Dead Sea and Masada: Tickets, Hours, Visit
Float in the lowest point on earth in the morning, stand on Herod’s clifftop fortress by midday, and be back in Jerusalem in time for dinner. The Dead Sea and Masada, paired together, are the single day trip that earns a spot on every Jerusalem itinerary, gateway family or not, and this page covers what it actually costs and how to time it.
Key facts
| Distance from Jerusalem | ~90 minutes by car or tour bus |
| Masada entry | |
| Masada with cable car | |
| Ein Gedi Nature Reserve | |
| Time needed | Full day (roughly 07:00-17:00 on a combo tour) |
| Booking lead | Sunrise hike tours sell out; book 1-2 weeks ahead in high season |
| Guided day tour | $60-120/person group, $350-550 total private |
Is the Masada sunrise hike worth it?
Yes, if you’re willing to start walking in the dark. The cable car doesn’t open until 8am, so the only way to catch sunrise from the summit is the steep Snake Path on foot, typically a 45-60 minute climb starting well before dawn. The reward is watching the sun clear the Jordanian mountains from a Herodian clifftop fortress with almost no one else up there yet.
Masada itself was declared a national park in 1966 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001; the Israel Nature and Parks Authority’s Masada page has current hours and the night light-show schedule. Most visitors who skip the hike take the cable car up after 8am instead, which is faster and gets you the same clifftop views and Herod’s palace ruins without the pre-dawn wakeup.
What does a Dead Sea float actually involve?
You sit back and the water does the rest: at roughly 34% salinity, sinking is not an option, and swimming strokes don’t work the way they do anywhere else. Public beaches near Ein Gedi have showers to rinse off afterward, which matters, since the water stings any small cut and ruins jewelry. Bring water shoes; the shoreline is sharp, salt-crusted rock, not sand, and it’s genuinely uncomfortable barefoot.
Getting there and booking
A private car or rental covers the drive easily, but most visitors book a combined day tour that handles Masada, Ein Gedi, and a Dead Sea beach stop in one run; check current departures on GetYourGuide’s Masada sunrise, Ein Gedi and Dead Sea tour . iTravelJerusalem’s guide to the route is a useful cross-check on current transit options if you’re driving yourself.
For the full day-trip family, the Jerusalem day trips guide covers Bethlehem and Tel Aviv too, and the 2-day itinerary shows exactly where this trip slots into a short visit.
One planning note that trips people up: this is a long day even on a tour, easily 07:00 to 17:00 once Masada, Ein Gedi, and the Dead Sea are all in the same run, so don’t stack anything else onto it.