To start the tour off, you will take a walk along the Musrara neighborhood which was an Arab community until 1948. Today, it is made up of both Ultra-Orthodox and Middle Eastern Jews, as well as an increasing population of artists and bohemians.

The nearby Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea She'arim is a large closed community of devout Jews who dress differently than most Israelis, and refrain from normal contact with the largely secular Israeli society and the outside world in general. You'll have an opportunity to briefly see how they live and learn about their culture.

Walking along Jaffa Road and the neighboring Street of the Prophets, the tour takes you on a journey to see the first monuments, businesses and historical events that made modern Jerusalem what it is today. You'll see some of the beautiful and historic sites like the Ethiopian Church and the Ticho house, hidden within today's bustling downtown which paints a picture of a city that went in two generations from medieval to cosmopolitan to one separated by new and violent national lines.

Lunch will be in the lively Mahane Yehuda market where Israelis from all walks of life can be seen shopping. It is the biggest outdoor market in West Jerusalem.

After lunch, you'll take a trip on the tram to Mount Herzl. The plaza around Herzl's tomb is where the annual ceremonies are held, which begin in somber remembrance and are followed by parades and fireworks for independence day. Around the plaza is an ever-expanding military cemetery and the tombs of Israel's political leaders.

Next, we will go down the hill to the other side of the memorial – the Yad Vashem holocaust museum. Here, we will tour the intriguing historical museum and see the well-known Children's Memorial and explore the connection between the tragic history of European Jewry, the founding of the state of Israel and the violence and displacement of the 1948 war while analyzing and discussing the ways Israel chooses to tell its history, and the things it chooses to leave unsaid. After the tour, you will transfer to your homestay in Jerusalem where you will enjoy dinner with an Israeli family.