Egypt Holy Land Tours: From the Pyramids to Petra and Jerusalem

The Holy Land Begins in Egypt

The Gospel of Matthew tells how Joseph took Mary and the infant Jesus into Egypt to escape Herod. In Coptic Cairo, inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon, the crypt of the Church of Abu Serga is held by tradition to be where they stayed. A few steps away stand the Hanging Church, built over the fortress gatehouse, and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, where the Cairo Geniza, one of the great archives of medieval Jewish life, was found. Both tours spend a day here, and our guides to Christianity in Egypt and Judaism in Egypt tell the longer story.

The same day in Cairo takes in the Citadel of Saladin, begun in 1176 by the sultan who would retake Jerusalem from the Crusaders eleven years later. Before that, day two is for the Pyramids of Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum, so you see the Egypt of the pharaohs that the Bible’s writers knew.

Jordan: Mount Nebo, the Baptism Site and Petra

Jordan is the Bible’s land east of the river, and both tours give it four nights. At Umm Qais, ancient Gadara, you look across the Sea of Galilee; at Jerash you walk the colonnaded streets of a Decapolis city. At Bethany beyond the Jordan, the place where John baptised, you stand at the river itself. In Madaba, the floor of St George’s Church holds the sixth-century mosaic map of the Holy Land, the oldest surviving map of Jerusalem. On Mount Nebo you see the view Moses saw of the Promised Land, which Deuteronomy says he was never to enter. Then a full day at Petra, the rose-red city of the Nabataeans.

Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Masada and the Dead Sea

You cross from Jordan at the Allenby (King Hussein) Bridge and drive up through the Judean Desert to Jerusalem. Walk down the Mount of Olives, follow the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and stand at the Western Wall. In Bethlehem, in the West Bank, visit the Church of the Nativity and the Grotto of the Manger. The last touring day climbs by cable car to Herod’s fortress at Masada and ends floating in the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth.

How Our Egypt Holy Land Tours Run

• Private. Your own guide and vehicle in each country, on the dates you choose. Both tours start any day.
• Hotels. 5-star standard hotels in Cairo (about 3.5-star by Western standards), 4-star hotels in Jordan and Jerusalem. Triple, twin/double and single rooms.
• Flights. The flight from Cairo to Amman is included, and on the 15-day tour so are the domestic flights to Aswan and back from Luxor.
• Guides. An Egyptologist in Egypt, licensed English-speaking guides in Jordan and Israel.
• Entrance fees. Included at every site on the itinerary, including Petra.

When to Go, and Christmas and Easter in the Holy Land

Spring (March to May) and autumn (October to November) are the most comfortable months, warm in Cairo and Petra and mild in Jerusalem. Summer is very hot at the Dead Sea and Masada. Christmas and Easter are the most moving times to be in Bethlehem and Jerusalem and the busiest: book several months ahead. Prices rise over these weeks; on the 11-day tour, for example, from $2,750 per person in a triple room over Christmas and New Year and from $2,640 at Easter.

More Ways to Travel Egypt in Faith

If you would rather stay in Egypt, our 5 day Cairo and Mount Sinai tour climbs Mount Sinai for sunrise and visits St Catherine’s Monastery, and all our pilgrimage and faith itineraries are on the Egypt spiritual tours page. For Egypt and Jordan without Israel, see our Egypt and Jordan tours.