Depart the USA on overnight flight to Amman.
Arrival in Amman; after customs and visa processing, you will be transferred to your hotel for the night.
We will spend the morning to visit Amman, the capital of Jordan which joins together the antique and the modern world. We will start our tour by visiting the Citadel of Amman with the magnificent view over the old city, the Roman Theater below and Jordanian National Museum which has a large collection of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Then we will drive to the Wadi Rum for its magnificent landscape to experience this natural wonder. After the unique sunset experience over the landscape there, we will drive to Petra.
We will spend the full day to visit the Nabatean rock city of Petra, which is possibly one of the unique places in the world. Over thousands of years, people and nature together have created this extraordinary place. After an impressive stroll through the gorge, we will encounter the breathtaking treasure chamber. Like a movie studio incorporated with an enclosed theater and temple, they lie embedded into a unique desert landscape before us.
Today, we will take King's Highway via Wadi Al Mujib a deep and majestic cut through rugged highlands that drains into the Dead Sea. We will drive by the famous Karak Castle with its magnificent view over the city below it, St George Church Madaba with the incredible mosaic map of holy places and Mount Nebo where Moses looked over to the Holy Land, the highest in the Moabite Range which has been the center for pilgrimages since early Christian times. Then we drive down to the lowest point on Earth the Dead Sea, 400 meters below Sea level having the opportunity to bathe there. We will drive to Amman for overnight.
Before we cross the border into Syria, we will visit the ancient city Jerash. This city is one of the best examples of Roman cities in the Levant. The characteristic method of building is baroque-oriental. We will walk through the monumental Arch of Hadrian, around the Stadium, the Theater, the Temple of Zeus, and the marble street with its tree-like columns. After border crossing, we continue to Damascus for overnight.
Damascus, one of the most important trade centers of the ancient Silk Road, and the capital of Syria. In the 1st century, this city was also for a short time the capital of Nabatea. However, through the conquest of the Romans, it became the capital of the Roman province of Arabia. Because it lies on the path to Amman, it also held a special position. The old town of Damascus is a well-constructed sightseeing paradise for visitors, because here one can see the antiquities of the Islamic, Roman and Byzantine periods all in one location. Damascus is the most cultivated and oldest continuously inhabited city in the Middle East.
We will walk through the buzzing Al-Hamidiyeh Souk via splendid Azem Palace, ancient residence of an Ottoman governor of Damascus, along the Straight Street (Via Recta) which will lead us to the Christian quarter where we will visit the House of Ananias. Here, according to tradition Saint Paul recovered his sight.
A full day sightseeing in Damascus, which has a history stretching back to 4,000 years, will start with the excursion of the National Museum housing the excellent collection of artifacts from the Neolithic to the Umayyad Period. City monuments include the Great Umayyad Mosque which reveals a Roman, Christian and Muslim heritage with a complex of minarets, fountains, courtyards and rich Byzantine mosaics.
Today we will have an excursion to southern Syria, the Hauran an extra ordinary landscape. This region is dominated by the ranges of volcanic hills covered with black basalt rock and lava flows, known as the Jebel Arab or Jebel Druze We will start with visit to Bosra, a Nabatean city, capital of the new 'Provincia Arabia' under Trajan. The principal charm of this dark city is the immaculately preserved Roman Theater which was converted into a fortress by the Ayyubid.
Our next stop is Suwaida, known as Dionysias during the Roman time is dominated by the distance view of Mt. Hermon. Here we will visit the superb Suwadia museum, one of the best provincial museums in the Middle East.
A short distance drive takes us to the ruins of Qanawat known as Canatha during the Hellenistic time and probably was the main city of the Hauran before the rise of Bosra in Nabatiean and Roman times.
Our last stop today is Shahba, ancient Philippopolis and the birthplace of the Roman Emperor Philip the Arab which still preserves much of its original Roman character.
En route to Palmyra, we will visit Ma'lula where still today a dialect of Aramaic is spoken which going back 2,000 years. Here we will walk through this charming village to visit the Convent of St. Thecla and the Monastery of St. Sergius. Then we will continue on to Palmyra (the city of palm trees).
We will spend the full day in this legendary oasis city, capital of the famous Queen Zenobia, who dared challenge the power of Rome. We will make a visit to the tremendous Temple of Bel, which is almost identical in structure to the Temple built by Herod in Jerusalem, agora, theatre, tetrapylon and colonnaded streets with a monumental arch. We will continue our sightseeing with the mysterious Valley of Tombs, where you can admire the splendid subterranean Tomb of Three Brothers and the unique Tower Tombs. In the afternoon we'll tour the museum of the Palmyrene art, which houses an interesting collection of splendid portrait sculptures. In the evening we will ascend to the Arab castle to witness a fabulous sunset over the spectacular ancient ruins down below.
Today we will leave the desert and head to Orontes Valley. We will drive to through Homs to Hama, the most quintessential of Syria’s cities of the Silk Road; its history going back to the Neolithic time, it was an important caravan center, a famous silk producing center and a very picturesque. Hama is the city of gardens, picturesque riverside houses and most important it is the home of famous enormous waterwheels. While in Hama we will strolls along the river to experience its domestic architecture, gardens, waterwheel, and mystical atmosphere of this charming city. We will visit the famous 18th century Azem palace where we will see superb examples of traditional Syrian architectural decoration, particularly wooden paneling and inlay work.
Our first stop this morning will be Apamea, founded in 3rd century BC by Seleucus I, named it after his wife, very well preserved and has the most impressive ruins after Palmyra.
Then we will drive to the village Maarat Al-Numan to visit the splendid mosaic museum housed in a beautiful 17th century caravansary.
We continue our visit to the fascinating Dead Cities of Serjilla, Bara and finally Elba, a village in the prehistoric religious metropolis where the archaeologists found 15,000 clay tablets whose analysis provided much information about the culture of the Sumerians and what became of them.
This morning we will visit Qalaat Samaan, a early Christian complex that was home to St Simeon. Then we will spend the rest of the day in the city of Aleppo. Along with Damascus, it is one of the largest cities in Syria, and during Roman times it was a thriving trade center as well as an important connection between Asia and Europe. In the 12th century, the Spanish-Arab traveler Ibn Jubayr wrote "...the city, as old as eternity, has never stopped being new, although it has always existed". We will explore the old town, which is inhabited both by Christians and Muslims; in fact, it has the largest population of Christians in the Middle East. Then we will stroll through the Citadel and the Souk (bazaar) that surrounds it. It remains filled with donkeys and packs just like in older days; we will also enjoy wandering through the exotic spice markets. Finally we will visit the Archaeological Museum which houses an extensive and interesting collection of artifacts of ancient Mesopotamia.
We will stop in an important agricultural town of Idlib to visit its museum which houses the artifacts of Ebla. Then we head to the Mediterranean coast to visit the archaeological excavation of Ugarit in Ras Shamra, once the most important city on Mediterranean, probably the world’s first international port going back to 3rd millennium BC. Our final destination is the beautiful Phoenician city of Tarsus facing the island of Arward, a few miles offshore.
Before we enter Lebanon we will we will visit fascinating city of Amrit, another ancient Phoenician city and the Krak des Chevaliers, the most impressive crusader castle in Syria.
We cross the Lebanese border and drive through the once very famous ancient Mediterranean harbor city of Tripoli to so-called Maronites Mountains, so spectacular and picturesque that they delight everyone's imagination.
Full day is dedicated to visit cities of Cedars and Becharre nestled in a deep gorge of 9,000 feet high in the Lebanese mountains. Cedars is famous for its cedar forest that Lebanon has been known throughout the millenniums. In Becharre, the birth place of Gibran Khalil Gibran, the author of “The Prophet”, which hosts his museum. Here we will visit some of the Maronites monasteries in the so called Holy Valley and visit some of their villages to learn about their culture and rich history in Lebanon and the museum of Khalil Gibran. Overnight in Cedars/Becharre
This morning we head to one of the most beautiful cities of Lebanon, Byblos with its magnificent sea castle, charming and picturesque harbor and the souk. And, in a short distance, there is the most amazing natural wonder, limestone Grotto of Jeita.
We drive to Anjar to visit the Omayyad palace with its extensive ruins. Then we head to Baalbeck to explore one of the most famous ancient ruins in the Fertile Crescent region. Baalbeck (city of the sun) and its ruins are very impressive with their three most famous temples: Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus, the most well-preserved of Roman architecture.
We drive up to the Druze Mountains to visit Beit Eddine - the palace of Emir Bashir Shihab II, to learn about Druze’s culture and then the famous city of Sidon where Alexander the Great spent seven months to build a man-made bridge in order to conquer its sea fortress. Our last stop will be at the ancient Tyre before we return to Beirut.
We will spend the full day to enjoy the splendid city of Beirut,” the pearl of the orient” or Paris of the Orient” We will visit the National Museum of Lebanon, probably the best archaeological museum in all middle East with its rich collections of antiquities and magnificently display artifacts. Then there is time to explore downtown includes The Martyr’s Square, the parliament, the excavation area, Omari Mosque, St. George Church, Corniche and Raouche area.
Today you will be transferred to the airport for your flight from Beirut to the United States.
We recommend travel insurance.
