5-Day Orthodox Holy Land Pilgrimage: Bethlehem & Jerusalem

Program OverviewThe 5-Day Orthodox Holy Land Pilgrimage is a private program based in Bethlehem, built around the heart of the Orthodox faith: the desert monasteries and their saints, the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem, and baptismal renewal in the Jordan. You stay four nights in Bethlehem with daily breakfast and travel out each day with a licensed local guide, then return to rest. Arrival and departure days are kept free, so the three touring days are unhurried. Day 1, Arrival. Optional airport pickup, or arrive on your own, to your Bethlehem hotel. Nothing scheduled, settle in and rest. Day 2, Bethlehem and the Desert Monasteries. The Church of the Nativity, the Orthodox Shepherds Field, the Milk Grotto, an olive wood workshop and store, then Mar Saba and the monastery of St Theodosius. Day 3, Holy Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives, Gethsemane and the Tomb of the Virgin Mary, the Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with Golgotha and the Holy Tomb, and Mount Zion. An early Divine Liturgy at the Sepulchre can be arranged in advance. Day 4, Wadi Qelt, the Jordan and the Dead Sea. St George of Choziba in Wadi Qelt, the Tomb of Lazarus, the Mount of Temptation, baptismal renewal at Qasr al-Yahud, the lion monastery of St Gerasimos, and a float in the Dead Sea. Day 5, Departure. Leave when you like with an optional airport transfer, or stay on and keep exploring the Holy Land. This is a private pilgrimage for your own group, with relic veneration, the desert fathers, the Resurrection, and the Jordan at its center. The itinerary is a proposal and can be tailored to your group and your feast days.