Private Tour: Masada and Dead Sea Day Trip from Tel Aviv

Meet your guide at your central Tel Aviv hotel or another central location in the city, hop inside your air-conditioned vehicle and set off through the rugged Judean Desert to Masada and the Dead Sea. On route, hear about the region’s ancient past and let your guide know if there’s anything you want to see more of during the day. Since this is a private tour, the itinerary can be adjusted around your particular wishes. Pass by the site of the Inn of the Good Samaritan, the location associated with the biblical parable, and see the ancient city of Jericho in the distance as your guide recounts the Old Testament story of how its walls were felled by the trumpets of the Israelites. Catch sight of the shimmering Dead Sea as you near Masada, the mountaintop fortress-palace built by King Herod in 350 BC. Catch the cable car up to the UNESCO World Heritage site and explore the ruins as you hear tales of Herod and the 960 Jewish zealots who committed suicide here in the 1st century AD to escape besieging Roman forces. View the well-preserved relics of Herod’s chambers and the synagogue constructed by the zealots. Back on the road, pass Ein Gedi oasis and the Qumran Caves, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947, on route to the Dead Sea. This extraordinary lake sits at the lowest point on Earth—1,312 feet (400 meters) below sea level — and boasts waters that are over 10 times saltier than seawater. Arrive at a Dead Sea resort and get free time to relax at leisure. Take a ‘swim’ in the salt-rich waters and perhaps enjoy a therapeutic mud bath at the world’s richest source of natural salts. Your tour then finishes with a drop-off at your Tel Aviv hotel.

• Pickup and drop-off around the city

• Professional private guide

• Air-conditioned vehicle

• Food and drinks

• Toll and parking fees

• Entrance fees

• Entry/Admission - Masada National Park

• Entry/Admission - Dead Sea