- Overview
- Itinerary
- Gallery
- Included
- Excluded
About This Tour
LDS Tour Instructor: Bruce H. Porter – Middle Eastern Linguistics Scholar and Institute Director; CES Instructor. Bruce earned degrees in Ancient Near Eastern Studies with an emphasis in Semitic languages, scripture, and the History of Religion and Anthropology. He has conducted extensive research for the Religious Studies Center, the Pearl of Great Price and the Book of Mormon, and has done research in major museums and libraries of Europe and the United States. He co-authored Prophecies and Promises with Rod Meldrum and reviewed Brother Meldrum’s book An Everlasting Decree. He has taught adult religion classes for BYU Continuing Education and continues his passion for scriptural research.
Guide service provided by: Dave & Bill Wilkey
Pricing
- Tour Only Price: $7,995.00 per person, Double Occupancy (Airfare not included)
- Airfare: approx. $1,200.00 to $1,500.00
Deposit: $2,000.00 per person, due at time of booking | Full Payment Due: November 1, 2027
Make Payments To:
Wilkey Travel, 5176 West 3160 South, Hurricane, Utah 84737
Or Venmo: @DavidW-Wilkey
Tour Contacts
Dave Wilkey
Phone: +1 (435) 703-5557
Email: davewilkey@yahoo.com
Bill Wilkey
Phone: +1 (435) 272-3710
Email: williamwilkey@gmail.com
- Day 1: Depart from USA Gateway City for Cairo
- Day 2: Arrive in Cairo
- Day 3: Great Pyramids of Giza & the Egyptian Museum
- Day 4: Memphis & the Step Pyramid of Sakkara
- Day 5: Fly to Aswan & Embark on the Nile Cruise
- Day 6: Abu Simbel & Sail to Kom Ombo
- Day 7: Edfu Temple & the Valley of the Kings
- Day 8: Luxor & Karnak Temples, Flight Back to Cairo
- Day 9: Fly to Amman, Jordan
- Day 10: Madaba, Mt. Nebo & Petra
- Day 11: Petra
- Day 12: Wadi Rum, Border Crossing & the Red Sea
- Day 13: Snorkeling, Masada, Ein Gedi & the Dead Sea
- Day 14: Qasr El Yahud, Jericho & the Mount of Temptation
- Day 15: Bet She’an, Megiddo, Mt. Carmel & the Sea of Galilee
- Day 16: Mt. Tabor, Mount of Beatitudes & Sail on the Sea of Galilee
- Day 17: Nazareth & Caesarea
- Day 18: Israel Museum, Bethlehem & Shepherd’s Field
- Day 19: Temple Mount, Via Dolorosa & Hezekiah’s Tunnel
- Day 20: Yad Vashem & the Western Wall
- Day 21: Garden of Gethsemane, BYU Jerusalem Center & the Garden Tomb
- Day 22: Depart for the USA
Itineraries
Day 1
Date : February 27, 2028
Depart from USA Gateway City for Cairo
Depart from your USA gateway city for Cairo, Egypt.
Day 2
Date : February 28, 2028
Arrive in Cairo
Welcome to Cairo, Egypt! For 5,000 years, this country and culture has mystified and intrigued the world. Upon arriving, check in to your hotel for some much-needed rest.
Day 3
Date : February 29, 2028
Great Pyramids of Giza & the Egyptian Museum
After breakfast, experience the Great Pyramids of Giza – the only surviving wonder of the ancient world, with the ancient Sphinx standing guard nearby. Later, visit the Egyptian Museum, where magnificent artifacts from ancient Egypt are gathered and displayed across more than 100 rooms, including mummified remains of great Pharaohs, well-preserved papyrus scrolls, and the opulent treasures of King Tutankhamen.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 4
Date : March 1, 2028
Memphis & the Step Pyramid of Sakkara
This morning, visit the ancient capital of Upper Egypt, Memphis, to view the great alabaster figure of Ramesses and the Alabaster Sphinx. Nearby, visit the oldest pyramid complex of the ancient world, the Step Pyramid of Sakkara.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 5
Date : March 2, 2028
Fly to Aswan & Embark on the Nile Cruise
Fly to Aswan. Upon arrival, enjoy a day tour to the Philae Temple and the High Dam. Embark on your luxurious Nile River cruise ship. Take an afternoon trip to a Nubian village to enjoy commentary on Bedouin history, plus a felucca (traditional wooden sailboat) ride around the Agha Khan Mausoleum.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 6
Date : March 3, 2028
Abu Simbel & Sail to Kom Ombo
Early this morning, depart for a drive out into the desert to see the greatest monument in Egypt, Abu Simbel – the first site on earth listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This great temple, dedicated to Ramesses, was hewn out of rock to a depth of 210 feet. Upon returning to Aswan, board the ship and sail to Kom Ombo, arriving at the beautiful temple complex of Kom Ombo. Dinner and overnight at Edfu.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 7
Date : March 4, 2028
Edfu Temple & the Valley of the Kings
This morning, visit the Temple of Edfu. Continue sailing on the Nile and enjoy lunch, then visit the west bank of the Nile. As you enter the Valley of the Kings, you will be greeted by the Colossi of Memnon, which even overwhelmed the great Emperor Hadrian. In the Valley of the Kings, enter three grand tombs of the Pharaohs to see the burial chambers and glorious hieroglyphics that were meant to assist the dead into the afterlife.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 8
Date : March 5, 2028
Luxor & Karnak Temples, Flight Back to Cairo
Breakfast and disembarkation. Visit the Luxor Temple, including the Great Temple of Amun with its Hypostyle Hall of 134 sandstone columns, 80 feet high. Continue to the second temple complex on the banks of the Nile, the Karnak Temple. Take a flight back to Cairo. A visit to the Great Alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali and the great Citadel overlooking the City of the Dead is also planned – the largest and most breathtaking mosque in Egypt.
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 9
Date : March 6, 2028
Fly to Amman, Jordan
Depart on a flight from Egypt for Amman, Jordan. Upon arrival, clear immigration & customs and depart for your hotel accommodations.
Accommodations: Amman, Jordan Area (Breakfast & Dinner Included)
Day 10
Date : March 7, 2028
Madaba, Mt. Nebo & Petra
Tour Highlights: Madaba, mosaics, Mt. Nebo, and Petra.
Visit St. George’s Cathedral in Madaba, where a 6th-century mosaic map – one of the oldest existing maps of the Holy Land – is displayed. Continue to Mt. Nebo, the place where Moses is believed to have been translated and taken up by the hand of the Lord as was Alma (Alma 45:18–19), and enjoy the panoramic view of the Jordan Valley. Visit the Church of Mt. Nebo, with its well-preserved mosaics dating back to the Byzantine era (4th century A.D.). Travel on to Petra for the overnight.
Accommodations: Petra, Jordan (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 11
Date : March 8, 2028
Petra
Tour Highlights: Petra, with lunch at the Crowne Plaza.
Begin your quest in the Valley of Petra. At the gates, your tour guide leads you to the entrance of the Siq, a narrow slot canyon opening onto your first views of the wondrous royal tombs of Petra – truly one of the greatest wonders on earth (and easy to see why they filmed Indiana Jones here). Return to the hotel overnight in Petra.
Accommodations: Petra, Jordan (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 12
Date : March 9, 2028
Wadi Rum, Border Crossing & the Red Sea
Tour Highlights: Wadi Rum, border crossing into Israel, and the Red Sea.
Tour the historic region of Wadi Rum (of Lawrence of Arabia fame), driving through the Wadi in jeeps and finishing with a camel ride through the desert. Afterward, travel to and cross the border at Eilat, Israel – its sandy beaches and coral reefs are among the most pristine on the Red Sea.
Accommodations: Eilat, Israel, Red Sea (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 13
Date : March 10, 2028
Snorkeling, Masada, Ein Gedi & the Dead Sea
Tour Highlights: Snorkeling, Masada, Ein Gedi, and the Dead Sea.
Enjoy free time shopping or snorkeling and scuba diving in the Red Sea. In the afternoon, drive north through the Dead Sea basin. From the desert floor, ascend by cable car to the spectacular cliff-top fortress of Masada, where a community of over 900 Jews preferred death at their own swords to surrender to the overwhelming Roman forces. Further north, pause to view Ein Gedi, King David’s Spring & Cave, where he hid from King Saul.
Accommodations: Dead Sea Resort (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 14
Date : March 11, 2028
Qasr El Yahud, Jericho & the Mount of Temptation
Tour Highlights: Qasr El Yahud (baptism site), Jericho, Old Testament Jericho, Elisha’s Spring, the Mount of Temptation gondola ride, and the Sycamore Tree.
Begin with the experience of a salt-sea mud bath and floating in the Dead Sea, the saltiest body of water on earth. Depart to visit Qumran and see some of the caves where, in 1941, a shepherd discovered some of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Continue to Qasr El Yahud, scripturally known as Bethabara, near where the scriptures teach the Savior was baptized by John the Baptist. In Jericho, see the excavation of Old Testament Jericho and the Elisha stream, healed of its salty nature. In New Testament Jericho, visit the Mount of Temptation, including a gondola ride, and view the traditional Sycamore Tree where Zacchaeus climbed for a better look at Jesus.
Accommodations: Oasis Hotel Jericho (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 15
Date : March 12, 2028
Bet She’an, Megiddo, Mt. Carmel & the Sea of Galilee
Tour Highlights: Bet She’an, Megiddo, Mt. Carmel, and the Sea of Galilee.
Travel north, paralleling the Jordan River, to Bet She’an, the largest Roman ruins in Israel, where King Saul was killed and his body fastened to the city wall. Nearby is Megiddo, site of ancient battles and of the prophesied last battle of Armageddon. Ascend Mt. Carmel, where the prophet Elijah and the priests of Baal contested their faith, then enjoy your first view of the Sea of Galilee.
Accommodations: Sea of Galilee (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 16
Date : March 13, 2028
Mt. Tabor, Mount of Beatitudes & Sail on the Sea of Galilee
Tour Highlights: Mt. Tabor, Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Tabgha & St. Peter’s Primacy, and sailing on the Sea of Galilee.
Mt. Tabor is one of the traditional sites of the Transfiguration. Continue to the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and nearby Capernaum, where many miracles were performed. Visit Tabgha and St. Peter’s Primacy, and end the day sailing on the Sea of Galilee. Overnight on its shores.
Accommodations: Sea of Galilee (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 17
Date : March 14, 2028
Nazareth & Caesarea
Tour Highlights: Nazareth – Church of the Annunciation, Old Nazareth Village, and Caesarea.
Begin at the Church of the Annunciation with a morning devotional about the announcement given to Mary by the Angel Gabriel. Traveling south along the Mediterranean, enter Caesarea, remains of a city built by Herod, residence of Pontius Pilate and prison for the Apostle Paul. Overnight in Jerusalem.
Accommodations: Jerusalem (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 18
Date : March 15, 2028
Israel Museum, Bethlehem & Shepherd’s Field
Tour Highlights: Israel Museum – Model City and the Shrine of the Book, Bethlehem, and Shepherd’s Field.
Discover the treasures of the Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book, which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and a stunning Model City of Old Jerusalem. Depart to Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity, then Shepherd’s Field, where shepherds were tending their flocks when an angel announced the birth of Christ.
Accommodations: Jerusalem (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 19
Date : March 16, 2028
Temple Mount, Via Dolorosa & Hezekiah’s Tunnel
Tour Highlights: Temple Mount / Holy Mount, the Dome of the Rock / Al Aqsa Mosque, the Pool of Bethesda, the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, free time/lunch, and Hezekiah’s Tunnel.
Visit the Temple Mount and view the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. Enter the oldest quarter of Jerusalem to visit the Pools of Bethesda and walk the Via Dolorosa with its Stations of the Cross, leading to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After lunch, visit Mt. Zion to see Caiaphas’s House of Judgment and the nearby Upper Room, concluding in the ancient City of David with a walk through Hezekiah’s Tunnel, which flows with the Gihon Spring, ending at the Pool of Siloam (John 9).
Accommodations: Jerusalem (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 20
Date : March 17, 2028
Yad Vashem & the Western Wall
Tour Highlights: Yad Vashem, the Ophel Gardens / Davidson Center, the Upper Room, Caiaphas’s House, the Western Wall Tunnels, and the Western Wall for the Jewish Sabbath.
Visit Yad Vashem, the official memorial to the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. After lunch, visit the Western Wall Tunnels, a “time tunnel” back to ancient Jerusalem’s 1st-century glory days. Continue to the Ophel Gardens at the Davidson Center to view excavations of the Western and Southern walls. Late afternoon: visit the Western Wall to help usher in the Jewish Sabbath.
Accommodations: Jerusalem (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 21
Date : March 18, 2028
Garden of Gethsemane, BYU Jerusalem Center & the Garden Tomb
Tour Highlights: Old City overlook, the Jerusalem Center for a sacrament meeting, the Orson Hyde Garden, a walk down to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Garden Tomb.
Begin the Sabbath with a visit to the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden, discussing the importance of his dedicatory prayer, followed by a short walk to the Garden of Gethsemane at the base of the Mount of Olives, reviewing the momentous events of the Atonement. Attend sacrament meeting at the BYU Jerusalem Center, with its breathtaking chapel view of the Old City and Temple Mount. Visit an overlook of the Old City from the Mount of Olives, then the Garden Tomb, where a limestone hill many revere as Golgotha stands near an ancient tomb some believe was the final resting place of the Savior’s mortal remains.
Accommodations: Jerusalem (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 22
Date : March 19, 2028
Depart for the USA
Transfer to the airport for your departure flight to the USA.
- Tour Scholar Bruce H. Porter; guide service provided by Dave & Bill Wilkey
- 17 nights first-class accommodations, Double Occupancy
- 3 nights & 4 days Nile cruise, outside cabins, Double Occupancy
- Airfare from Amman, Jordan to Cairo, Egypt (CAI), and airfare between Egypt tour site locations
- All meals provided as indicated (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
- Expert English-speaking local guides (with headsets)
- Entrance fees per the itinerary
- All tours listed, with modern motor coach
- All tips (approx. $24 per person per day)
- Cost of visas
- International Airfare to & from the Middle East (approx. $1,200 – $1,500)