- 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
This is the Jordan & Israel-only version of our Middle East tour, for guests who prefer to skip the Egypt portion. It shares its Jordan and Israel itinerary with our full “Tour of Egypt, Jordan & Israel” departure.
Pricing
- Tour Only Price: $5,995.00 per person, Double or Triple Occupancy (Airfare not included)
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 for Amman, Jordan (AMM)
- Day 2: Arrive in Amman
- Day 3: Madaba, Mt. Nebo & Petra
- Day 4: Petra
- Day 5: Wadi Rum, Border Crossing & the Red Sea
- Day 6: Snorkeling, Masada, Ein Gedi & the Dead Sea
- Day 7: Qasr El Yahud, Jericho & the Mount of Temptation
- Day 8: Bet She’an, Megiddo, Mt. Carmel & the Sea of Galilee
- Day 9: Mt. Tabor, Mount of Beatitudes & Sail on the Sea of Galilee
- Day 10: Nazareth & Caesarea
- Day 11: Israel Museum, Bethlehem & Shepherd’s Field
- Day 12: Temple Mount, Via Dolorosa & Hezekiah’s Tunnel
- Day 13: Yad Vashem & the Western Wall
- Day 14: Garden of Gethsemane, BYU Jerusalem Center & the Garden Tomb
- Day 15: Depart for the USA
Itineraries
Day 1
Date : March 5, 2028
Depart for Amman, Jordan (AMM)
Departure from your gateway city for Amman, Jordan (AMM).
Day 2
Date : March 6, 2028
Arrive in Amman
Arrive in Amman, Jordan. Clear immigration & customs and depart for your hotel accommodations.
Accommodations: Amman, Jordan Area (Breakfast & Dinner Included)
Day 3
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 4
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. Return to the hotel overnight in Petra.
Accommodations: Petra, Jordan (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner)
Day 5
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 6
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 7
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 8
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 9
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 10
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 11
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 12
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 13
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 14
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 15
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
- 13 nights first-class accommodations, Double Occupancy
- 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. $20 per person per day)
- Cost of visas
- International Airfare to & from the Middle East (approx. $1,000 – $1,500)