Tips about exploring Jerusalem
In general, we recommend starting a trip to Israel in Jerusalem because the Israel Museum (#1) gives a great history lesson of religion, Jerusalem, and the whole geographic region that will help you with everything else you see around the country. You will need a full day at this museum. The restaurants on site have ample choices.
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There are a few other places that need at least a little advanced planning: Shabbat preparations, Western Wall Tunnel Tour, and Temple Mount visit. We’ve described each of these in their own sections below.
Shabbat Preparations
When you plan your Israel trip you must consider ahead of time where you will be on Shabbat, especially in Jerusalem. Either leave Jerusalem on Thursday or plan to stay until Sunday. From one hour before sunset on Friday until Sunday morning there is no public transportation available. In addition, the last few busses on Friday afternoon can be very full–sometimes too full to pick up new passengers!
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There are a few restaurants open on Shabbat. If you want this option, you must make reservations in advance as they will fill.
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Shopping on Friday morning is a cultural event! Join the locals and seek out your Shabbat meals: prepared foods from “Friday Markets” at local restaurants and items from the supermarket or Mahane Yehuda. On Saturdays, people fill the parks, play with their kids, go for a stroll. You are visiting a country where Shabbat is actually treated as a day of rest; even folks who don’t strictly keep the Sabbath don’t work on these days and enjoy ME time or family time. Try it while you are here, instead of being annoyed that you can’t “do” anything.
There are some museums open on Shabbat. If you can get to them without transportation, plan to bring your own food as restaurants on-site are unlikely to be open.
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The Israel Museum has the Dead Sea scrolls and other really, really old books of interest to Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Shrine of the Book. Start your visit here–in the iconic white building. We first saw the Dead Sea Scrolls on exhibit in the US, and it was an unexpectedly moving experience: the pieces of paper are so old it is rather mind-blowing, and the people who come to see these book fragments are at times at odds in society but all of one mind with these fragments.
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Just beyond the Dead Sea Scrolls building is a large model of Jerusalem’s Old City. This is very helpful in understanding what one sees at the Davidson archeology complex or Western Wall or Temple Mount, which are also recommended stops while in Jerusalem; though there are explanations at those sites it was hard to visualize. This does it. If you like Legos you will really love this model, built of soooo many little stones. This is a good stop for kids too for that reason.
At this point, either stop for lunch at one of the cafeterias on site, or head to one more museum offering before lunch. This museum has an extensive archeology exhibit. It goes in chronological order from early Homo sapiens through all the different religions and kingdoms to the present day. History buffs will obviously love this but if you are only interested in, say, glass, or weapons, or language, or religion, it can be done faster. If you are traveling with kids, you might target one or two things and then leave this part. We did the whole thing in depth, but left halfway through for lunch.
On temporary exhibit while we were there was an interesting display of artifacts from Jewish life with marriage and death items from 18-19th century Eastern Europe. There was also a temporary exhibit of fine art that we did not see.
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Other permanent exhibits featured the dress of Jews from around the world, religious objects, synagogues salvaged, fine art from Israel, and fine art from around the world. If you are traveling with children or don’t plan to spend 2 days at this museum, we’d again recommend targeting things you especially like. If you like costumes/dress, or just seeing the insides of old synagogues, or just looking at menorahs, there is enough of each to focus your tour on just that.
* Tip: Click on any activity title to visit its official external webpage.
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The Western Wall has a lot of security to get into the area but it really is an incredible sight. The Wall towers about 60 feet above the ground. It was a retaining wall of the Second Temple built in the 1st century BCE by Herod. The Temple itself, destroyed in 70 CE, was located on the Temple Mount. So, the Western Wall represents the closest location to the site of the Second Temple. If you have visited the Israel Museum first, as we suggest, then the architecture here will make more sense. The men’s section was 3x as long as the women’s section and almost empty. The women’s section was packed. Sarah had to slowly elbow her way to the front. I, on the other hand, strolled up to the wall and had no one closer than 10 ft from me! This is a holy space, and those near the Wall are praying and with covered heads. There is also an ample courtyard however where tour groups sit down and hear about the space, and where folks of any denomination are welcome to observe.
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The Davidson Archeology Park requires a small entrance fee. They have audio descriptions throughout. The Temple Mount–the area which now contains the Dome of the Rock and other Muslim holy spaces–used to contain the holiest and largest Jewish site in the world. Its destruction is still mourned annually by Jews around the world. When one sees the scope of the space, both on the Mount and around it, it is easier to understand what was lost. A lot. In this archeology park, you see giant boulders that came tumbling down, and the audio descriptions help you to visualize giant arches and roads which were once full of pilgrims coming to the Temple Mount. The Park is still being unearthed and labeled, and what is visible after being uncovered is a portion of the grand stairs that was the entrance to the Temple, and a portion of a road and shopping area, etc. But these smaller representations give a clue to the enormous scale of what existed, and what was destroyed. We found it helpful to see this area before visiting the Temple Mount.
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Entry is free but entry times are limited and there are lines, so this is one visit you will want to plan. Dress: yep, they want you to dress modestly. When we were there, they had long skirts to borrow, for men and women who had uncovered legs. But it would be easier if you just put on your own long pants on the day you plan to visit.
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The entrance to the Temple Mount is next to the southern entrance to the Western Wall. It’s a metal gate to the right of Women’s entrance to the Western Wall and is not well sign-posted. (We have a photo below.) If you are standing in the Dung Gate, facing into the Old City, you should be able to see the area about 100 meters directly ahead. There is a sign above the gate “Announcement and Warning. According to Torah law, entering the Temple Mount area is strictly forbidden due to the holiness of the site”. Hours are 7:30-10:30 and 12:30-1:30 (between prayer times). The Temple Mount area is dominated by the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock/Qubbat as-Sakhra. It’s interesting to walk around the plaza – we saw a Muslim bride and groom taking photos at one of the entry arches, families picnicking on the lawns and lots of school kids in groups. Don’t forget to see the Dome of the Chain/Qubbat al-Silsilah next to the Dome of the Rock; it’s the oldest structure on the Temple Mount.
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This is a good tour and it is necessary to book ahead. The tour we took ended in a newly constructed sanctuary that holds services on Saturday mornings. They were unclear about access to this, but if you are interested in attending services we recommend looking into this site.
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In the Christian Quarter of the Old City, the street Via Dolorosa is the processional route representative of the path Roman soldiers forced Jesus to take on the way to execution. Several Stations of the Cross (points along the route described in the New Testament) are along this street and also in the adjacent Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Inside you can see relics such as the stone on which Jesus’ body was prepared for burial and His empty tomb. Six Christian denominations share control of the church; priests from each wear different vestments and it is interesting to see the similarities and differences among them as they all tend to the daily rites (like visiting rooms with incense and prayers).
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We like to get a little lost on purpose when we travel. The Old City is a great place to do this because it is safe, your GoogleMap will get you out if you need it, and every local is friendly and will help you with directions if needed. In fact, you will be asked if you need help finding something if you wander in the less-touristy areas: off the main roads in the Muslim Quarter and in the domestic streets of all the quarters. So our answer was usually “no, we are just wandering” and as wanderers, we found great local spice shops, cheaper souvenirs, great hole-in-the-wall restaurants.
Our advice is not to get sucked into shops on the main streets. The prices here are about 3x what they are on side streets.
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This is a major market filled with produce stands, restaurants, and spice shops. There are a few shops in and around the market that have Judaica and jewelry as well. On our restaurant page, you can read about some of the places to eat and our suggestions for exploring the Market on your own.
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We google mapped ourselves to a Bank Hapoalim ATM (this is the bank that works best with our credit union ATM cards). In doing so, we found ourselves in two Haredi neighborhoods (Geula and Mea She’Arim). If you are a fan of the TV show Shtisel, this is apparently the neighborhood where it is filmed. We wandered for several hours through the neighborhoods appreciating how folks lived and interacted, bought hamentaschen, and found a great shop selling all manner of olive wood products (Olive Wood Factory, Me’a She’arim St 26), many of which can be personalized for no additional fee. We bought groggers (a noisemaker used for the holiday of Purim) personalized and with handmade drawings of Jerusalem.
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What to Buy
Some souvenirs you might like in the Old City, Mahane Yehuda, and elsewhere in Jerusalem: spices, loofahs, olive oil soap, candy (sold as a log with nuts decorating), incense and incense holders, religious items, jewelry made from Roman glass, hats, embroidered scarves (though many are not made in Israel), your name in Hebrew on a necklace, Armenian painted ceramics, and olive wood items.
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We entered through the Jaffa gate and immediately saw the Rampart Walk entrance. You buy the tickets in a shop to the right of the stairway up. Unfortunately, the ticket office is inside a tourist shop. So, the ticket salesman also wanted to show us jewelry from his family. It was already 2 pm and I wanted to roam the streets for a bit rather than walk the ramparts (once you go up it takes about an hour to do the whole (northern) route). Luckily the tickets are good for two days and could be used for both the northern and southern rampart walks. We entered on the second day, did the Northern route which ends in the Muslim Quarter, and then explored the Muslim Quarter some more. The ability to see into the backyards and over the rooftops of all the city was very nice. Across the street, some buildings have bullet holes still visible in the wall. When Jordan occupied the West Bank, including the Old City, in 1948, they forced the Jews out. Some fled to some buildings nearby and were then targeted by the Jordanian soldiers from the ramparts.
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This is another section of the Western Wall in the Muslim quarter. It’s in a small courtyard that, when we went, was entirely empty.
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Free. Open hours on Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat. Not as well-curated as the main Israel Museum (Rockefeller is part of the same museum, but located separately at 27 Sultan Suleiman Street, outside the Old City near Herod Gate), but lots of fascinating items that tell the history of Israel. We recommend going to the Israel Museum first, then the displays and items at the Rockefeller Museum will be easier to understand. However, if you need things to be as cheap as possible, the Rockefeller is free and the Israel Museum is not.
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