10 Top Places to Visit in Jerusalem

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.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the most sacred site in Christianity - traditionally identified as the location of both the Calvary (where Jesus was crucified) and the empty tomb (where he was resurrected). The current Crusader-era basilica dates from 1149 AD, built atop earlier 4th-century AD churches. Six Christian denominations share custody under a 19th-century status quo: Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, and Syriac Orthodox.

Inside: the Stone of Anointing (where Jesus's body was prepared for burial), the Edicule (the small structure over the tomb itself), Calvary chapel (up steep stairs to the right of entrance, marking the crucifixion spot), and the Catholicon central rotunda. Free entry. The famous Immovable Ladder above the main entrance has not moved since the 18th century due to the status quo. Open daily 04:00-21:00 (varies by season). Allow 90 minutes. Modest dress required.

Pro Tip: Visit at 04:00 opening for the most spiritually intense experience - only pilgrims and the dawn liturgies. The Saturday Holy Fire ceremony at Greek Orthodox Easter is the most extraordinary moment in the church's calendar; book accommodation 6 months ahead if attending.

The Dome of the Rock (Qubbat al-Sakhra) is one of Islam's holiest shrines and the visual landmark of Jerusalem's Old City - built 691 AD by Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik on the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif). The 20-metre golden dome covers the Foundation Stone, sacred in all three Abrahamic faiths as the rock where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac (Judaism), and where Muhammad ascended to heaven during the Night Journey (Islam). The Al-Aqsa Mosque on the southern side of the Mount complements it.

The Temple Mount platform is open to non-Muslims Sunday-Thursday 07:30-10:30 and 12:30-13:30 (entry only via the Mughrabi Bridge at the Western Wall plaza). Closed Fridays, Saturdays, and Muslim holidays. The Dome of the Rock interior is closed to non-Muslims - the platform itself is the visit. Modest dress strictly enforced. Free entry. Free to visit but bring passport for security check. Allow 1-2 hours.

Pro Tip: Arrive at the Mughrabi Bridge by 07:15 to clear security before 07:30 opening - non-Muslim visitor numbers are limited daily and access can close early on high-tension days. The walk around the Dome's exterior at sunrise is one of the most photogenic in the Middle East.

Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust - among the world's largest and most respected Holocaust memorials. The 45-hectare campus on Mount Herzl includes the Holocaust History Museum (a 200-metre prism-shaped concrete building by Moshe Safdie), the Children's Memorial (a single candle reflected by mirrors to appear as 1.5 million stars), the Hall of Names (containing testimony pages for every known victim), and the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations honouring non-Jewish rescuers.

Free admission but online registration required (yadvashem.org). Open Sunday-Thursday 09:00-17:00, Friday 09:00-14:00; closed Saturdays. Allow 4 hours minimum for the full campus. Audio guide 30 NIS recommended. The visit is emotionally exhausting - schedule something light afterwards. No photography permitted inside the museum. The campus is in the western new city, easily reached by Light Rail.

Pro Tip: Use the audio guide (30 NIS) - the museum exhibits are dense and benefit enormously from the narrative context. The Children's Memorial at the eastern edge is the most affecting single space; visitors typically pause for 5-10 minutes.

The Mount of Olives is a 826-metre ridge running north-south east of the Old City - holy to Judaism (the largest Jewish cemetery in the world has 150000 graves dating back 3000 years) and Christianity (Jesus ascended to heaven from here, Acts 1:9-12). The Western slope offers the most photographed view of Jerusalem - the Dome of the Rock and Old City walls fill the foreground with the desert beyond.

Standout sights along the descent walk: Church of the Pater Noster (Lord's Prayer in 140 languages on plaques), the Dominus Flevit chapel (tear-shaped, marking where Jesus wept over Jerusalem), the Garden of Gethsemane with 2000-year-old olive trees, and the Church of All Nations covering the rock where Jesus prayed before his arrest. Free to visit; small donations welcomed at churches. Modest dress at churches. Allow 3 hours for the full descent walk.

Pro Tip: Take a taxi or bus 75 to the top, then walk the 1.5 km descent to Gethsemane via the Palm Sunday Road - the gravity helps and you walk into the iconic Jerusalem panorama. Stop at the viewpoint terrace just above the Jewish cemetery for the standard postcard photo.

Mahane Yehuda Market (locally known as the Shuk) is Jerusalem's main fresh-food market - 250+ vendors spread along Etz Hayyim and Mahane Yehuda streets in the western new city. The market has operated continuously since the late 19th century when Ottoman-era Jewish merchants started selling produce here. Today it functions as both a daytime market and a night-time bar and restaurant strip - the shutters of closed stalls reveal painted street art murals when stalls close in the evening.

Day highlights: Marzipan Bakery rugelach (Israel's best small pastry, 12 NIS per chocolate-filled roll), Uzi-Eli pomegranate juice, the spice merchants of Hashikma Street, Halva Kingdom for hand-made tahini sweets. By night: Casino de Paris (cocktail bar inside an old British casino), Mahane Yehuda restaurant (the upscale Israeli kitchen). Free to wander. Open Sunday-Friday daytime; bars 18:00-02:00 most nights. Closed Friday afternoon to Saturday evening.

Pro Tip: Visit Thursday afternoon for the pre-Sabbath shopping frenzy - the most authentic Jerusalem food culture. Friday morning before 12:00 also works. Save the evening for the night-bar transformation - the same alley transforms entirely after 19:00.

The Tower of David is a medieval citadel at Jaffa Gate - the western entrance to the Old City - despite the name being a misnomer (the citadel was built largely in the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, not David's). The site itself was a Herod-era palace in the 1st century BC and has been continuously fortified since. The interior houses the Tower of David Museum, dedicated to telling Jerusalem's 4000-year history through 11 themed galleries arranged around the central courtyard.

The Night Spectacular sound-and-light show (90 NIS, runs most evenings except Friday) projects Jerusalem's history onto the citadel walls in a 45-minute display - one of Jerusalem's most polished evening experiences. Daytime museum admission 55 NIS. The rampart walk along the Old City walls starts here and provides aerial views over the four quarters. Open daily 09:00-17:00; closed early on Fridays for Sabbath.

Pro Tip: The Night Spectacular show is excellent but loud - book online for the early 20:00 slot before crowds arrive for the 21:30 second showing. The Jaffa Gate viewpoint just outside the museum is the best free Old City photo angle.

The Israel Museum is the country's national museum - a 20-hectare campus opened in 1965 that houses approximately 500000 artefacts across archaeology, fine art, Jewish heritage, and the Shrine of the Book holding the Dead Sea Scrolls. The famous Aleppo Codex (the most accurate ancient text of the Hebrew Bible) is also here. The architecturally striking Shrine of the Book building has a white dome representing the lid of the jar that held the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The outdoor 1:50 Scale Model of Jerusalem (recreating the city in 66 AD before its Roman destruction) covers an entire acre. The Modern Art wing holds Klimt, Picasso, Magritte, and Israeli contemporary art. The Billy Rose Sculpture Garden displays Rodin, Picasso, and Henry Moore in a 6-hectare outdoor space. Admission 65 NIS adult. Open Sunday-Thursday 10:00-17:00, Friday 10:00-14:00. Allow 4-6 hours.

Pro Tip: The Shrine of the Book holds the most important Dead Sea Scroll - the complete Isaiah Scroll - in a slowly rotating display case in the centre. The replica scrolls in the corridor are also accurate and easier to read. Allow 90 minutes for this wing alone.

The Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrow) is the route Christians believe Jesus walked carrying the cross from Roman judgement at the Antonia Fortress to crucifixion at Golgotha - now ending inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The 600-metre route is marked by 14 Stations of the Cross, with stations 1-9 along the actual street and stations 10-14 inside the church. Most stations are identified by small Roman numeral plaques mounted on building walls.

The Franciscan Friars lead a weekly free public procession every Friday at 15:00 - the most authentic way to experience the Via Dolorosa. The walk passes through the busy Muslim Quarter market streets; the contrast between commercial bustle and devotional pilgrimage is part of the experience. Allow 90 minutes for a slow walk with reflection at each station. Free; modest dress recommended.

Pro Tip: Join the Franciscan Friday procession at 15:00 starting at the Bir as-Saraya (Stations 1) - free, public, multilingual prayers at each station. Even non-religious visitors find the procession deeply moving. The walk ends inside the Holy Sepulchre.

The Garden Tomb is a serene walled garden just outside the Damascus Gate, identified by some Protestant Christians since 1883 as the alternative location of Jesus's crucifixion and tomb (vs the Church of the Holy Sepulchre). The site features a rock-cut tomb dating to the 1st century AD and a skull-shaped cliff face (Skull Hill or Golgotha) immediately above. While most archaeologists favour the Holy Sepulchre, the Garden Tomb is a peaceful contemplative alternative.

Run by an independent British Protestant association since the 1890s. Free admission; donations welcomed. The garden includes the tomb, the skull-rock viewpoint, a small chapel, and a quiet contemplative garden. Free tours in English, German, French, Korean, and Spanish run hourly during opening. Open Monday-Saturday 08:30-12:00 and 14:00-17:30; closed Sundays. Allow 60 minutes.

Pro Tip: The Garden Tomb is a perfect 60-minute pause after the intensity of the Holy Sepulchre crowds. Whether or not you accept the traditional identification, the calm garden setting offers a contrasting experience. Join the 10:00 free English tour for context.