This page provides a list of the main things to see in Israel. "++"
identifies the top attractions.
- +Masada: fortress of 1st c AD
- Megiddo: Fortress
- Tel Aviv: +white buildings (1920s-1950s) in the Bauhaus style
- Acre/ Akko (north Israel): Old city, citadel of the Hospitallers Knights
- Jerusalem: Wailing Wall, Temple Mount, +Al Aksa Mosque, +Dome of the Rock (also mosaic of 692), four Mamluk minarets of the Haram, ablution fountain near the Dome, +Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Archaelogical Museum, Hadassah Medical Center with stained glass windows by Chagall, model of Old Jerusalem, John Kennedy Memorial, Golden gate with Muslim cemetery, Jaffa gate with citadel and David's tower,
- Mt of Olives with Gethsemane Church of All Nations
- Kidron Valley: Second Temple monuments
- Negev desert: +Avdat/ Ovdat (Nabatean fortress of 3rd c BC), Nabataean Incense Route (Haluza/ Halasa/ Elusa, Mamshit, Avdat, Shivta)
- Beersheba/ Be'er Sheva: Dani Karavan's Negev Brigade Memorial (1968), Monument to Six-day war (south of Bersheeba), Tel Beer Sheva Archeological Park
- Capernaum
- Nazareth: Church of the Annunciation
West Bank:
- Jericho: old Jericho (walls of 23rd c BC)
- Betlehem: Church of the Nativity
- Wadi Qilt monastery
- Hebron's Cave
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Links
Notes (2008)
- $1=3.5 shekhel
- Bus Cairo-Tel Aviv-Jerusalem at the Sheraton hotel or CAiro-Taba by East Delta from the sinai bus station at Abbassia Sq 80 EP 6-7 hours, then cross the border (get the 50EP Egyptian reentry visa) and take the local bus to the Elat bus station ($2). Then take the bus to Jerusalem (66 shekhel, 4.5 hours). From the central bus station of Jerusalem a number of buses (1,6,20,23) run towards the Old City for 5 shekhel.
- There is a Tourist Information Center in Jerusalem at the Jaffa Gate but it is unfriendly like everybody else in this godforsaken city.
- Steer clear of Israeli police/soldiers. You will quickly learn that they are not there to protect you but to harass you. They also visibly discriminate against Christians (not only Muslims). Rememeber that these are soldiers trained to inflict collective punishment: you may get punished even if you have done nothing wrong, just because you happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- There are four hostels near the Jaffa Gate, best being the Citadel and worst being the New Swedish ($40 and up for a single).
- The Arab part across from the Damascus gate is one of the best for tourists. Lots of hostels, travel agencies, restaurants, etc). Arab buses leave from the bust stations around here. #36 goes to Azaria (16 shekhels, 30 minutes) from where there are vans to Jericho and Betlehem (10 shekhels each). Travel to the West Bank is relatively hassle-free. Food and drinks are much cheaper in the West Bank.
- The Haram/Temple Mount is closed on fridays and saturdays.
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