Jerusalem

Just inside Jaffa Gate, the main entrance for anyone arriving from the western city, the citadel known as the Tower of David has guarded the Old City's weakest flank for more than two thousand years. Its foundations include part of a tower built by Herod the Great; most of what stands is Mamluk and Ottoman, and the slim minaret that gives it its name dates from the seventeenth century. Today it houses the city's history museum, reopened after a major renovation in 2023, which walks through Jerusalem's story from the Canaanites to the present in rooms set inside the old halls and towers. The ramparts give one of the best views over the Old City's domes and rooftops, and after dark a sound-and-light show projects the city's history onto the walls of the inner courtyard.

TipStart your Old City day here to get your bearings from the towers, then head south along the Armenian Patriarchate Road.

The smallest and quietest of the four quarters is home to one of the oldest Armenian communities outside Armenia, present in the city since the fourth century. Much of the quarter sits behind the walls of the Armenian Patriarchate and its monastery, but the Cathedral of St James, its interior hung with dozens of oil lamps and lined with blue-and-white tiles, opens to visitors for a short period around the afternoon service. Workshops along the lanes sell hand-painted Armenian ceramics, a craft that has become one of the visual signatures of Jerusalem.

TipThe cathedral's visiting window is brief and can change, so ask at the gate for the day's service time.

Through Zion Gate, its stones still pocked by bullet marks from 1948, the hill of Mount Zion holds a cluster of sites sacred to different faiths in the same building or a few steps apart. An upper room known as the Cenacle is venerated by Christians as the room of the Last Supper; below it is a site revered as the Tomb of King David; and next door rises the great round Dormition Abbey, where tradition says Mary fell into her final sleep. In the Catholic cemetery on the slope lies Oskar Schindler, whose grave is covered with small stones left by visitors.

The Jewish Quarter was heavily damaged during the fighting of 1948, when its residents left or were expelled, and it was rebuilt after 1967, so its lanes have a cleaner, newer look than the rest of the Old City. Rebuilding uncovered remarkable archaeology: the Cardo, a colonnaded Roman and Byzantine main street, partly reconstructed at a lower level; the Herodian Quarter, with the mosaic floors and ritual baths of wealthy houses from the time of the Second Temple; and the Burnt House, destroyed when the Romans sacked the city in AD 70. The white dome of the Hurva Synagogue, rebuilt in 2010 on the ruins of its nineteenth-century predecessor, has a balcony with a sweeping view.

South of the walls, down the slope from Dung Gate, lies the oldest part of Jerusalem, a narrow ridge above the Gihon spring where the city of the Bronze Age and of the Israelite kings stood. The archaeological park includes excavated walls and houses, a viewpoint over the Kidron Valley, and the chance to walk through Hezekiah's Tunnel, an eighth-century BC water channel roughly half a kilometre long, in water that is usually ankle- to knee-deep, emerging near the Pool of Siloam. A dry tunnel offers an alternative for those who would rather not wade. The site is in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, and is run by a private foundation that also supports Jewish settlement in the area, which makes it politically contested; excavations under the neighbourhood have been a source of local tension. Visitors of all backgrounds come for the archaeology, and it's worth being aware of that context.

TipBring water shoes and a small torch for the wet tunnel, and leave time for the stepped Roman-era street leading up from the pool.

The great blocks of the Western Wall are part of a retaining wall built by Herod around the Temple Mount, and since the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70 it has been the most important place of Jewish prayer. The plaza in front of it was created in 1967, when the neighbouring Moroccan Quarter was demolished. The prayer area is divided into men's and women's sections, and visitors of any faith may approach the wall, where many slip written prayers into the cracks. It's open around the clock and is especially atmospheric at the start of Shabbat on Friday evening, and on Monday and Thursday mornings, when families gather for bar mitzvahs. Guided tours of the Western Wall Tunnels follow the wall underground for several hundred metres, past huge foundation stones and ancient streets, and must be booked ahead.

TipCover shoulders and knees, and men are given a paper kippah at the entrance. On Shabbat and Jewish holidays, photography, phones and writing are not permitted at the wall.

The vast raised platform that Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims the Haram al-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, is where the First and Second Temples stood and where Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. At its centre the Dome of the Rock, completed in 691, is the oldest surviving great monument of Islamic architecture, its octagon wrapped in blue tiles and crowned with gold. At the southern end stands al-Aqsa Mosque. The compound is administered by the Islamic Waqf under Jordanian custodianship, with Israeli police controlling access. Non-Muslim visitors may enter only through the Mughrabi Gate, reached by the covered wooden ramp beside the Western Wall plaza, and only in short visiting windows, usually on Sunday to Thursday mornings, with a brief early-afternoon slot at some times of year. The compound is closed to non-Muslim visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and Muslim holidays, and it can close without notice at times of tension. Since 2000, non-Muslims have not been allowed inside the Dome of the Rock or al-Aqsa. Expect security screening and queues, dress modestly, and don't bring visible religious items such as prayer books or prayer shawls; the rules on non-Muslim prayer here are politically sensitive and enforced by police.

TipQueue early, bring your passport, and check the day's hours locally, since they shift with the season and the security situation.

The "Way of Sorrows" traces the route Christian tradition says Jesus walked carrying the cross, from the place of his condemnation to Golgotha. It begins in the Muslim Quarter near Lions' Gate, passes the Franciscan churches of the Flagellation and Condemnation and the Ecce Homo arch, and climbs through busy market lanes marked by fourteen numbered Stations of the Cross, the last five inside the Holy Sepulchre. The route as followed today was largely fixed in the medieval and early modern period, but walking it among spice stalls, bakeries and shoppers gives a vivid sense of the living Old City.

TipThe Franciscans lead a procession along the route on Friday afternoons; join it or avoid it, depending on your taste for crowds.

The most important church in Christendom stands over the site where, according to a tradition going back to the fourth century, Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again. The building is a dim, layered maze of Crusader, Byzantine and later chapels, shared under a centuries-old arrangement known as the Status Quo by the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches, with the Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac churches holding smaller spaces. Stairs lead up to the rock of Golgotha; near the entrance pilgrims kneel at the Stone of Anointing; and under the great rotunda stands the Aedicule over the tomb, restored in 2016–17. The keys to the front door have been held for generations by Muslim families, an arrangement intended to keep the peace between the denominations. Parts of the church have been under restoration in recent years, so expect some screened-off areas.

TipGo at opening time in the early morning to reach the tomb with a short queue. Dress modestly, and be patient with services and processions, which take priority over sightseeing.

Across the Kidron Valley, the Mount of Olives gives the classic view of Jerusalem, with the golden Dome of the Rock in the foreground and the Old City walls behind. Its western slope is covered by the vast Jewish cemetery, used for some three thousand years, and dotted with churches marking events in the Gospels: the Pater Noster, where the Lord's Prayer is written in scores of languages; Dominus Flevit, shaped like a teardrop; and at the foot, the Garden of Gethsemane, with ancient olive trees, beside the Church of All Nations and its glittering façade mosaic. The Tomb of Mary is just across the road.

TipTake a taxi to the top and walk down; the lane is steep. Go in the morning for the best light on the Old City, and keep valuables close on the quieter stretches.

West Jerusalem's main market, known to everyone simply as the shuk, fills a grid of covered and open-air alleys off Jaffa Road. By day it's a feast of produce stalls, spice merchants, fishmongers, slabs of halva and trays of rugelach and babka, at its most frantic on Thursday and Friday mornings as the city shops for Shabbat. After dark, as the shutters come down, many of them painted with portraits by a local street artist, the alleys turn into one of the city's liveliest areas for bars and small restaurants.

TipThe market winds down on Friday afternoon and stays closed until Saturday night. The light rail stops right outside.

Israel's national museum is one of the great museums of the region, with outstanding archaeology from prehistory to the Ottoman period, Jewish art and life from around the world, fine art, and a sculpture garden. Its best-known building is the Shrine of the Book, its white dome shaped like the lids of the jars in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, opposite a black basalt wall symbolising the struggle between the "Sons of Light" and the "Sons of Darkness" described in the scrolls. Inside, original scroll fragments are shown on rotation for conservation, around a facsimile of the Great Isaiah Scroll. Nearby, a large outdoor model shows Jerusalem as it looked in the late Second Temple period, a useful way to picture the city before visiting the Old City's ruins.

TipAllow at least three hours. Opening hours vary through the week, with one late evening, so check before you go.

On the Mount of Remembrance, at the western edge of the city, Yad Vashem is the world's central memorial to the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. The Holocaust History Museum, a long triangular concrete prism designed by Moshe Safdie, leads visitors through chronological galleries of testimony, objects and film before opening onto a balcony overlooking the Jerusalem hills. Around it are the Hall of Names, the Hall of Remembrance and its eternal flame, the Children's Memorial, lit by a single candle reflected endlessly in mirrors, and the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations, honouring non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews.

TipEntry is free, but visits are reserved online in advance. It's closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, with shorter hours on Fridays, and children under ten are not admitted to the history museum. Allow at least three hours, and take the light rail to Mount Herzl.

Herod the Great built a palace-fortress on top of this sheer-sided mesa above the Dead Sea, complete with storehouses, bathhouses and a three-tiered palace hanging off the northern cliff. After the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, Jewish rebels held out here until the Roman army built an enormous siege ramp, still visible on the western side; according to the historian Josephus, the defenders took their own lives rather than surrender in AD 73 or 74. You can ride the cable car to the top or climb the steep Snake Path, which many people tackle before dawn to watch the sun rise over the mountains of Jordan. Masada is about an hour and a half's drive from Jerusalem, and is usually combined with the oasis of Ein Gedi and a float in the Dead Sea; Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, is on the way. For the opposite, Jordanian shore, see our Dead Sea guide.

TipOn hot days the Snake Path closes to climbers early in the morning, and in extreme heat earlier still. Carry plenty of water and start as early as you can.

An hour from Jerusalem by train, Tel Aviv–Jaffa is a different world: a beach city of cafés, nightlife and Bauhaus apartment blocks. Its southern anchor is Jaffa, one of the oldest ports in the world, a hill of honey-coloured stone lanes, restored houses, galleries and the Franciscan Church of St Peter, above a fishing harbour. Below the Ottoman clock tower, the flea market spreads through the streets, and the surrounding area is full of restaurants, bakeries and bars. Walk north along the seafront promenade at sunset for the classic view of Tel Aviv's skyline curving along the beach.

In the 1930s, architects trained in Europe, many of them refugees, built thousands of white apartment buildings in the International Style, adapting the Bauhaus approach to the Mediterranean sun with balconies, shaded strip windows and flat roofs. UNESCO listed the White City in 2003 as an outstanding example of modernist town planning, laid out to a plan by the Scottish planner Patrick Geddes. Rothschild Boulevard, with its central tree-lined walk, Bialik Street and the area around Dizengoff Square make the best introduction, and several centres in the city run walking tours on the architecture.

TipMany restored buildings are private homes, so admire from the street; the Liebling Haus, a restored 1930s building, is open to visitors as a centre for the White City.

Halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa, Herod built a great harbour city and named it for the emperor Augustus. Caesarea became the Roman capital of the province of Judaea, and its remains spread along the shore: a restored Roman theatre still used for concerts, a seaside hippodrome, the foundations of Herod's palace on a promontory, and a later Crusader town with a moat and walls. A short drive north, the arches of a Roman aqueduct run along a sandy beach.

TipThe national park is easiest by car; by train, the nearest station is a short taxi ride away.

Haifa, Israel's third city and a busy port, climbs the slopes of Mount Carmel, and down its face cascade the nineteen terraces of the Bahá'í Gardens, with the golden-domed Shrine of the Báb at their centre. The Bahá'í World Centre is the spiritual and administrative heart of the Bahá'í Faith, and the gardens, immaculately kept and symmetrical, were listed by UNESCO together with Bahá'í holy places in Acre in 2008. Entry to the gardens is free. Guided tours of the upper terraces involve hundreds of steps downhill; otherwise, the view from the top on Yefe Nof Street, or looking up from the German Colony below, is superb.

TipThe shrine itself is sometimes closed for maintenance while the gardens stay open, and modest dress is required; check the official site before you go.

Across the bay from Haifa, Acre (Akko) is a walled port where layers of history sit almost intact. Below the Ottoman town lies the Crusader city that was the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the thirteenth century; the vaulted Knights' Halls of the Hospitaller order and a Templar tunnel leading to the sea have been excavated and opened to visitors. Above ground, the green-domed al-Jazzar Mosque, the Ottoman caravanserai of Khan al-Umdan, the covered market and the sea walls make it one of the most atmospheric towns in the country. Today it's a mixed city of Arab and Jewish residents, and the harbour restaurants serve some of the best fish on the coast.

TipBuy a combined ticket for the Crusader halls and tunnel, and walk the sea walls at sunset.