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9781786570567
Jerusalemירושלים القدس
Sights
Courses
Tours
Festivals & Events
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Around Jerusalem
Abu Ghosh
Latrun
Neot Kedumim
Soreq Cave
Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park
Jerusalemירושלים القدس
Why Go?
Jerusalem’s Old City is a spiritual lightning rod, sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians. Wide-eyed with awe, pilgrims flood into the walled city to worship at locations linked to the very foundation of their faith. Church bells, Islamic calls to prayer and the shofar (Jewish ram’s horn) electrify the air with a beguiling, if not harmonious, melody. Fragrances of incense, coffee and candle smoke drift through the thrumming souqs (markets). Muslim, Christian, Jewish and Armenian quarters each add their own spice, but Jerusalem’s diversity grew from millennia of bloody sieges and transfers of power, leaving deep wounds.
West of the Old City is a treasury of world-class attractions, including the Israel Museum and Yad Vashem memorial, while bars and restaurants crowd Jerusalem’s downtown. Meanwhile, East Jerusalem endures the strain of an uncertain outlook, claimed as capital of a future Palestinian state while Israeli settlements and building projects continue to be developed.
When to Go
- Apr & May Pleasant and sunny, but be prepared for crowds and hefty hotel rates.
- Jul Old City illuminations and a movie festival, though temperatures sizzle.
- Sep & Oct Great weather and manageable crowds, but some Jewish holidays boost costs and numbers.
Best Places to Eat
AMachneyuda
AAbu Shukri
AModern
APinati
AAnna Cafe
Best Places to Stay
AAmerican Colony Hotel
AAbraham Hostel
AAustrian Hospice
APost Hostel
AYMCA Three Arches Hotel
Jerusalem Highlights
1Temple Mount/Al Haram Ash Sharif Gazing at the architectural magnificence built on this site sacred to Muslims and Jews.
2Western Wall Feeling the spiritual power of Judaism’s holiest prayer site.
3Church of the Holy Sepulchre Marvelling at soaring vaults and candlelit chapels in one of Christianity’s most sacred shrines.
4Mahane Yehuda Market Weaving between mounds of fresh fruit, halvah (sesame-paste nougat) stalls and hole-in-the-wall cafes.
5Yad Vashem Pondering tragedy, evil, human resilience and reconciliation.
6Israel Museum Admiring an extraordinary collection of art and artefacts.
7Muslim Quarter Wandering through the wonderfully aromatic and colourful souqs of the Old City.
8Citadel Learning about the city’s long and eventful history at the Museum of the History of Jerusalem.
9Via Dolorosa Following in Jesus’s footsteps.
aCity of David Going underground in a tunnel-laced archaeological site.
History
First Temple
Jerusalem’s earliest settlements surrounded the Gihon Spring, in the Kidron Valley just southeast of the present-day Jewish Quarter. A small Canaanite city is mentioned in Egyptian texts of the 20th century BCE, and biblical sources say it was conquered around 1000 BCE by the Israelites under King David, who made the city his capital.
Biblic...
Table of contents
- Table of Contents
- Welcome to Israel & the Palestinian Territories
- Israel & the Palestinian Territories’ Top 20
- Need to Know
- What’s New
- If You Like…
- Month by Month
- Itineraries
- Activities
- Shabbat
- Crossing Borders
- Travel with Children
- Regions at a Glance
- Jerusalem
- Tel Aviv-Jaffa (Yafo)
- Haifa & The North Coast
- Lower Galilee & Sea Of Galilee
- Upper Galilee & Golan
- West Bank
- The Gaza Strip
- The Dead Sea
- The Negev
- Petra
- Israel & the Palestinian Territories Today
- History
- People of Israel & the Palestinian Territories
- Regional Food
- Daily Life
- Government & Politics
- Religion
- Arts
- Environment
- Safe Travel
- Directory A–Z
- Transport
- Health
- Language
- Glossary
- Behind the Scenes
- Our Writers