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• Enter Jerusalem's Old City through impressively fortified Jaffa Gate. David's Tower (History of Jerusalem Museum; website: www.towerofdavid.org.il), on the right, is a must. Its brilliant displays vividly tell the history of the city. The rooftop gives a glorious vista towards Temple Mount.
• Explore the bustling market streets, shopping lanes and quiet back alleys of the four very different Old City Quarters - Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. Each has its own distinct character.
• Marvel at the intricate beauty of the glorious Dome of the Rock, standing high on Temple Mount (Har HaBayit in Hebrew, Haram esh-Sharif in Arabic), site of the ancient Temple, the centre of Jewish worship.
• Encounter Jewish faith and resilience in the immense, animated Western Wall Plaza, below Temple Mount. Extending all along one side is the Western Wall itself, 20.2m (67ft) high and 27.7m (91ft) long, the most revered site in Judaism.
• Climb the newly reconstructed Hulda Steps, once the main entrance to the Temple, in the Jerusalem Archaeological Park (website: www.archpark.org.il), a few paces from Western Wall Plaza. Its Davidson Center includes a virtual reconstruction of a visit to the Temple 2,000 years ago.
• Visit fascinating 2,000-year-old homes excavated at the Wohl Archaeological Museum - Herodian Quarter. Six cool, spacious villas and a mansion can be toured, each with a ritual bath decorated in ceramic tiles and collections of household antiquities on display.
• Experience Christianity at its most profound, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the site of the Crucifixion. A complex of different shrines, it is the heart of the Christian Quarter.
• Pay tribute to the 6 million Jewish people wiped out in the Holocaust, with a visit to Yad Vashem (website: www.yadvashem.org), Israel's official memorial. The extensive site contains many separate sights and museums - all are deeply moving.
• See some of the world's most impressive archaeological discoveries, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, at the Shrine of the Book, part of the Israel Museum (website: www.imj.org.il), the country's principal collection of its archaeology and ancient art.
• Discover the cultural diversity of the Jewish people during the 2,000 years of worldwide diaspora, with music, textiles, reconstructions and film footage at the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora (website: www.bh.org.il).
• Learn about the 3,000-year history of Jaffa (the world's oldest commercial port) and the city of Tel Aviv (one of the world's newest cities) at the small Jaffa Museum and the vast Eretz Israel Museum (website: www.eretzmuseum.org.il).
• Have fun while learning about Israel's kaleidoscope of history at the fascinating seafront ruins of Caesarea (website: www.caesarea.org.il), once a great Roman city, with later Byzantine and Crusader sections. Wander marked paths or visit the Caesarea Experience multimedia presentation.
• Sense the inspiration of Jesus' day at Christian sites around the beautiful Sea of Galilee, such as Capernaum, Cana, and the Mount of Beatitudes. Nearby is his home town Nazareth, now the largest Arab city in Israel.
• Enjoy breathtaking views of the Dead Sea, the Negev Desert and the mountains of Moab from the ruins of the Palace of King Herod high on the ridge of Masada (Mezada), where Jews fighting Romans made their last stand.
• Imagine the Essene scribes of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were written, at their enigmatic site among the caves where the scrolls were discovered by a Bedouin shepherd boy in ancient pottery jars in 1947.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.
• Explore the bustling market streets, shopping lanes and quiet back alleys of the four very different Old City Quarters - Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. Each has its own distinct character.
• Marvel at the intricate beauty of the glorious Dome of the Rock, standing high on Temple Mount (Har HaBayit in Hebrew, Haram esh-Sharif in Arabic), site of the ancient Temple, the centre of Jewish worship.
• Encounter Jewish faith and resilience in the immense, animated Western Wall Plaza, below Temple Mount. Extending all along one side is the Western Wall itself, 20.2m (67ft) high and 27.7m (91ft) long, the most revered site in Judaism.
• Climb the newly reconstructed Hulda Steps, once the main entrance to the Temple, in the Jerusalem Archaeological Park (website: www.archpark.org.il), a few paces from Western Wall Plaza. Its Davidson Center includes a virtual reconstruction of a visit to the Temple 2,000 years ago.
• Visit fascinating 2,000-year-old homes excavated at the Wohl Archaeological Museum - Herodian Quarter. Six cool, spacious villas and a mansion can be toured, each with a ritual bath decorated in ceramic tiles and collections of household antiquities on display.
• Experience Christianity at its most profound, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the site of the Crucifixion. A complex of different shrines, it is the heart of the Christian Quarter.
• Pay tribute to the 6 million Jewish people wiped out in the Holocaust, with a visit to Yad Vashem (website: www.yadvashem.org), Israel's official memorial. The extensive site contains many separate sights and museums - all are deeply moving.
• See some of the world's most impressive archaeological discoveries, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, at the Shrine of the Book, part of the Israel Museum (website: www.imj.org.il), the country's principal collection of its archaeology and ancient art.
• Discover the cultural diversity of the Jewish people during the 2,000 years of worldwide diaspora, with music, textiles, reconstructions and film footage at the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora (website: www.bh.org.il).
• Learn about the 3,000-year history of Jaffa (the world's oldest commercial port) and the city of Tel Aviv (one of the world's newest cities) at the small Jaffa Museum and the vast Eretz Israel Museum (website: www.eretzmuseum.org.il).
• Have fun while learning about Israel's kaleidoscope of history at the fascinating seafront ruins of Caesarea (website: www.caesarea.org.il), once a great Roman city, with later Byzantine and Crusader sections. Wander marked paths or visit the Caesarea Experience multimedia presentation.
• Sense the inspiration of Jesus' day at Christian sites around the beautiful Sea of Galilee, such as Capernaum, Cana, and the Mount of Beatitudes. Nearby is his home town Nazareth, now the largest Arab city in Israel.
• Enjoy breathtaking views of the Dead Sea, the Negev Desert and the mountains of Moab from the ruins of the Palace of King Herod high on the ridge of Masada (Mezada), where Jews fighting Romans made their last stand.
• Imagine the Essene scribes of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were written, at their enigmatic site among the caves where the scrolls were discovered by a Bedouin shepherd boy in ancient pottery jars in 1947.
See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.