Jerusalem itinerary: how to spend 1, 2 or 3 days in the city

Start at Jaffa Gate, the main western entrance in the Ottoman walls built from 1535 to 1542. The citadel beside it, today's Tower of David museum, dates in its current form to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods on much older foundations. The Christian Information Centre here has a rooftop viewpoint for 5 NIS, $1.62, open 09:00 to 16:00, closed Saturday.

Grab coffee on Mamilla Mall before you go in.

Walk into the Muslim Quarter and follow the Via Dolorosa, the route tradition holds as the path Jesus walked to his crucifixion, marked by fourteen stations. It is a free public street, so go early before the tour groups. If you want the whole story told properly, join the four-hour guided Old City walk from Jaffa Gate instead of walking alone.

On Fridays the Franciscan Way of the Cross procession starts at 16:00 in summer, 15:00 in winter, from the Omariyya School.

The church encloses the sites where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and rose, and six denominations share the building. Entry is free, hours run to 20:45 in summer and 19:00 in winter, and the Franciscan procession passes through daily at 17:00 summer, 16:00 winter. Expect queues at the tomb itself in the middle of the day.

Read the full Church of the Holy Sepulchre guide for how the sections are split.

Eat in the Christian Quarter or the souk, then climb to the Austrian Pilgrim Hospice terrace on the Via Dolorosa for the best cheap rooftop view over the Old City roofs. The terrace and its café are open 10:00 to 22:00 daily and cost 5 NIS, $1.62. This is the quiet hour of the day, use it.

Just inside Lions' Gate at the start of the Via Dolorosa, the Pools of Bethesda are the excavated reservoirs where the Gospel of John places Jesus healing a sick man, beside the Crusader-era Basilica of Saint Anne. Open Monday to Saturday 08:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00, closed Sunday. The optional Pools of Bethesda entry on some private tours costs about $3 extra, the independent ticket is 12 NIS, $3.88.

Come down through the Jewish Quarter to the Western Wall, the remaining retaining wall of the Temple Mount plateau and the holiest site where Jews can pray. The plaza is open to all, and modest dress is required. The tunnels along the wall are visited only on guided tours booked through the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, so reserve ahead if that interests you.

Non-Muslim visitors can also ascend the plateau itself through the Mughrabi Gate, Sunday to Thursday only, closed Fridays and Saturdays, hours change so check on the day.

End day 1 with the sunset walking tour with wine, three hours from Jaffa Gate with a rooftop sunset, a glass of wine and the Western Wall and Holy Sepulchre by lamplight. It is a newer listing with few reviews so far, so book it for the timing rather than the track record. Walk back out through Jaffa Gate to the Mamilla restaurants afterwards, our estimate 10 minutes.

Take a taxi or bus up to the Mount of Olives ridge for the classic view across the Old City, the gilded Dome of the Rock dead centre. Jewish tradition holds the Mount's cemetery as a place of resurrection, and it has been used for burial for centuries. Come early, before the haze and the tour coaches.

See the Mount of Olives guide for the church-by-church detail.

Walk down the slope. The Church of the Pater Noster stands where tradition says Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer, its courtyard ringed with the prayer in over a hundred languages. Entry is 12 NIS, $3.88, currently Tuesday and Thursday 09:00-12:00, closed Sunday, so check it fits your day.

Further down, the teardrop-shaped Dominus Flevit church marks the spot where Jesus is said to have wept over the city, open Monday to Thursday and Saturday from 08:30.

At the foot of the mount, the Garden of Gethsemane holds ancient olive trees beside the Church of All Nations, built over the rock where Christians believe Jesus prayed on the night of his arrest. Entry is free, 07:30 to 18:00 April to September and 07:30 to 17:00 October to March, last entry 10 minutes before closing. The Tomb of Mary nearby is open 08:00 to 18:00.

The full-day coach tour Jerusalem Full Day Tour From Jerusalem includes Gethsemane on most days of the week.

Eat near Lions' Gate or Dung Gate, then enter the City of David national park just south of Dung Gate, where most archaeologists place the original settlement core of ancient Jerusalem. Self-guided entry is 16 NIS, $5.18, for about 90 minutes. The famous wet route through Hezekiah's tunnel needs water shoes and a change of clothes, the water reaches 70 cm deep, and last entry to the tunnel is 2.5 hours before closing.

If you would rather have it explained, the City of David and Underground Jerusalem day tour covers the excavations and the Pilgrimage Road from your hotel, with entrance fees of about $10 paid on top.

Climb from the City of David into the Jewish Quarter. The Cardo is the excavated main street of Byzantine Jerusalem, once a colonnaded market road, and the Hurva Synagogue dominates the quarter's skyline today. This is the gentlest hour of the day, so slow down, sit in the square and watch the light move across the stone.

Finish at Jaffa Gate. The Night Spectacular projects the story of Jerusalem onto the walls of the citadel, lasts 40 minutes, and the adult ticket is 69 NIS, $22.32, children 3 to 18 pay 59 NIS, $19.09. The start time follows sunset, arrive 15 minutes early, and shows are cancelled in extreme weather.

Book ahead, the museum ticket can be added at 30 percent off.

Yad Vashem is Israel's official Holocaust remembrance centre on the Mount of Remembrance. Entry is free, but advance registration is required for every visit through its online system, and the Holocaust History Museum admits visitors only from age 10. It is open Sunday and Wednesday 09:00-16:00, Tuesday 09:00-14:00, Monday and Thursday 09:00-19:00, Friday to 13:00, closed Saturday, and Yad Vashem advises allowing 1.5 to 2 hours.

For context as you walk, book the two-hour guided museum tour at $12, with a Yad Vashem guide and headsets, minimum age 14. Full practical detail is in the Yad Vashem guide.

Mount Herzl is the start of light rail line L1, which runs past the Central Bus Station and stops at Mahane Yehuda on Jaffa Road. Pay with a Rav-Kav card or an approved app, validators take no bank cards. The market is Jerusalem's main food market, a grid of covered lanes packed with spice stalls, bakeries and juice bars, and it is the right place for a late lunch.

Go before Friday midday, because it closes for Shabbat.

North of the market lies Mea Shearim, the ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood where daily life follows the community's own dress codes and rhythms, and it is one of the few places in Jerusalem you should not wander into unguided. The tour led by a former community member lasts 2.5 hours from Ha-Nevi'im St 67 and costs $53. Modest clothing is required, a scarf or shawl for women and no shorts or bare shoulders for anyone. Read the etiquette in the Mea Shearim guide before you go.

Ride line L1 back towards Damascus Gate and walk the city wall at dusk, our estimate 15 minutes to Jaffa Gate. If your last night falls on any evening but Friday, the light rail runs until about midnight and the restaurants around Jaffa Road and Mamilla stay busy. Otherwise save the evening for the rooftop tour from day 1, which also runs on summer evenings.