Private Full Day Return to Zion Jerusalem Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. We will enter the Old City of Jerusalem at Jaffa Gate. Built by the Turkish Emperor Suleiman the Magnificent with the walls of Jerusalem

   45 min

2. We will the Tower of David fortress dating back 2000 years. Climb Phasael's Tower built by Herod the Great in the year 20 BC for a panoramic view of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. We will see the Dome of the Rock, The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the two largest Synagogues in the Jewish Quarter. Great Photo Opportunity.

   1 hAdmission included

3. We will walk through the Armenian Quarter and enter the Jewish Quarter. The first thing we will visit is the Cardo, the ancient Roman road created in Jerusalem in 136 CE after the Roman Emperor Hadrian had defeated the rebellion of Bar Kochba, changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitalina and banned Jews from living in the City.

   1 h

4. We visit the Hurva Synagogue and learn about how Ashkenazi Jews returned to Zion in the 18th Century and how this Synagogue became the main Ashkenazi synagogue in the Old City. Learn of its destruction by the Jordanians in 1948 and how it was rebuilt 15 years ago. We will go in the synagogue and walk around its dome.

   45 minAdmission included

5. We then go to the 4 Sephardi Synagogues and learn about the Return to Zion of the Sephardi community after the Jews were kicked out of Spain in 1492. We will hear about how the Jews were treated in these synagogues up to the 20th Century.

   45 min

6. We go back in time 2000 years and see the remains of the Priest's houses that stood at the time of the Second Temple. We will see the amazing drawing of the Temple Menorah and learn about the role the Priest's played in the Temple

   1 hAdmission included

7. We next visit the Burnt House. The "Burnt House" is a residential building from the Second Temple period discovered during the restoration of the Jewish Quarter after 1967. We see a stone weight engraved with the name Katros, the name of the family of kohanim that we know from the Pesachim of the Talmud. A second stone weight was recently discovered nearby, under the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, bearing the name of this family. Alongside the stone weight, you’ll see a spearhead installed by the Jewish rebels while defending themselves against the legions of Romans who had furiously stormed their houses, pottery and tools carved from Jerusalemite stone.

   45 minAdmission included

8. We will have lunch in the various cafes and choices in the Jewish Quarter.

   1 h

9. We will visit the archaelogical site around the Temple Mount. See the Western and Southern Walls of Herod's Temple Mount platform. Learn about how the Romans destroyed the City and threw down the Temple. We will walk along the road used by the pilgrims and see where they would enter the Temple Mount.

   1.3 hAdmission included

10. We then walk to the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism and see the last remnant of the Holy Temple destroyed in the year 70 AD.

    1 h

11. Here we will learn about the War of Independence in 1948, and how the Jewish Quarter was lost and destroyed by the Jordanians. We will visit the memorial to the fallen soldiers who died to defend the quarter. Hear about how the Jews were exiled from the Old City via the Zion Gate.

    45 min

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 2 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Jerusalem

• Its from-price is 88% above the median of the 357 experiences we list in Jerusalem.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 179 of 357.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Jerusalem

Jerusalem is an ancient hill city, sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, with a walled Old City of stone lanes, markets and shrines.

Jerusalem stands among the Judean hills, about 750 metres above sea level, and its Old City, enclosed by Ottoman walls of the sixteenth century, is divided into Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian quarters. The Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock with its golden dome, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre lie within a short walk of each other, and the Old City is listed by UNESCO.

Top-ranked sights in Jerusalem: Western Wall (Wailing Wall), Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem Jewish Quarter.

See all 357 experiences in Jerusalem