If you grew up in a western culture (Judaism, Christianity or Islam), Jerusalem is going to resonate with you. Even if your upbringing was not overly religious, it has worked in to your unconscious mind and made itself at home.
You should know, or will figure out that Israel is expensive. I spent six days in Israel, split between Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem. The two days in Tel Aviv were enough to see most of Tel Aviv and the one day in Haifa was enough to see Haifa, but the three days in Jerusalem….
The main sites of Haifa are the Ba’aim Gardens and the Cave of Elijah. Both of these are interesting enough, and the gardens offer an incredible view, but if you have a limited amount of time in Israel, Haifa may not be your best use of that time.
Tel Aviv is the largest city. It is also the city that feels the most diverse. I rented a bedroom in an apartment in south Tel Aviv. This was a fairly poor, immigrant-rich neighborhood. It was common to see African and Indian immigrants, the antithesis of what I imagined when I thought of Israel. As an American, I anticipated Israel was all Jewish and by Jewish, I mean Ashkenazi. In fact, about 75 percent of Israel’s population is Jewish, and not all Jews are Ashkenazi. As a result, Tel Aviv looked a bit like a small New York and my neighborhood, specifically looked a lot like Queens. As the largest city, possible capital and location of the airport, you about have to spend time in Tel Aviv. If you have a limited amount of time to spend in Israel, I would suggest limiting the time spent in Tel Aviv too.
Jerusalem will take as much time as you have to unwind it. You can compare a lot of places to Jerusalem, but Jerusalem compares to no place. This place has history and I can’t even keep the timeline straight. It’s not the biggest city, nor is it in the most strategic location, but it has been the center of religious faith for the three major western religion since their beginning (and yes, I know this is an oversimplification, but all three are willing to and have shed blood over it.)
The old city of Jerusalem has four quarters. The quarters are basically unequal sections within the walled city where various peoples reside, so in a sense it is a segregated city. The four quarters are Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Armenian. The Muslim quarter has the largest population and the market. The Jewish has the Western Wall and seems a little tucked away. The Christian is probably the most visited by tourist as includes the Jaffa Gate, which is where most tourists enter. The Armenian is the smallest and is comprised of small winding passages. It has some good restaurants tucked away and is a little less crowded to wander in. Certainly, the most interesting is the Muslim quarter. which begins at the Damascus gate. I am usually not one for markets, but this one is a market like no other. Eat there, wander around, get lost, buy something if you want. Watch for tractors and carts, they take the whole street as this town was not built for modern times.
There are no overt markers delineating which quarter is which. Further, I don’t believe there are any laws restricting transfer of real estate to people not fitting the definition of the quarter. But, maybe there doesn’t need to be. Without going to deep into the weeds, the old city was built, rebuilt and built on top of ruins many times over the course of centuries. I took a one day tour. The guide noted that the street elevation in the old city was originally 4 meters (about 13 feet) below where it is today. That’s 13 feet of rubble, debris, history and stories. Also, the walls in their current form and location were built by Suleiman the Great (or Magnificent) around 1540. He then had the engineer killed and buried inside the Jaffa Gate. Look at the walls closely though, in some places, the walls were built on top of earlier walls and earlier walls. You can see changes is the cut of the stone which indicate a newer period of construction.
So what is there to see in the old city? Well, for starters the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian quarter was supposed to have been built over the site of the crucifiction and the tomb of Jesus. Which brings up another point: at the time of the crucifiction, it was outside the walls — the city was expanded by Suleiman. In the Jewish quarter, there is the western wall or the wailing wall. There’s just so much history, I would urge hiring a guide to at least get you started.
Construction of settlements outside the walls began around 1860, and progressed slowly. The first settlements were to the west and were slow to fill, now they are highly sought-after addresses. Development outside the walls did eventually take off and included a YMCA designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon of Empire State Building fame. Development outside the walls also followed along the main roads, the most important of these was Jaffa Road which connects Jaffa (south Tel Aviv) to the Jaffa gate. I stayed in a CapusleInn off Jaffa Road (remember Israel is expensive). Along Jaffa and other roads in this area, there are the usual assortment of shops and restaurants, not all of which are kosher or observe Shabbat (though most do).
If possible, spend Shabbat in Jerusalem. Public transit stops running, many of the restaurants and shops close, many of the citizens stay in. Around dusk on Friday, the city feels a bit like a ghost town or post-apocalyptic. It is suddenly more quiet and many fewer people and cars are out. Then you will hear a crowd running through the old city singing. It starts in the Jewish quarter and goes through the Armenian and Christian quarters (the only thing I can think to compare it to is a New Orleans second line) and it ends outside the Jaffa gate with this crowd gathering in a circle dancing and singing. Then it disperses and reappears at about the same time the following night. A certain sect of Jews bookend Shabbat in this fashion.
In between these two celebrations, the town falls silent again except for the nightlife. I had signed up for a Sunrise tour of Masada and the Dead Sea for Saturday morning. This meant that I had to leave for Masada at 3a and climb a mountain in predawn hours. In retrospect, the tram opens at 8a and the sunrise wasn’t worth the climb, I would have happily gone later. So, at 2:30a during Shabbat, I was walking across Jerusalem to meet my tour bus. The area around Jaffa Road, outside the old city was hopping. Techno beat was streaming from clubs, couples were walking around, police patrolled, this was not what I expected at all. At this point in my life (and probably at no point), I have little interest in clubbing at 3a, but was shocked by the amount of activity.
So, the tour took us first to Masada and then to Ein Geddes, a nature preserve and finished at the Dead Sea. The first two stops were fine and one could take them or leave them depending on your interest in such things. The Dead Sea shouldn’t be missed because, (1) at its current rate, won’t be around that much longer; (2) the oddity of it; and, (3) the history. Though the tour I went on was only about the second point, the first and the third are equally important. I suspect the first point will at some point be solved by piping in water from the Mediterranean or some other source. The tourism and ,ud industries are just too valuable to be destroyed by an environmental catastrophe. The third is probably worth exploring. I am sure there are some tours that can take you to the historic sites. If I were to do it again, I would stay in one of the resorts at the Dead Sea, where you could leisurely make use of the Sea and plan some more intensive tours of the area and then head back to Jerusalem.
So, in conclusion, Israel is a trip that is worth saving up for as it is expensive. I would say two days in Tel Aviv, two at the Dead Sea, four in Jerusalem (do a food tour and a two day walking tour and a day to wander), and probably three more days to see the West Bank, Nazareth Bethlehem and whatever else I missed. So, that’s 11 days for Israel.