6 Days in Jerusalem: First-Timer Plan

Six days gives the museum-and-market crowd a proper second wind after the Old City, Yad Vashem, the City of David, and a full Shabbat day: a slower morning in Nachlaot, Ben Yehuda Street, and whichever museum Day 3 didn’t cover. Shorter? See 5 days . Want the complete week? Go to 7 days .

Book these before you go

Day Focus Book ahead
Day 1 Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Old City’s four quarters Old City walking tour
Day 2 Temple Mount window (Sun-Thu) or Western Wall Tunnels, Mount of Olives Western Wall Tunnels (weekend only)
Day 3 Yad Vashem, Israel Museum, Mahane Yehuda Market Yad Vashem reservation
Day 4 City of David, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, German Colony City of David ticket
Day 5 The Shabbat day: Old City, Mount of Olives, Western Wall Plaza at sundown none, everything here is walk-up
Day 6 Nachlaot, Ben Yehuda Street, a second museum pass none

Day 1: Jaffa Gate to the Western Wall

Start at Jaffa Gate, one of the Old City’s main entrances, and walk down toward the Jewish Quarter. The Western Wall (the Kotel) is free and open 24 hours: cover your shoulders and knees, and take a shawl or paper kippah from the stand at the entrance if you need one. From there it’s a short walk to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter.

Do you need a reservation for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?

No. Entry is free, there’s no ticket and no booking system, and the church runs long hours, roughly 5:00-20:45 in summer and 4:00-19:00 in winter. The only real planning move is timing: arrive before 8:00 or after 17:00 to get ahead of the tour-bus crush, and keep shoulders and knees covered at the door.

For lunch, head into the Muslim Quarter for kanafeh (roughly 15-25 ILS a portion) and a hummus plate (20-35 ILS) before finishing the afternoon in the Armenian Quarter, the smallest and quietest of the four. Book a guided Old City walking tour if you want the history explained on the spot, then close the day with a walk along a ramparts section (about 25 ILS, roughly $8) for the sunset light over the domes below.

Day 2: The Temple Mount window and the Mount of Olives

If today falls Sunday through Thursday, make the Temple Mount the first fixed appointment of the day: non-Muslim visitors enter only through the Mughrabi Gate beside the Western Wall Plaza.

What are the Temple Mount hours for non-Muslim visitors?

Two short windows, Sunday through Thursday only: roughly 7:30-11:00 and 13:30-14:30 in summer, shorter in winter, and the site can close without notice. Entry is esplanade-only, you cannot go inside the Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa Mosque, and security expects a passport, modest dress, and no visibly religious items.

If it’s Friday or Saturday instead, swap in the Western Wall Tunnels, a guided-only walk along the Wall’s buried foundation stones (roughly 45-50 ILS, about an hour; weekend slots fill, so book the Western Wall Tunnels tour ahead). Either way, spend the afternoon in the Jewish Quarter, the rebuilt Hurva Synagogue and the Roman-era Cardo, then walk the Via Dolorosa’s fourteen stations toward the Muslim Quarter before heading out to the Mount of Olives for the best wide view of the Old City, ideally an hour or two before sunset. Dinner options split by mood: German Colony for a modern Israeli menu, or back inside the Old City’s Christian Quarter for something simpler.

Day 3: Yad Vashem and the Israel Museum

This is a West Jerusalem day, so do it on a weekday: both major sights here close Saturdays. Start at Yad Vashem on Mount Herzl, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

Is Yad Vashem free to visit?

Entry itself is free, but a timed reservation is mandatory, booked online in advance with a small non-refundable fee, roughly 10 ILS for early slots and 15 ILS for midday ones. Under-10s aren’t admitted to the main museum. Hours vary by day, check Yad Vashem’s official site before you go, and the site is closed Saturdays and Jewish holidays.

In the afternoon, the Israel Museum holds the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Shrine of the Book alongside one of the region’s best archaeology collections; budget at least two to three hours, adult admission runs about 54 ILS (roughly $18), and booking online at imj.org.il skips the queue, especially around the later Tuesday-evening opening. Finish at Mahane Yehuda Market: eat standing up at a stall (20-40 ILS) rather than only at the sit-down restaurants around its edges, and let the market flip into its evening bar scene if it’s a weeknight.

Day 4: City of David and the German Colony

Head south of the Old City walls to the City of David (details at cityofdavid.org.il ), an active excavation site paired with the Hezekiah’s Tunnel walk, a 2,700-year-old water channel that runs ankle to knee deep in places (wear shoes that can get wet, or rent boots on-site). Book the City of David and tunnel ticket ahead, especially for a weekend slot. In the afternoon, walk the German Colony and Emek Refaim strip, a leafier, cafe-lined break from the Old City’s stone alleys, and stay for dinner: kitchens here run later than most of the rest of the city. If this day lands on a Friday, flip it with Day 5, the City of David closes for Shabbat and the Old City doesn’t.

Day 5: The Shabbat day

Treat whichever day of your trip actually falls Friday afternoon through Saturday night as this one, even if the calendar puts it somewhere else in the sequence: the light rail, the buses, and most West Jerusalem shops and restaurants shut down for Shabbat, so the plan stays inside the Old City and East Jerusalem, where none of that applies.

What stays open in Jerusalem during Shabbat?

The Old City’s Muslim and Christian Quarters, East Jerusalem’s restaurants and private bus lines, and the Western Wall Plaza itself, free and unguided, open all 24 hours regardless of the day. What closes: the light rail and Egged and Dan buses citywide, most Jewish-owned shops and restaurants in West Jerusalem, and sights like Yad Vashem and the Israel Museum.

Spend the morning back in the Old City at a slower pace than Day 1 allowed, then walk out to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Friday evening, the Western Wall Plaza draws its biggest crowd of the week as Shabbat begins, worth seeing even if you’re not praying yourself. Dinner: an Old City or East Jerusalem kitchen, since most of West Jerusalem’s restaurants are closed for the night.

Day 6: Nachlaot, Ben Yehuda, and a second museum

Spend the morning wandering Nachlaot, the warren of small lanes and courtyard synagogues just south of Mahane Yehuda, then walk down to Ben Yehuda Street for the city’s main pedestrian shopping strip. In the afternoon, pick a second museum pass depending on what Day 3 didn’t cover: the Tower of David Museum at Jaffa Gate for Jerusalem’s own history inside a Crusader-era citadel, or a return trip to the Israel Museum’s archaeology wing if the Shrine of the Book was as far as time allowed the first pass. Dinner back downtown or in Nachlaot; both areas run later kitchens than the Old City does.

Check live hours for all six days before you land at itraveljerusalem.com , the official city tourism site. By day six you’ll have crossed more holiday and Shabbat closures than a shorter trip ever hits.