Hotels near Western Wall (Kotel)

The Western Wall is the holiest accessible site in Judaism - the surviving 488-metre western retaining wall of the Second Temple Mount built by Herod the Great in 19 BC. After the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 AD, the Wall remained as the closest accessible point to the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant once stood. Jewish prayers slipped into the Wall's cracks number around 1 million per year, collected and buried twice yearly.

The plaza is open 24/7 with separate men's and women's prayer sections (the men's is larger, on the left as you face the wall). Free admission. Modest dress required - covered shoulders and knees; men receive paper kippot at the entrance. Wilson's Arch on the men's side is a vaulted underground prayer hall accessible to all. The Western Wall Tunnels (booking 30 NIS, 75 minutes) extend the experience underground along the full Herodian wall.

Pro Tip: Friday evening at sunset for the Sabbath welcome (Kabbalat Shabbat) is the most moving free experience in Jerusalem - hundreds of yeshiva students sing and dance into the Sabbath. Photography is forbidden during Shabbat. Book the underground Western Wall Tunnels tour 1-2 days ahead.