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2-Day Best of Israel Tour from Tel Aviv: Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Masada Tour

Tel Aviv, Israel

2 Day Best of Israel Tour from Tel Aviv Jerusalem Bethlehem Masada and the Dead Sea

From $349.00

Select Date and Travelers

up to 6 days in advance

2 days
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Religious treasures and natural wonders take center stage on this 2-day Israel highlight trip from Tel Aviv. Witness top Old Jerusalem and Bethlehem sites including the Via Dolorosa and Manger Square, and the next day, visit age-old, rocktop Masada; pass by Qumran's Dead Sea Scroll caves, and ‘swim’ in the salt-rich waters of the Dead Sea. Your tour includes overnight hotel accommodation in Jerusalem, breakfast, and round-trip coach transport.

2-Day Best of Israel Tour from Tel Aviv
Professionally guided tours of Old Jerusalem and Bethlehem
Enjoy views of the Dome of the Rock—an iconic Jerusalem landmark
See the Garden of Gethsemane and the Western Wall
Cable-car ride to Masada
Overnight accommodation, breakfast, and hotel pick-up and drop-off included

What's Included

Breakfast
Hotel pickup and drop off
Professional guide
Air-conditioned vehicle
Overnight accommodation

Food and drinks, unless specified
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

06:40 AM

Pickup details

Please note that our pickup/drop-off is available from a few central hotels only. Please select the hotel closest to your address from the drop-down menu on the tour page. If you are not sure which of the listed hotels is a good fit, please choose the option “I don’t see my pickup location” and insert enter your accommodation address. After the booking is approved by the local tour operator, a confirmation email from Bein Harim will be sent to you mentioning the final pickup point closest to your address. Please read the email with the attached booking confirmation carefully to make sure you are waiting for the pickup at the correct location. Please make sure to wait for the pickup at the hotel entrance.

What To Expect

Discover some of Israel’s best-known religious, historical, and natural splendors on this 2-day tour. Leave the bustle of Tel Aviv behind and take in some of the holiest sites of Old Jerusalem and Bethlehem with a guide before staying overnight in Jerusalem. The next day, drive through the Judean Desert and ride the cable car up to the ancient mountaintop ruins of Masada. Then, pass the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and enjoy free time to relax and float in the waters of the Dead Sea before your return to Tel Aviv.

Your tour includes round-trip transport by air-conditioned coach; guided tours in Old Jerusalem and Bethlehem; overnight accommodation in Jerusalem, and breakfast on the second day.

Day 1

Jerusalem and Bethlehem Tour

13 Stops

Mount Scopus National Botanical Garden

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Garden of Gethsemane

Admission Ticket Free

Church of All Nations (Basilica of the Agony)

Admission Ticket Free

Kidron Valley

Admission Ticket Free

Old City of Jerusalem

2 hours 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Jewish Quarter

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Western Wall

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Christian Quarter

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

The Way of the Cross - Via Dolorosa

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Eglise du Saint-Sepulcre

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Bethlehem

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Church of the Nativity

40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Accommodation: Overnight stay at Jerusalem

Meals: Not included

Day 2

Masada and the Dead Sea Tour

5 Stops

The Good Samaritan Museum

Admission Ticket Free

Masada National Park

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Herod's Palace (Herodium)

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

En Gedi Nature Reserve

Admission Ticket Free

Dead Sea

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Accommodation: Not included

Meals: Breakfast

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
A current valid passport is required for a visit in Bethlehem
A moderate dress code is required to enter places of worship and selected museums. Please refrain from wearing shorts. Knees and shoulders must be covered for both men and women. You may risk refused entry if you fail to comply with these dress requirements
Not wheelchair accessible
The tour includes a reasonable amount of walking; comfortable walking shoes are recommended
Near public transportation

Most travelers can participate
Recommended to bring hats, bathing suit, towels and sun protection when visiting the Dead Sea
Tour itinerary order may change according to your day of departure
Please note this tour is not suitable for children under the age of 4
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 40 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 6 days in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 6 full days before the experience’s start time.
Any changes made less than 6 full days before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
For a 50% refund, you must cancel 2–6 full days before the experience’s start time.

If you cancel less than 2 full days before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 2 full days before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

38 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 38 reviews

Good tour , really bad hotel making overall value low

LuchinoAmsterdam, Dec 2019

Tour was ok and tour guides were good but not worth buying a 2 days trip - better to choose two separate daily trips and choose your hotel as the hotel they sent me was really bad .

Good second day at sea but crowded tour and bad hotel

tristinbrisbois, Sep 2019

Great 2nd day at Dead Sea and tour guide was great. Tour group was too big for Jerusalem and had to repeat everything in 2 languages which took a lot of time. The hotel was not good, not clean and not worth the money

Great 2 days tour of Israel on a 2 days vacation.

PABLITO_P, Apr 2019

Great tour guides specially Amir who assisted us to catch up on our flight. We learned a lot of the diversity of Jerusalem. Appreciated the tour schedules adjustment.

The tour was not what it claimed to...

Marcia S, Nov 2017

The tour was not what it claimed to be and I was the only person among hundreds of other tourists visiting the same sites to have my itinerary. I had to switch buses several times to be taken to designated locations. They switched my schedule to going to Masada the first day and then Jerusalem the second day. The first day I was with one group, but then put on bus with strangers to go to spend the night in Jerusalem. The hotel charged me for my accommodations when my overnight hotel was to be included in my tour fare. Then on the second day I spend only a half day with the same people and then was switched again to be with a different group in the afternoon. Again, I was the ONLY person that had my itinerary, though i was traveling with large groups of people.

Stories from the Bible came alive as...

John M, Sep 2017

Stories from the Bible came alive as our awesome guide, Ami, shared the history of his country as we drove to Jerusalem. We were spoiled from pickup at our hotel in the morning to drop off later that day at our beautiful, boutique hotel in Jerusalem, organised by Viator. Our first day was full of information, amazing sights and fabulous stories. Our second day in Masada and the Dead Sea was full-on and apart from the hot hot weather, which one should've expected in the desert ? the sights/sites seen and visited brought history to life. Thanks Viator and Ben Harim.

The actual tour guides were really...

David S, Jun 2016

The actual tour guides were really great especially day two guide -- not sure of his name but he had long hair -- he was awesome. But Viator itself was disappointing - they just offloaded us to another tour agency Bein Harim who did all the actual work, but they Viator did very little communicating. We had to follow up multiple times to get our pickup times/locations set up and Viator just treated it like a hand-off i.e. they just get leads and then move on. So, I won't use Viator going forward -- instead, I think you can do better by just going to the local guides themselves. In this case I WOULD recommend Bein Harim, and you can find them and book them directly and likely save money without having Viator in the middle, adding no value.

This has to be the best tour of our...

Grant R, Apr 2016

This has to be the best tour of our trip. Eli and Eyal our guides on the 2 days where superb and very knowledgeable. Our hotel in Jerusalem booked by the tour was very central to many great restaurants. Highly recommended!!!!

Loved the dead sea floating...

fuchchi, Feb 2016

Loved the dead sea floating experience! I tried really hard to drown but I just couldn't. Lol! Wasn't a huge fan of Masada but I guess that's personal preference. Jerusalem and Bethlehem were super cool. Our guide was very informative and funny.

Very interesting place and the guide...

OMAR Z, Jul 2015

Very interesting place and the guide was well informed and always taking good care of the group. Highly recommended

Fun and knowledgable guides. It felt...

Charles N, Jul 2015

Fun and knowledgable guides. It felt like traveling back in time. Thanks!

It was wonderful getting to see...

Charles C, Jul 2015

It was wonderful getting to see sites that I have dreamed about seeing for most of my life. The guides were great and very informative.

This was an amazing tour! Our guide...

coralellen, Apr 2015

This was an amazing tour! Our guide named Rikki was fantastic! She was very knowledgeable and happy to answer any questions. Masada was an amazing place to see. Floating on the Dead Sea was so much fun! I would recommend this to anybody. We were very lucky to get a great guide for Jerusalem and Bethlehem too, named Ron. He showed us all around and we had a fantastic day. Beware of the Orthodox Easter as we were nearly crushed in the crowds at the tomb. That was an experience in itself. All good fun.

The best guide... However, we had...

sehoon_s, Nov 2014

The best guide... However, we had to spend too much shopping time.

Day one of the tour was great...

ca_velas, May 2014

Day one of the tour was great (Jerusalem and Bethlehem, specially Jerusalem). They will always take you to souvenir/traditional shops but I guess it's part of the tourism industry in the Country and it's unavoidable. Sometimes annoying for me to be honest. Day two, Masada and Dead Sea, was a chaos in our tour. The group was too big to be handle only by one tour guide (50 people apron.). We spend half a day getting to Masada because of pick-up and shop stops (ridiculous). Very little time at the Dead Sea. I would highly recommend to take a semi or private tour instead of this chaotic tour so you can enjoy proper time at the attractions.

The general choice of sights to...

GEORGE_L, Jan 2014

The general choice of sights to visit was spot on, but the Jerusalem hotel used in at best mediocre. Both the dinner we opted for and the included breakfast were absolutely the poorest quality in ALL of our time in Jordan and Israel. The room was also noisy and the TV access "shut down" for almost 5 hours in the late afternoon and early evening. Our tour guides were well-informed and competent, but on the Jerusalem/Bethlehem day, we moved too fast and did not get enough time for actual "trinket shopping" in the Old City of Jerusalem. Masada was especially impressive and worth every penny of that day's cost. I would recommend booking just the Masada/Dead Sea single day option and seeing the Old City of Jerusalem on your own with a guidebook at hand, so you could stroll at leisure and reflect more at sights of YOUR own selection. This is especially recommended as long as Viator uses the Prima Park Hotel as their overnight option in Jerusalem, as it is SO below the acceptable standard in terms of food options in the hotel.

A very good tour and without the...

James G, Dec 2013

A very good tour and without the hassle and danger of renting a car and trying to see the same sites. Would have liked to have had more time in the bazaars in Jerusalem, but then that would have cut the other sites short. Also, having a knowledgeable tour guide as we did makes the experience even better. Highly recommended for any first time traveler to the area who wants to see as much as possible in the shortest time.

Remarkable history. Perhaps due to...

David L, Dec 2013

Remarkable history. Perhaps due to off season, we did not have a consistent 2 day tour with the same group. We were shuffled around a few times to get on the right bus to the right location. Each day we did have one tour guide and main bus driver. The first day, the women was difficult to understand and her depth of knowledge seemed limited; and the pushed getting a tip. The second - trip to Jerusalem and Bethlem - our guide (named David?) was very knowledgeable and could go into to depth on many areas. He presented things in an entertaing and interesting way. There was no tip basket but we did have to pay extra to expedite through the line in the Bethlehem church. Hotel they put us in in Jerusalem was ok but not near anything and I would not stay there again. For the price, I would have expected a higher level of quality and service. I would still recommend going via tour group.

These are all incredible places to...

Stephen B, Dec 2013

These are all incredible places to visit and this trip covers them way better than youd be able to do yourself. Day 1 starts in Jerusalem which was completely overwhelming, its a complete shock to the senses, all this ancient history, incredibly diverse cultures and religions all crammed between the old walls, it was great to have the guided tour as you see and learn so much in the short time you have. Next is Bethlehem, and even getting there is quite an experience. Overnight in Jerusalem. Day 2 starts at Masada, amazing, then off for a mud bath and floating on the dead sea. A brilliant trip. The only negatives I would mention is the very average overnight hotel in Jerusalem (upgrade if you can) and the tour guide on day 2 must have been doing the tours in King Herrods time as she appeared pretty bored of doing the tour again.

Jerusalem, Masada and Dead Sea were...

RAFINE M, Nov 2013

Jerusalem, Masada and Dead Sea were great experiences. We learned a lot and got to see a lot of Israel and float on the Dead Sea. Bethlehem was another story. Our guide there was trying to get money from us so we wouldnt have to wait in line to see where Jesus was born and he got mad when we said no

Good tour, covered the basics, and...

MaryWendell F, Nov 2013

Good tour, covered the basics, and included Bethlehem, but skipped some listed things like the Milk Grotto (because there was a 3 hour wait to view it). Guides were a mixed bag.