 5- FRI DECEMBER 25- NEGEV TO JERUSALEM(GUIDE/DRIVER)
  ● Full Israeli breakfast at hotel
  ● Check out and early departure
  ● Lookout over the striking Zin Valley from the tomb of David Ben Gurion and his wife,
     Paula
  ● Enjoy a beautiful nature stroll in the Ein Avdat desert oasis
  ● Lunch on own en route
  ● Travel to Jerusalem telling THE story
  ● Enjoy a spectacular lookout over Jerusalem from the Haas Promenade saying a
     “shehechiyanu”
  ● Check into hotel
  ● Kabbalat Shabbat at the Western Wall
  ● Friday night Shabbat dinner at the hotel
  ● Overnight: Isrotel’s Orient Hotel, Jerusalem

DAY 6- SAT DECEMBER 26- JERUSALEM OLD CITY (GUIDE/NO DRIVER)
  ● Shabbat shalom!
  ● Full Israeli breakfast at the hotel
  ● Introduction to the Old City from outside its walls
  ● Visit First and Second Temple Period burial tombs
  ● Stroll through Mishkenot Sha'ananim and Yemine Moshe on the way to Old City
  ● Explore Mount Zion and the Four Quarters of the Old City (Jewish, Christian and
     Muslim sites)
  ● Lunch and shopping in the Arab Market (Shuk)
  ● Leisurely afternoon, evening and dinner on your own in Jerusalem
  ● Evening activity watching the sound and light spectacular at the David Citadel
  ● Overnight: Isrotel’s Orient Hotel, Jerusalem

DAY 7- SUN DECEMBER 27- JERUSALEM’S ANCIENT CITY AND NEW
NEIGHBORHOODS (GUIDE/DRIVER)
  ● Full Israeli breakfast at the hotel
  ● Explore the ancient City of David, “Where it All Began”
  ● Wade through Hezekiah’s 2700 water tunnel and prepare to get wet (dry option available)
  ● Head to Yad Vashem to learn about the Holocaust and its modern day ramifications-
     Twinning Bar/Bat Mitzvah for the 13 and 12 year olds
  ● Age appropriate option for the 8 year old and his grandmother during Yad Vashem visit
  ● Enjoy a culinary tour and lunch in the colorful and trendy Machane Yehuda Market
  ● Leisure and free time
  ● Evening activity exploring the fascinating Western Wall tunnels that unlock the secrets of
     Jerusalem’s glorious past

● Overnight: Isrotel’s Orient Hotel, Jerusalem

DAY 8- MON DECEMBER 28- B’NAI MITZVAH DAY (GUIDE/DRIVER)
  ● Early Israeli breakfast at hotel
  ● Departure for Old City
  ● Meet drummers and musicians at the Dung Gate & dance to the Western Wall Plaza
  ● MAZEL TOV!!! B’nai Mitzvah ceremony by the Western Wall Robinson Arch Platform
     followed by family photo shoot
  ● Celebratory lunch at award wining Gush Etzion Winery
  ● Discover the Path of the Patriarchs in an off-road ATV adventure
  ● Enjoy Israel’s longest Zip-Line at Deer-Land, running 400m with its breathtaking
     scenery OR
  ● Engage in anti-terrorism training under the expert guidance of former IDF commandos at
     the Caliber 3 Shooting Range (bring closed shoes and passports)
  ● Return to Jerusalem
  ● Dinner on own
  ● Overnight: Isrotel’s Orient Hotel, Jerusalem

DAY 9- TUES DECEMBER 29- MASADA & DEAD SEA (GUIDE/DRIVER)
  ● Early Israeli breakfast at hotel
  ● Descend to the area of the Dead Sea and lowest place on the planet
  ● Ascend the formidable desert fortress of Masada where Jewish Rebels contested the might
     of the Roman Empire by cable car
  ● Kayak along the shores of the Dead Sea from Mitzpe Shalem with a picnic lunch
  ● Explore the beautiful desert Oasis of Ein Gedi where David fled from King Saul and cool
     off under a waterfall
  ● Camel rides and dinner at Abraham’s Tent in Genesis Land
  ● Return to Jerusalem
  ● Evening of leisure in Jerusalem
  ● Overnight: Isrotel’s Orient Hotel, Jerusalem

   DAY 10- WEDS DECEMBER 30- JORDAN VALLEY TO THE
   GALILEE(GUIDE/DRIVER)
   ● Israeli breakfast at hotel
   ● Check out and depart for the Jordan Valley
   ● Stop briefly at Qasr el Yehud on the Jordan River where the Israelites entered the Promised
     Land
   ● Explore ancient Beit Shean, a Roman decapolis city known as Scythopolis
   ● Lunch and swim in the beautiful spring fed water of Gan Hashlosha whose temperature
     remains 83 degrees all year round

●   Take a sunset safari wagon tour around the Hula Lake watching the crane migration
   ●   Hotel check in
   ●   Dinner at Decks in Tiberias
   ●   Overnight: Isrotel Mitzpe Hayamim, Galilee
   ●

  DAY 11- THURS DECEMBER 31- UPPER GALILEE AND GOLAN HEIGHTS
(GUIDE/DRIVER)
   ● Israeli breakfast at hotel
   ● Nature walks in the beautiful Tel Dan National Park and streams of Banias where nature,
     history and hydro-politics intersect
   ● Lunch on the Dan River at Dag al Hadan or in the Golan (to be decided)
   ● Ascend the Golan Heights stopping at the Old Syrian outpost of Tel Faher
   ● Golan Jeep Tour (optional)
   ● Visit the boutique De Karina chocolate factory in Ein Zivan
   ● Get a security briefing of Israel’s borders, wars and the current situation in Syria atop
     Mt.Bental
   ● Wine tasting in the Golan Heights
   ● Dinner at hotel, or local restaurant to be determined
   ● Evening stroll in Old Rosh Pina and the Nimrod Lookout (optionalExperience the art
     galleries and synagogues of the mystical city of Tzfat
   ● Overnight: Overnight: Isrotel Mitzpe Hayamim, Galilee

   DAY 12- FRI JANUARY 1- WESTERN GALILEE COAST (GUIDE/DRIVER)
   ● Israeli breakfast at hotel and check out
   ● Drive along the vineyards of the Upper Galilee
   ● View the Crusader fortress of Montfort from the Goren Park lookout
   ● Keshet Cave and lookout at Adamit (time permitting)
   ● Descend by cable car into the white grottoes of Rosh Hanikra
   ● Explore the Crusader city below and Ottoman city above of Old Akko
   ● Check in to hotel
   ● Happy hour and sunset over the Medittaranean Sea on rooftop
   ● Hammam (Turkish Bath) and massage by prior reservation for adults (optional)
   ● 9:30 p.m. dinner at Uri Buri
   ● Overnight: The Efendi Hotel, AkkoI

   DAY 13- SAT JANUARY 2- COASTAL PLAIN (GUIDE/ DRIVER)
   ● Israeli breakfast around the “Knight’s Table” and check out
   ● Haifa Bay and Bahai Garden lookout
   ● Drive through the Carmel Mountains passing Druze Villages
   ● Lunch in one of the earliest Zionist srttlements of Zichron Yaakov or a Druse experience
   ● Discover the magnificent Herodian port city of Caesarea and relax on the beach under the
     magnificent ancient Roman aqueducts
   ● Continue to Tel Aviv and check-in to hotel
   ● Leisurely afternoon strolling the markets and beach
   ● Dinner in Tel Aviv at hotel or restaurant to be decided (reservation required)

● Overnight: Hilton Hotel, Tel Aviv

DAY 14- SUN JANUARY 3- TEL AVIV/JAFFA (GUIDE/DRIVER)
● Israeli breakfast in your hotel
● Visit the Ayalon Institute,an underground bullet factory where the Haganah secretly
  manufactured ammunition under the noses of the British prior to the War of Indepence
● Participate in an active archaeological excavation as you “Dig for a Day”
● Engage in a spelunking adventure as you crawl through the caves and underground
  passageways of Maresha
● Relive the most famous biblical battle where David slew Goliath in the Valley of Elah
● Lunch on own in Beit Shemesh
● Discover the Armored Corps Memorial at Latrun and climb on the tanks
● Return to Tel Aviv and visit the markets
● Evening of leisure and dinner on own in Tel Aviv
● Overnight: Hilton Hotel, Tel Aviv

DAY 15-MON JANUARY 4- DEPARTURE (GUIDE/DRIVER OPTIONAL)
● Israeli breakfast in your hotel
● Museum option-”Dialogue in the Dark” at the Holon (South of Tel Aviv)
● Walk/bike/electric bike or scooter Tel Aviv exploring from north (The Tel Aviv Port) to
  south (Old Jaffa)
● Explore Old Jaffa, the “Gateway to Tel Aviv” with its enchanting alleyways, artists’
  galleries and views of Tel Aviv
● Enjoy a Street Art Graffiti tour of the bohemian Florentine neighborhood and feel the
  pulse of Tel Aviv
● Enjoy the beach promenade and sunset over the Meditteranean Sea
● Dinner on your own
● Transfer to Ben Gurion airport for late departure (arrival at the airport at least 3 hours
  before departure for pre-screening and check-in is recommended)

LEHITRAOT (FAREWELL) AND SAFE TRAVELS!!!!!!!!!