Program is tentative and subject to change. Connect with our Customer Care Team by calling: (888) 230-6008 Mon.-Thur. from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
YOUR journey
The journey featured on this page is open to all & the trip leader welcomes your participation!
J² crafts journeys of inspiration, education, and Jewish connections to Israel and worldwide. We are guided by a simple but powerful concept: No two trips are the same; each experience should be personal, meaningful, and backed by superb service. Travel is not just about the places you visit, but the connections you make along the way.
Food & Wine 
Art & Culture 
Heritage 
Local Specialists 
Archaeology 
Nature Walks
Program Itinerary
DAY 1
ON THE WAY
Mon. Jun 12, 2023
- Depart the USA.
DAY 2
LET THE JOURNEY BEGIN
Tue. Jun 13, 2023
- Arrival at Ben Gurion International Airport.
- Check into your hotel.
- Meet your tour educator who will accompany you on this journey of education and inspiration.
- Enjoy a festive welcome Middle Eastern style dinner at Maganda.
Overnight: Tel Aviv
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 3
FROM OLD TO NEW
Wed. Jun 14, 2023
- Breakfast at an Israeli hotel is an experience in itself. Start the day with a bounteous buffet.
- Stop at the Jaffa Overlook for an introduction to Tel Aviv at the place where it all began.
- Jaffa Stories and Coffee: You're warmly invited into the home of Doris Hiffawi to hear about her life as a Christian Arab in Jaffa. Over coffee brewed by her family and Arabic sweets , she'll talk about whether the area's Jewish, Muslim, and Christian population mix or merely make do. We'll also find out how female entrepreneurs like Doris are bringing change to this socio-economically deprived neighborhood.
- Ethnic Tasting Tour: Eat, drink and learn at the Levinsky Market, where we’ll sample food and sweets from all over the Mediterranean and the Middle East and try to figure out what is Israeli about Israeli food. This multi-cultural tasting tour will double up as a delicious lunch.
- The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation was created by the late Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister and President of Israel, to develop peacebuilding programs based on innovation and optimism. Our visit will include a tour of the Israeli Innovation Center, which celebrates the people and companies that are making Israel the "innovation nation." The center includes continually updated, high-tech exhibits on everything from artificial intelligence to the latest developments in water use.
- Return to hotel.
- The City at Night: Israel’s food scene is on fire with world-class chefs and a huge range of happening restaurants. See and taste for yourself with dinner. We’ll be happy to make reservations and recommendations so that you can enjoy a night out at the Israeli restaurant ideal for you.
Overnight: Tel Aviv
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
DAY 4
BEAUTY OF THE JUDEAN HILLS
Thu. Jun 15, 2023
- Tour Tel Maresha in the Beit Guvrin National Park and explore the ancient cave complex of the Hellenistic city.
- Take a Vintner’s Journey along the Ella Valley and the Judean Hills wine route, exploring some of the new and very successful wineries that have sprouted in recent years, among them Elah, Tzora, Flam, Kastel, Tzuba and Katlav Wineries.
- Khan Sha’ar HaGai, also known as Bab el-Wad, is a national memorial site situated on the main road connecting the lowlands with Jerusalem. This road saw fierce battles in 1948 and a heritage center was recently established here, dedicated to those who broke through the road to Jerusalem.
- Return to hotel.
- Free evening.
Overnight: Tel Aviv
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 5
DIVERSITY OF TEL AVIV
Fri. Jun 16, 2023
- Meet African women seeking refuge in Tel Aviv and see how they are working toward a brighter future by creating beautiful crochet products. Kuchinate (meaning crochet in Tigrinya) is a collective that celebrates African art and culture while empowering women asylum-seekers, many of whom suffered great hardships while fleeing to Israel. Here we’ll join with women from East Africa for a traditional coffee-making ceremony and talk with them about their lives in Israel and the struggles they are seeking to overcome through creativity and collective action. During a craft workshop led by the women of Kuchinate we’ll create East African baskets (or bracelets).
- Visit the Hatikva neighbourhood, one of the poorer parts of Tel Aviv, which provides fascinating insights into the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the city. A local resident will discuss the large Yemenite Jewish community in the neighborhood and will accompany us to one of their synagogues. The visit will be followed by a tasting tour at Hatikva’s open-air market with food (and people) from around the world.
- Browse your way through Nachalat Binyamin, Tel Aviv’s arts and crafts market.
- Join a local Reform Community for Kabbalat Shabbat followed by a home hospitality dinner.
Overnight: Tel Aviv
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
DAY 6
JEWISH PEOPLEHOOD
Sat. Jun 17, 2023
- The Changing Architecture of Tel Aviv: As we make our way along Rothschild Boulevard, we'll see the diversity of Tel Aviv's architecture and find out how this reflects the culture of a city that refuses to stay the same. Examine the “eclectic” early architecture and the Bauhaus buildings from the 1930s that gave Tel Aviv the nickname of the “White City” and recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We'll also see Tel Aviv's 21st century skyscrapers and ask what they reveal about modern Israel.
- Visit ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, the largest Jewish museum in the world, and join a fascinating journey that portrays the story of the Jewish people through the generations and up to the present time.
- Free evening.
Overnight: Tel Aviv
Meals: Breakfast
DAY 7
FLAVORS OF THE NORTH
Sun. Jun 18, 2023
- Check out of hotel.
- Drive north along the coast. Encounter the successes, struggles, and sacrifices of the Zionist pioneers during a tour of Zichron Ya’acov, one of the first settlements created by the modern Zionist movement. Here, we’ll walk through the cobblestoned boulevards of Zichron Ya’acov and explore how a place that was initially a malaria- and poverty-stricken village is today a picturesque center of wineries, eateries, and art.
- Take a spice-tasting tour of Derech Hatavlinim (The Spice Route). We’ll talk with the family that runs this farm and learn how they grow a huge variety of spices and medicinal herbs according to traditional cultivation methods.
- We’ll be welcomed into the home of an Israeli Arab family to talk, over tea and coffee, about their lives and to join them for a GalilEat cooking workshop. The Arab villages of the Galilee are famous for their food, including fish and olive dishes and delicious desserts like knafeh and baklawa. We’ll find out the local culinary secrets and, mentored by our host family, whip up and eat a traditional dinner.
- Check into hotel.
Overnight: Sea of Galilee
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 8
NATURE AND SECURITY
Mon. Jun 19, 2023
- Paradise Springs is one of the places we'll visit at the Tel Dan Nature Reserve. We'll tour the remains of a 5,000-year-old city and find out why water is like gold in the parched Middle East.
- Hit the ground racing as we go off-road for a jeep tour on the Golan Heights that will combine natural beauty with insights into one of Israel's most strategically important areas. The panoramic views from Mt. Bental (overlooking the abandoned Syrian town of Kuneitra) enable you to understand the enormous challenges Israel faced in the wars of 1967 and 1973, and even today with the increasing presence of Russia and Iran.
- Return to hotel and freshen up for dinner.
Overnight: Sea of Galilee
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 9
THE LOWER GALILEE
Tue. Jun 20, 2023
- Check out of the hotel.
- Visit Nazareth and walk through the colorful marketplace to the Church of the Annunciation.
- Dialogue with Julia Zaher, owner of Al Arz Tahini, an Arab Israeli tahini maker who faced a boycott call from her community after she donated funds to an LGBTQ support line.
- Meet with Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar, co-founder and artistic director of the Polyphony Foundation, which aims to bridge the divide between Arab and Jewish communities in Israel through music and to serve as a worldwide model for cooperation based on cultural exchange, dialogue, and partnership.
- Visit Sindyanna of Galilee and sample some of their award-winning olive oil. We’ll learn how this non-profit organization is producing fine, fair-trade products and creating economic opportunities for Arab women, one of Israel’s most underemployed sectors. Our light lunch will include the local favorite of manakish (pita bread, olive oil, and za’atar), tahina, olives, bread, Arab coffee, and more.
- As we drive south on the Trans-Israel Highway, there will be an opportunity to see the Security Barrier which runs along the seam zone between Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and to learn about the barrier’s effects on Israeli security and Palestinian communities.
- Continue to Jerusalem and check into the hotel.
- When the stalls close at night, a different sort of Jerusalem springs into life as the city’s hipsters come out to play and to paint. On this nighttime graffiti tour of the Mahane Yehuda Shuk (market), we’ll see portraits of local celebrities, from rabbis to rockstars, that have been painted on shop shutters and find out what they tell us about life, art, and ideology in the Holy City.
Overnight: Jerusalem
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
DAY 10
A TASTE OF JERUSALEM
Wed. Jun 21, 2023
- Explore the Old City of Jerusalem, including Sites holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians: the Western Wall, the Muslim Quarter and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are among the highlights.
- Take a tasting tour in the Jewish, Christian and Muslim Quarters of the Old City. Check out the culinary diversity and shared influences in multicultural Jerusalem by sampling hummus, tahina and other classic local dishes.
- Our wlak through Jerusalem's Old City and the Jewish Quarter will include:
- A climb to the rooftops to see and discuss the ties and tensions between the different faith groups and communities of the Old City. From this one spot, we'll look out over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, venerated by Christian groups as the burial place of Jesus; the golden Dome of the Rock, which is sacred to Islam; and the Jewish Quarter's famous Hurva Synagogue.
- The Cardo, the main street of Roman-controlled Jerusalem and its spectacular Byzantine-era columns.
- King Hezekiah's "Broad Wall," a massive wall built to protect Jerusalem from invasion 2,700 years ago.
- Hurva Square, the center of modern-day life in the Jewish Quarter.
- No visit to Israel is complete without experiencing the Kotel (Western Wall), widely considered Judaism's holiest site. Each year, over one million notes containing prayers and wishes are placed in the cracks of the wall. We'll discuss the wall's historical and contemporary importance and experience its unique atmosphere.
Overnight: Jerusalem
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
DAY 11
COLLECTIVE MEMORY
Thu. Jun 22, 2023
- Check out of the hotel.
- Visit Yad Vashem, the national memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, an essential emotional and educational experience. Your guided tour will include:
- The Historical Museum, a state-of-the-art interactive display reflecting decades of research and educational expertise. The story of the Holocaust, with an emphasis on individual victims, is told through survivor testimonies, original artifacts, and personal possessions saved from the ghettos and camps.
- The Children’s Memorial, commemorating the 1. 5 million children lost during the Holocaust. A memorial service where we will pay tribute to those who were lost.
- The Museum of Holocaust Art. The world’s largest collection of Holocaust art reveals the lives and heroism of artists engulfed by the Shoah. These artists risked their lives to create, often under the most harrowing conditions, an artistic record of the catastrophe.
- A special tour for repeat visitors will include the Valley of the Communities, a 2. 5-acre monument dug out of bedrock. Engraved on its stone walls are the names of 5,000 Jewish communities that were swallowed up by the Shoah.
- Enjoy a farewell dinner at Shukria a chef workshop and salon. Meet Odeya and Avraham a couple that dedicated their life to explore the Jerusalem cooking tradition, and enjoy hosting people from all over the world.
- Group transfer to Ben Gurion International Airport and check in for your return flight.
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
DAY 12
UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN
Fri. Jun 23, 2023
- Return to the USA.
RATES & LODGING
participants
20+
Cost p/p in double room
$4,900
Cost p/p in single room
$6,250
Cost of accommodations for pre & post nights including breakfast and all taxes:
-Tel Aviv, Tal by The Beach $275,- per night per double occupancy room, $265,- per night per single occupancy room
-Jerusalem: Dan Boutique - per request
*All rates are subject to availability. Registration open
Tel Aviv: Tal by The Beach
- Nights: 5
- Room Category: Standard
- Hotel Website
Sea of Galilee: Ramot Resort Hotel
- Nights: 2
- Room Category: Deluxe
- Hotel Website
Jerusalem: Dan Boutique
- Nights: 2+LCO
- Room Category: Superior
- Hotel Website
What to expect
- 9 nights' accommodations.
- 10 days of touring with a tour educator (guide) in a luxury, air-conditioned bus.
- Daily breakfast, 4 lunches & 5 dinners.
- Water on the bus.
- Porterage at the airport & hotels.
- All site entrance fees & program fees as per your final program.
- Credit card fees.
- Flights to & from Israel.
- COVID related expenses, including tests.
- Evening transportation when dinner is not included.
- Amendments to the program: In the event that any sites, programs or meals etc. are added to the program, an additional fee may be required.
- Personal extras: Items of personal nature such as laundry, wines, mineral water, beverages, coffee, tea, food other than the table d’hotel menu, passport and visa fees, insurance, and foreign port taxes, unless otherwise specified.
- US and foreign airport taxes, Q fuel surcharge and border taxes when applicable.
- Value Added Tax is currently not applicable to tourists visiting Israel. Should the law change, you will be notified accordingly, and VAT will be added to your final invoice.
- Gratuities: Recommend guidelines for tipping are provided in the terms section.
- Please review our terms & conditions (T&C’s) or request that we send you our full T&C’s. Until you do that, here is the small print, and other stuff you may want to know:
- Validity | All prices quoted are based on exchange rates as of the proposal date and are subject to change without notice. Rates are per person and are based on shared twin room occupancy.
- How to Make a Reservation | The quickest way to make a reservation is to register online or contact us by email. We accept VISA, MasterCard, and American Express credit cards. A non-refundable deposit is required in order to complete the registration process.
- For any assistance with this registration process or other trip-related queries, please email Customer Care: [email protected]
- Payments | The balance of your payment is due 90 days before your trip begins, or as specified in your invoice. You will receive an email reminder 2 weeks before this date. Various payment options are available as follows:
- Credit card | We accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Please check with your credit card provider regarding international processing fees. We are unable to process payments of over $1,000 over the phone. Please submit payment online via a credit card or by wiring funds via your bank.
- Domestic bank wire transfer | Payment should be wired in the same currency that is listed on your invoice. Please add the name of your group or invoice number as a reference and forward a copy of the transfer receipt by email. The bank transfer should clearly state the beneficiary’s name on the wire transfer.
- Please use the following information: Citizens Bank: 1 Citizens Drive, Riverside, RI 02915 Routing number: 021313103 (Domestic only) ACH: 036076150 SWIFT Code: CTZIUS33 (International only)
- Beneficiary Instructions: For the benefit of J² Adventures. Account number: 1001858331
- J² Adventures reserves the right to automatically cancel your reservation on that date and it may be subject to reconfirmation should the final payment not be received.
- Cancelation Policy | All cancelations need to be made in writing. The cancelation fee depends on the date when we receive written notification of your request to cancel your booking. Please note that the deposit is non-refundable.
- Cancelation fees | Cancelations made 90 or more days prior to departure incur the loss of the deposit. Cancelations made 89 to 46 days prior to departure incur the loss of 50% of the full trip cost. Cancelations made 45 days or less prior to the departure incur the loss of 100% of the full trip cost.
- Cancelation fees may also include: Hotel or supplier cancelation fees. J² Adventures reserves the right to adjust its terms of payment, including cancelation policies and initial deposits.
- Protect your investment for $495 p/p: Should you cancel your trip up to 5 days before your departure for any reason, our POM program offers you a trip refund. Call 888-230-6008 or e-mail: [email protected]
- Please click here to view our full terms (T&C’s). These T&C’s apply to all reservations created within J2 Adventures.
DISCOVER NEW WORLDS.
JEWISH JOURNEYS.
A family vacation to Israel. An adventure of a lifetime traveling with friends to Morocco. A trip to Poland or Portugal with your community. What do these trips have in common? No matter where you go, you will come back with a fresh perspective and appreciation of the place you visited as well as a heightened awareness of your identity as part of the global Jewish community.
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