SOLD OUT – Greece & Israel 2023 | Zion’s Hope

Flights from Newark, NJ or Orlando, FL

Our journey begins! Arrive in Athens on United this morning. Upon arrival, we will check in to our hotel near the historic Plaka District. Escorted walk to this ancient fun neighborhood. Welcome dinner at the hotel.

Parthenon and Acropolis of Greece. Our first breathtaking view of the Parthenon and Acropolis of Greece! Ample time to walk the steps on this commanding rock to see its temples and the Tomb of the Unknown God. Special teaching at Mars Hill where the Apostle Paul himself taught.  City tour of the changing of the guards and the massive squares and waterfront. Lunch and dinner. Overnight Athens.

Free half-day in Athens this morning. Visit the shops or meander the ancient streets. Transfer to our ship for lunch. Once onboard, Sail Away ship party. Enjoy the afternoon familiarizing yourself with your new home for the week. Make spa reservations, check out the library, pools and entertainment choices. Dinner together in the main dining room.

Kusadasi port, Ephesus, Patmos, and dinner on the waterfront. Wake up early and watch the captain bring us into this beautiful Turkish port of Kusadasi. We depart the ship on our private Biblical tour hosted by David Rosenthal. Arrive in Ephesus – one of the 7 Churches of Revelation. Awesome tour walking the same streets where John, Paul, and the Apostles shared the gospel message. Return to the port for lunch.

At 6:30PM, we arrive on the island of Patmos. It is here that John received the Book of Revelation from the Lord in a cave.  You will visit that cave, together with a teaching nearby overlooking our beautiful ship. You will have time to visit the monastery and small museum that houses precious Biblical manuscripts and other artwork. As a group, we have dinner on the waterfront at a simple Taverna. Enjoy a gelato or coffee and meander along the waterfront and shops. Rejoin the ship.

Lovely day to relax on the ship. Sleep in and have a sumptuous breakfast on the deck! Join your friends today between 10:30AM-12:30PM for Biblical teaching and preparation by David and the Zion’s Hope teaching staff. Lunch wherever you like on the ship today. Enjoy the ship, shows, or sit out at the pools this evening. Dinner together if you like, or reserve one of their unique restaurants and have dinner on your own.

Arrive at the port of Ashdod (close to Jerusalem) this morning. Depart the ship and travel to the Mount of Olives. See Palm Sunday Road and walk as a group to the private area of the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was betrayed and wept. Short drive to Bethlehem where we will have a Bedouin barbeque lunch in a tent with a view of the Shepherd’s Fields – where our Lord was born. Next, visit the Western Wall of the Second Temple, then a teaching on the Southern Steps that was the grand entry into the Temple. These steps were walked on by Jesus himself as he entered the city. Walk through the Old City of Jerusalem and out Damascus Gate to Gordon’s Calvary – the Place of the Skull and the Garden Tomb. Here we will share worship, with communion together. Walk a different route back through the Christian Quarter. You will be able to see the sites of the Via Dolorosa and the Church of Holy Sepulchre. Time permitting, we will visit the Pool of Siloam, one of the newly expanded sites from the original Temple. We will overnight tonight at Jerusalem. If you wish to explore more, you will have time to walk around the Old City tonight,  shop or have a coffee. Dinner at our hotel Jerusalem.

Depart Jerusalem – first stop is the Jordan River. Here you will see the waters important to Joshua, the Conquest, Jesus Christ, and of course his forerunner John the Baptist. Next, we visit Capernaum – known as the town of Jesus. Walk on the beach, sit in the synagogue, and see Peter’s Mother-in-law’s house. Enjoy teaching at the Mt. of Beatitudes. Fish lunch together and a visit to the black Chorazin synagogue.  Next a beautiful time of worship aboard a private Sea of Galilee cruise.

Depart the Galilee past Nazareth, and drive to Mount Precipice. This is where Jesus was threatened to be thrown from a cliff, but it is also the site where you will see the Valley of Armageddon and Megiddo, the Jezreel Valley. Return to the ship for dinner.

Arrive on the Biblical island of Cyprus this morning. We drive out to a beach area to celebrate Barnabas, Paul, and the gospels that took root on this island nation. Time for shopping in the town square. Have lunch on the island or rejoin the ship for lunch. We sail at 2:30PM.

Enjoy a free day exploring the breathtaking and picturesque island of Santorini today. The ship will also offer plenty of day tours, snorkel trips and boat trips if we wish to see more of the island. Dinner with the group or at your leisure. Lunch will be available onboard if you want to return to the ship.

Ship arrives in Athens at 7:00AM for disembarkation. Depart the ship this morning and drive along the Aegean Sea. Stop at the architectural wonder, the Corinth Canal. Grab a coffee and we stop at a lesser-known stop called Cencherea. It is here that scripturally we learn the Apostle Paul visited at least twice, once with Phoebe, and the second time when he cut his hair on this beach, taking the Nazarite vow. Next, Corinth: In Paul’s time, Corinth was an important city in ancient Greece, and it played a major role in his missionary work. From here you can stand in the doorway of the very synagogue he taught in, or on the BEMA where he made his proclamation. We will visit both upper and lower Corinth. At lower Corinth, we see the verifying inscription of Erastus, and the sites of the home churches of Corinth. We will have a unique farm lunch in the countryside of Corinth, and then spend the night at a lovely boutique hotel near the beach of Corinth, where many of the Apostles’ journeys began and ended. Dinner.

The United Airlines flights will depart Athens just before lunch. We will be departing the hotel after breakfast, around 8:30AM. See the “Air Tickets” section of the brochure for more details on flights.