Top Places to Visit in Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

I wish there were a way to sum up the history of Jerusalem in a paragraph or two, but its 3,000 years of complicated history requires a detailed write up that I will leave to historians. Just the list of top places to visit in Jerusalem is extensive enough! It is best to first understand the layout of Jerusalem. It is divided into three sections: Jerusalem city center in the west, Mount of Olives and City of David in the east, and the Old City in the middle. The Old City is divided into four quadrants: the Armenian Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, and the Muslim Quarter. Most visitors will spend the majority of their time in the Old City.

Below are the places we visited both on our own and while on our tour with G Adventure which fortunately limits it groups to 16 people. While we maneuvered through Jerusalem, we encountered several tour groups of 50+ people. I highly recommend finding a smaller group like G Adventure, a budget minded National Geographic Company, or hiring a private guide.

The Muslim quarter is the largest, most populated, and poorest of the four quarters in Jerusalem. Its present day configuration dates back to the Byzantine era. The most important place to see in the Muslim Quarter is the Temple Mount. Having done no research on Israel or Jerusalem, I didn’t really understand what I was seeing until I took a tour of the Western Wall Tunnel (more below). For novices of history and religion, I highly recommend making the tunnel tour your first destination and booking it in advance. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).