Things to do in Israel

Place a prayer note between the massive Herodian stones of this sacred Jewish site, alive with whispered prayers day and night.

Lie back in the hypersaline water and feel your body bob like a cork, surrounded by mineral-rich mud and stark desert cliffs.

Climb the Snake Path under stars, then stand on King Herod’s mountaintop fortress as the sun floods the Moab mountains and the Dead Sea.

Slip into the warm Red Sea from a sandy cove and drift over a protected fringing reef teeming with parrotfish, butterflyfish and occasional dolphins.

Walk up nineteen meticulously manicured terraces on Mount Carmel, with the golden-domed Shrine of the Báb crowning the hillside and the Mediterranean beyond.

Scoop warm, creamy chickpea paste with pita at this tiny stone-walled eatery on the Via Dolorosa, where the hummus is served with a generous pour of olive oil.

Crawl between gritty bars, live-music cellars and late-night falafel stands in this graffiti-covered neighborhood that never truly sleeps.

Walk the haunting Hall of Names and the tree-lined Avenue of the Righteous on the Mount of Remembrance, an emotional, deeply personal journey through memory.

Strap on a harness and descend vertical desert walls into the world’s largest erosion cirque, then hike among prismatic sands and fossilized seabeds.

Stroll the wave-lapped Roman aqueduct and the restored hippodrome, then peer into the submerged breakwater of this architectural wonder built to honor Caesar Augustus.

Ride a cable car down the white cliff face and wander through tunnels carved by the Mediterranean, where turquoise water thunders into echoing grottoes.

Descend into the subterranean Knights’ Halls and then roam the vibrant Arab souk in the same walled city where Marco Polo once embarked.

Weave past pyramids of spices, towers of baklava and piles of ripe sabra fruit while vendors hawk their goods in a cheerful cacophony at the city’s largest shuk.

Follow a desert stream through hanging gardens into shaded canyons, then plunge into a freshwater pool beneath a cascade while ibex watch from the cliffs.

Kneel before the stunning 6th-century floor depicting a biblical scene, a Hebrew zodiac wheel and a menorah, remarkably preserved on a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley.

Sample crisp Sauvignon Blanc and velvety Cabernet Sauvignon overlooking the volcanic basalt slopes and vineyards that put Israeli wine on the world map.

Squeeze into vast underground chambers carved like giant bells, once quarries for limestone, and hear your echo bounce around the World Heritage-listed city under the city.

Enter this cavernous, incense-scented church that houses Golgotha and the empty tomb, a profoundly sacred spot for Christian pilgrims since the 4th century.

Perch on the wooden deck of the renovated old port as the sky turns coral and sails glide past, with the city lights beginning to twinkle behind you.

Splash through knee-deep water in a pitch-black 2,700-year-old aqueduct dug beneath the original Jerusalem, emerging into the sunlight of the Pool of Siloam.

Pitch a tent among King Solomon’s Pillars and eerie mushroom-like rock formations, then wake up to a sunrise that sets the red desert ablaze.

Rent a bike and pedal through eucalyptus groves and along the landscaped banks of the Yarkon, finishing where the river meets the Mediterranean at the Tel Aviv Port.

Crack through the runny yolks of eggs poached in a bubbling spiced tomato sauce at this legendary flea-market spot, where huge metal pans dangle from the ceiling.

See a cutting-edge performance by Israel’s top troupes in a restored 19th-century school in artsy Neve Tzedek, the city’s first Jewish neighborhood.

Step through a Roman bathhouse and a Byzantine church perched on a cliff, part of a chain of desert cities that once carried frankincense and myrrh to the Mediterranean.