Multi-Day Trips from Jerusalem
Travel advisory: conditions in Israel and the West Bank can shift with little notice, and governments word their guidance differently. Check your own government’s current advisory, such as the US State Department or UK FCDO , before booking several days here, and check again close to departure.
Jerusalem doesn’t hand you a packaged multi-day itinerary the way some destinations do - there’s no bundled city pass and no single tour that covers it all. What it does give you is enough sights, at fixed prices, to build your own three or four days around, as long as you build one day around the fact that the city half-shuts down every week.
The one rule that shapes everything: Shabbat
From roughly one to two hours before Friday sunset until about an hour after Saturday sunset (Havdalah), the Jerusalem Light Rail and Egged city buses stop running, and the Western Wall Tunnels, City of David and most museums close for the day. Put a walking day - the Old City’s four quarters, the Ramparts, or the Mount of Olives viewpoint - on your Saturday, since none of those depend on transit or ticketing, and save anything requiring a bus or a booked entry slot for a weekday.
Day 1: The Old City on foot
Start at Western Wall Plaza, free and open 24/7, with modest dress required and gender-segregated prayer sections. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is also free and open roughly 05:00-20:45 in summer. If your dates and timing line up, Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif is free for non-Muslims via the Mughrabi Bridge, Sunday through Thursday only, in two short windows (roughly 07:30-11:00 and 13:30-14:30 in summer) - non-Muslims cannot enter the Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa Mosque interiors. Round out the day with the Old City Ramparts Walk (25 ILS adult, closed Saturdays) and Mahane Yehuda Market for dinner.
Day 2: Museums and City of David
The Israel Museum (54 ILS adult) holds the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book. City of David (around 65 ILS adult) includes Hezekiah’s Tunnel, a First Temple-period water channel dating to roughly 701 BCE - bring water shoes and a flashlight, and note it’s closed Saturdays and needs advance booking. Tower of David Museum runs 55 ILS for the museum, 69 ILS for the Night Experience, or 108 ILS combined; check current terms at tod.org.il since it has repriced more than once this year.
Day 3: A day trip
Masada and the Dead Sea are about 1.5 hours out via Route 1. Park entrance on foot is 37 ILS adult / 21 ILS child / 31 ILS student, with the cable car a separate 54 ILS round trip adult / 32 ILS child - budget them as two line items, not one combined fee. Alternatively, Bethlehem is a 30-minute crossing via Checkpoint 300 on Bus 231 (7-9 ILS each way); carry a passport, since re-entry into Jerusalem requires it even though your ETA-IL covers it. To book a full-day Masada and Dead Sea trip instead of self-driving, check availability on Viator or browse GetYourGuide’s Jerusalem tours .
Getting around between days
A single Light Rail or Egged bus ride costs 5.90-6.00 ILS with a Rav-Kav card, with a 90-minute transfer window; taxis run through Gett or Yango since Uber doesn’t operate as a rideshare service in Israel. From the airport, the train to Jerusalem-Yitzhak Navon runs about 21 ILS.
For single-day versions of the trips above, see the day trips guide , or work from a set 4-day itinerary if you’d rather start from a template.