Western Wall, Kotel and Western Wall Tunnels: a visitor guide

One wall, three names

The Western Wall is the retaining wall built to support the expanded plateau that Jews and Christians call the Temple Mount. The whole western retaining wall runs 488 metres. The best-known section, the open-air prayer area, is shortened by Jews to the Kotel and was long called the Wailing Wall in the West, a reference to Jews weeping at the site. In the Arab and Islamic world the same wall is known as the Buraq Wall.

Jewish tradition holds that the Temple stood on the plateau above and that the Holy of Holies, the most sacred point in the Jewish faith, lies just above and behind the prayer section. Because of the entry restrictions on the plateau itself, the Wall is the holiest place of Jewish prayer. That is what makes a strip of limestone the centre of Jewish prayer worldwide.

Herodian stones at the bottom, newer stones above

At the prayer section, just over half the wall's total height dates from the end of the Second Temple period and is believed to have been begun by Herod the Great. Read it from the bottom up. The very large blocks at the base are Herodian, the medium-sized courses above were added in the Umayyad period, and the small stones of the top courses are more recent, mostly Ottoman work.

Seventeen courses of the wall sit below today's street level, which is exactly what the Western Wall Tunnels expose. Only about 60 metres of the wall is open air at the prayer plaza. The rest of its original 488 metres is hidden under the buildings of the Muslim Quarter, and the tunnels follow it north.

The plaza: free, open to all

The Western Wall plaza is open to everyone, of every faith and none, at no charge. It is open at all hours, every day. At the prayer area itself, men and women pray in separate sections divided by a partition, so expect that layout and head to the correct side. Security checks at the entrance are routine.

You can stand close to the stones, watch the prayers, and slip a written note into the cracks between the blocks as many visitors do. Dress modestly: covered shoulders and knees, no short shorts. Men should cover their heads on the prayer side, and cardboard kippot are available free at the entrance.

The Tunnels: guided only, booked ahead

The Western Wall Tunnel runs north from where the open-air prayer section ends, along the rest of the wall's buried length and up to its northern end. Most of it continues the open-air wall and lies beneath the buildings of the Muslim Quarter. Several adjacent excavated underground spaces can be visited together with the main tunnel, which is why the plural Western Wall Tunnels is often used.

You cannot walk in on your own. The Tunnels are visited only on a guided tour booked through the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, whose routes include the classic Great Stone route along the length of the Wall and the newer Great Bridge Route. Prices and times appear only on the foundation's booking page, so check there and reserve ahead, as slots fill. A Jerusalem private tour can be arranged to combine the Old City with a tunnel slot you book separately.

What it is and how visiting works

The Temple Mount, known in Arabic as Haram al-Sharif, is the elevated plateau in the Old City whose retaining walls include the Western Wall. It is the Islamic religious compound of al-Aqsa, containing the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, completed in 692 and among the oldest extant Muslim structures in the world. Jewish tradition identifies it as the site of the First and Second Temples, and it is venerated in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Non-Muslim visitors enter only through the Mughrabi Gate, by the footbridge from the Western Wall plaza, during limited morning and early-afternoon hours from Sunday to Thursday. The plateau is closed to visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and various Muslim and Jewish holidays, and can close at short notice, so check on the day. Visitors stay in the open courtyards and do not enter the buildings. Modest dress applies here too.

Jaffa Gate to the Jewish Quarter

Most walking tours, including the guided Old City walk, start at Jaffa Gate, the main western entrance to the Jerusalem Old City. From there the route climbs through the Armenian Quarter and into the Jewish Quarter, past the Cardo, the excavated Byzantine main street, and the Hurva Synagogue with its tall dome.

Walk about 15 minutes, our estimate, and the lane drops towards the Dung Gate, the practical entrance for both the Wall plaza and the City of David park to the south.

The plaza, the stones and the footbridge

Through Dung Gate you reach the plaza. Give yourself 20 to 30 minutes here: approach the prayer section, look up at the Herodian blocks, and if you want a note placed in the wall, write it before you go through security. From the plaza the Mughrabi footbridge rises to the Mughrabi Gate of the Temple Mount for visitors allowed up on that day.

Facing the Wall, the archaeology continues to your right in the Davidson area and to your left underground in the Tunnels. If you have a tunnel booking, it usually starts from the plaza side near the northern end of the prayer section.

Hours and Shabbat

The plaza is open at all hours, every day. The Western Wall Tunnels run on guided slots booked through the foundation, with times published only on its booking page. The Temple Mount plateau admits non-Muslim visitors in limited morning and early-afternoon windows Sunday to Thursday and is closed to visitors on Fridays, Saturdays and various holidays.

Shabbat runs from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall. The plaza itself stays open, and Friday evening at the Wall is a well-attended prayer time, busy and loud in a good way if you want atmosphere, crowded if you want quiet. Israeli public transport shuts down for Shabbat, which affects the rest of a Friday and Saturday plan, as our getting around Jerusalem guide explains.

Dress and behaviour

Modest dress is required at the Wall: covered shoulders and knees for everyone. Men cover their heads in the prayer area, and free kippot are available. At the men's and women's sections, keep to the correct side and do not cross the partition line.

Photography is generally accepted in the plaza, but turn it off on Shabbat and be discreet with faces during prayer. This is a place of worship first. The same modest rule holds on the Temple Mount plateau and on the tunnels tour.

On foot, by tram, or on a tour

The classic approach is on foot through the Old City from Jaffa Gate, about 15 to 20 minutes through the Jewish Quarter, our estimate, or through Dung Gate from the south. The light rail Line L1 stops near Damascus Gate, from where the walk through the Muslim Quarter to the Wall is about 15 minutes, our estimate. Note that the tram does not run on Saturday.

With a tour the logistics disappear: the half-day Western Wall and Holy Sepulchre tour picks you up at your Jerusalem hotel and drops you in the Old City around 13:00, while the four-hour walking tour simply meets at Jaffa Gate. Drivers and taxis cannot enter the Old City itself, so every visit ends in a walk.

How much time to give it

Thirty minutes at the plaza is enough to pray, look and photograph. Add the Tunnels on a guided slot and the Mughrabi Gate ascent when the plateau is open, and the whole complex deserves half a day.

Three routings below cover the realistic options, from a 30-minute stop on a wider Jerusalem itinerary to a full morning with the tunnels. If you only have one day in the city, our things to do in Jerusalem guide shows how the Wall pairs with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The list

Most people see 60 metres of wall and think that is the Wall.

• The full western retaining wall runs 488 metres, but only about 60 metres is open air at the prayer section Wikipedia, Western Wall Tunnel
• Seventeen courses of the wall lie below today's street level, which is what the tunnels expose Wikipedia, Western Wall
• In the Arab and Islamic world the same wall is called the Buraq Wall Wikipedia, Western Wall
• The huge blocks at the bottom are Herodian, the middle courses Umayyad and the small top stones mostly Ottoman Wikipedia, Western Wall
• The Tunnels are plural because several adjacent excavated underground spaces can be visited with the main tunnel Wikipedia, Western Wall Tunnel