We took the express train from Tel Aviv (HaHagana Station) to Jerusalem (Yitzhak Navon Station). It was an easy train ride (about 45 minutes and the trains run every 30 minutes). We stayed for two nights/three days in the city center near Ben Yehuda Street. We spent most of our time in the Old City but ventured into the rest of the city at night.

Day 1. After getting situated at the hotel, we walked down to the Old City via Mamilla to the Jaffa gate. We grabbed some lunch at an outdoor cafe in the Armenian Quarter and then stopped into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher since it was basically right there. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the narrow alleys of the city, ultimately making our way throught the Christian and Muslim Quarters to the Western Wall. By then, it was dark so we headed out of the Old City by walking along the interior of the city walls (along the Northern Promenade).

After dinner, we walked around the area between Ben Yehuda Street, Jaffa Street and Mamilla and grabbed a drink at bar on one of the offshoot streets in the area.

Day 2. The next day we woke up early, grabbed some breafkast pastries and toured the Tower of David Museum. (Note: the cleanest bathroom in the entire old city is in the museum… in the section with the live view of the Temple Mount. The next day I actually bought a ticket to the museum again just so that I could use that bathroom). After we finished the Tower of David, we walked the Southern Promenade of the Ramparts Walk to the Lion’s Gate. From there, we exited the Old City into East Jerusalem and walked up to the Mount of Olives to the overlook. From there, we walked back to the Dung Gate and walked through the Old City via the Jewish Quarter.

It was a lot of uphill to get to the Mount of Olives, but the view from the top was pretty amazing! (Not much else of interest to us up there). On the way down, we walked toward the Dung Gate in the Jewish Quarter, passing some recently excavated ruins just outside the southern part of the city walls.

We grabbed a quick dinner and then walked up to Mahane Yehuda (the market that turns into cafes and bars at night). The bars were a little loud for us (blaring music even though they were barely full) and so we ended up leaving the area and grabbed some cocktails at Gasby (a speakeasy). The cocktails were great and the atmosphere was really cool, and I would definitely go there again. (Note: to get in, it’s the door at the end of the cafe patio slightly below the street with the fake grass on it).

Day 3. On our last day, we walked back into the Old City and toured the Western Wall Tunnels. (You need to get a ticket in advance, but they are free and you can do it online). After that, we wandered around the Old City some more until it was time to check out of the hotel and head back to Tel Aviv.

Highlights of the trip included the Ramparts Walk (Southern Promenade), the Western Wall Tunnels, the Tower of David (and museum), and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.