The Old City is 0.9 square kilometres inside Suleiman's walls, four quarters and seven gates in use. A Jerusalem Old City tour on foot from Jaffa Gate covers the Western Wall, the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in about 4 hours, and the same sites are free to walk on your own.
A Jerusalem Old City tour is a guided walk of roughly 3 to 5 hours through the four quarters, priced from $39 for 3 hours in a group of up to 25. You pay mainly for the explaining, because the Western Wall, the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are free to enter on your own. Guides also handle the rules: the Temple Mount opens to non-Muslims Sunday to Thursday through the Mughrabi Gate and can close without notice, and the Western Wall Tunnels need a reserved slot with a certified guide. From Tel Aviv, a day trip works fine, since the train takes about 30 minutes.
Key takeaways
Each listing below links to a full card. The word from means the lowest adult rate on the listing, per person unless stated otherwise, and one tour, Daniel Rozalis' private four quarters tour, is priced at $500 for the whole group. Most of the walks meet at Jaffa Gate. Entrance fees are included on the Bein Harim half day and on the Bein Harim City of David and Jerusalem and Bethlehem days, while the Abraham walks, the MEJDI dual narrative walk, the Tourist Israel half day, the Tel Aviv boutique day and the Footsteps of Jesus day do not list entry as included, and both private tours exclude it. The booking platform handles payment, and every listing here offers free cancellation to 24 hours before departure.
A 4-hour guided walk from Jaffa Gate through the Old City's quarters to the Western Wall, the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is the best-reviewed walk-only Old City tour on this page.
Two guides, one Jewish Israeli and one Palestinian, walk you through the Old City's best-known sites and the two readings of its history. Groups are capped at 20.
A 10.5-hour day from Tel Aviv with round-trip transport, a 3.5-hour guided walk through all four quarters and an hour of free time for lunch. It meets at the operator's Tel Aviv office, not at hotels.
A small-group day from Tel Aviv with a licensed guide, a walk down the Mount of Olives and through the Old City quarters. It is the one day tour here that lists a Temple Mount visit, on days it is open.
One day, two cities. About 2.5 hours in the Old City, then Bethlehem with the Church of the Nativity, with pickup from nine Tel Aviv hotels. It is the most reviewed tour on this page.
A half-day Old City tour with hotel pickup and entrance fees included. It ends in the Old City around 13:00, so plan your own way back.
The ancient Jerusalem tour: the City of David excavations, the Gihon Spring, the Pool of Siloam and the stone-paved Pilgrimage Road, then Mount Zion. It includes about 3 hours of walking and tight spots, so skip it if you dislike enclosed spaces.
A full-day Christian-focused walk from the Mount of Olives to the Via Dolorosa, with stops at Dominus Flevit, the Church of All Nations, the Pool of Bethesda and St Anne Church. Entrance fees are not included.
A 2.5-hour walk through the Jewish Quarter as the city prepares for Shabbat, reaching the Western Wall as the sun sets and returning to Jaffa Gate. It is the shortest and cheapest guided GetYourGuide walk on this page.
The lowest-priced guided Old City walk on this page: 3 hours from Jaffa Gate through the Jewish Quarter and the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Groups are capped at 25.
A private guide meets you at your central Jerusalem hotel and builds the route around you, through the Armenian, Jewish, Christian and Muslim quarters. It is offered in 14 languages.
A private 5-hour tour of the four quarters for one price per group, not per person. Reviewers rate the guide 5.0 across 167 reviews, and the guide waits outside Jaffa Gate with your name on a sign.
Each Jerusalem Old City tour side by side, with the price, the duration on the listing, where it starts and the shape of the day. Figures come from the listings themselves.
| Tour | Price | Hours | Starts | Format | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old City Walk | $57 | 4 hours | Jaffa Gate | Walk, 4 quarters | Check Availability Details |
| Dual Narrative | $65 | 4.5 hours | Jaffa Gate | Two guides | Check Availability Details |
| Tel Aviv Day Trip | $90 | 10.5 hours | Tel Aviv | Coach day, 4 quarters | Check Availability Details |
| Boutique Day | $180 | 9 hours | Tel Aviv | Small group, 18 max | Check Availability Details |
| Jerusalem and Bethlehem | $121 | 10 hours | Hotel pickup | Coach day, Bethlehem | Check Availability Details |
| Half Day Tour | $50 | Half day, ends about 13:00 | Hotel pickup | Coach, Old City | Check Availability Details |
| City of David Day | $89 | 9 hours | Hotel pickup | Coach, underground | Check Availability Details |
| Footsteps of Jesus | $89 | 9 hours | Hotel pickup | Walk, Christian route | Check Availability Details |
| Shabbat Walk | $47 | 2.5 hours | Jaffa Gate | Walk, Jewish Quarter | Check Availability Details |
| Half-Day Walk | $39 | 3 hours | David Citadel Hotel | Walk, 4 quarters | Check Availability Details |
| Private Holy City | $190 | 3-5 hours | Hotel pickup | Private walk | Check Availability Details |
| Four Quarters Private | $500 per group | 5 hours | Jaffa Gate | Private walk | Check Availability Details |
The walks from Jaffa Gate cost least, while the days from Tel Aviv add roughly 1.5 hours of transport each way. Cancellation terms are on each card. Figures current in Q4 2026.
The pick is Abraham Tours' 4-hour walk from Jaffa Gate at $57. Starting times show up once you check availability.
Looking at one of the others? Two guides, two narratives, one city · Full day from Tel Aviv, 3.5-hour Old City tour · Small group, licensed guide, Temple Mount visit · Jerusalem Old City plus Bethlehem, hotel pickup · Half day from Jerusalem hotels, ends in the Old City · City of David, Gihon Spring, Pilgrimage Road · Full-day Jesus walk, Mount of Olives to Via Dolorosa · Pre-Shabbat Jewish Quarter walk, 2.5 hours · 3-hour Old City walk from the David Citadel · Private guide, custom route, 3-5 hours · Private four-quarters tour, one price per group
These tours start on foot at or just outside Jaffa Gate and cover the quarters, the Western Wall and the Christian sites without a coach.
The table pulls the price, duration, coverage and group cap straight from each listing. The three pure walks all meet at or just outside Jaffa Gate, while Tourist Israel's group gathers at the David Citadel Hotel. The Bein Harim half day is the only one with a vehicle, hotel pickup and entrance fees included, and it ends in the Old City about 13:00 with no ride back.
Entry fees are not listed as included on the walks themselves.
| Tour | Price | Hours | Covers | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem Old City Walking Tour | $57 | 4 hours | Western Wall, Via Dolorosa, Holy Sepulchre, Room of the Last Supper, King David's Tomb, Temple Mount when open | Not stated |
| Jerusalem Old City Half-Day Tour | $39 | 3 hours | Western Wall, Via Dolorosa, Holy Sepulchre, all four quarters | Up to 25 |
| Jerusalem Dual Narrative Tour | $65 | 4.5 hours | The city's most famous sites and both readings of its history | Up to 20 |
| Jerusalem Old City Shabbat Tour | $47 | 2.5 hours | Tower of David, Jewish Quarter markets, Hurva Synagogue, Western Wall | Not stated |
| Jerusalem Half Day Tour | $50 | Half day, ends about 13:00 | Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, entrance fees included | Up to 40 |
A guide earns the price on the rules and the story. On the Temple Mount, non-Muslims enter only Sunday to Thursday through the Mughrabi Gate above the Western Wall plaza, the site closes on Fridays, Saturdays and religious holidays, and entry can stop at any time, so the Old City walking tour and the Old City tour from Tel Aviv visit a viewpoint over it on closed days. In the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, six denominations share the building under the 18th-century Status Quo, which explains the fixed place of everything down to the Immovable Ladder. On the Via Dolorosa, a guide maps the 14 Stations of the Cross, nine in the streets and five inside the church.
The MEJDI dual narrative walk runs with two guides at once, one Jewish Israeli and one Palestinian, in a group capped at 20. For Shabbat, the Abraham Shabbat walk takes 2.5 hours through the Jewish Quarter as the city winds down, past the Hurva Synagogue, and reaches the Western Wall close to sunset. Note that entrance fees and drop-off differ by listing, so check the card before you book.
Three of the listings run the whole day from Tel Aviv, transport included. Yes, a day trip is a real option. Train, bus and Shabbat details are on Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The Tel Aviv day trips run 9 to 10.5 hours with the ride built in, about 1.5 hours each way on the Abraham and Bein Harim versions. The boutique tour starts latest, at 9.30 am at Rothschild Boulevard 22, and caps the group at 18. Bein Harim pairs Jerusalem with Bethlehem and is the most reviewed listing here.
Entry fees are included on the Bein Harim day and not listed as included on the other two.
| Tour | Price | Hours | Leaves from | Also covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem Old City Tour from Tel Aviv | $90 | 10.5 hours | HaRakevet St 8, Tel Aviv | Mount of Olives, Roman Cardo, Hurva Synagogue |
| Jerusalem Boutique Tour from Tel Aviv | $180 | 9 hours | Rothschild Boulevard 22 at 9.30 am | Mount of Olives, Temple Mount when open |
| Jerusalem and Bethlehem Tour from Tel Aviv | $121 | 10 hours | Hotel pickup from 9 Tel Aviv hotels | Bethlehem, Church of the Nativity |
You can visit the Old City on a day trip from Tel Aviv without a tour. The train from Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon station takes about 30 minutes, and bus 480 to Tel Aviv's Arlozorov station takes about 50 minutes and runs roughly every 20 minutes. In Jerusalem, the light rail Red Line stops at City Hall and Damascus Gate, both near the walls. Fares are not stated here.
Time it around Shabbat: buses do not run from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening, and the light rail stops for Shabbat and Jewish holidays too. That makes a Friday or Saturday self-guided day harder, and it is exactly the window where the guided Tel Aviv days still run.
The Bein Harim full days go underground and along the Christian route, and the private guides take the whole Old City at your pace.
The City of David and Underground Jerusalem day tour costs $89 for 9 hours with hotel pickup, a coach, a guide and entry fees included. The route starts with a panorama from the Mount of Olives or Mount Scopus, enters the City of David near the Dung Gate, then covers the Gihon Spring, the Pool of Siloam and the stone-paved Pilgrimage Road. It finishes on Mount Zion at King David's Tomb and the Room of the Last Supper.
Expect about 3 hours of walking, and a reviewer warns of tight squeezes in the tunnels, so skip it if you dislike enclosed spaces.
The Footsteps of Jesus walking tour also runs 9 hours at $89 with hotel pickup and drop-off. It goes down the Mount of Olives past Dominus Flevit and the Church of All Nations, through the Old City to the Pool of Bethesda, St Anne Church and the Convent of the Sisters of Zion, and finishes on the Via Dolorosa. The difference from the City of David day is on money: entrance fees are not included, so budget for site tickets yourself.
The private listings work on different pricing and it matters. The Private Jerusalem Holy City Tour lists $190 per person for a private group of 3 to 5 hours, so a party of three pays three times that, and the guide meets you at your central Jerusalem hotel in one of 14 languages. The Private Old City Four Quarters Tour is $500 per group, not per person, for 5 hours across all four quarters, rated 5.0 from 167 reviews, with the guide waiting outside Jaffa Gate with your name on a sign. For larger parties the per-group price usually wins, so work out the total before booking.
| Private tour | Price | Hours | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private Jerusalem Holy City Tour | $190 per person as listed | 3-5 hours | Hotel meet-up in central Jerusalem |
| Private Old City Four Quarters Tour | $500 per group | 5 hours | Just outside Jaffa Gate |
The Western Wall, the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are free to enter, while the tunnels, the ramparts and the museums charge their own tickets. The prices below are each site's own, not tour prices. Each has its own guide: the Western Wall, the tunnels, the Temple Mount, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Tower of David.
Free · prayer areas split by gender The wall runs 488 m in total, and the lower seven courses date to around 19 BCE. The Western Wall Heritage Foundation keeps the plaza open 24 hours, and prayer areas are separated by gender under Orthodox rules. The Guided Walking Tour of the Old City covers it as a stop.
₪38 · certified guide only The Great Stone Route costs ₪38 for adults and ₪25 reduced, runs Sunday to Thursday 09:00 to 22:00 and Friday 09:00 to 13:00, and must be reserved ahead with a certified guide. It takes about an hour through hidden stretches of the wall. Tunnel visitors gather at the Western Wall Plaza, where the Old City Shabbat Tour also ends.
Non-Muslims enter only through the Mughrabi Gate, Sunday to Thursday, and the site can close at any time. Hours vary by source, and non-Muslims cannot enter the Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Old City walking tour goes up when it is open and swaps in a viewpoint when it is not.
Free · 5:00-20:45 summer Entry is generally free, and hours are 5:00 to 20:45 in summer and 4:00 to 19:00 in winter. Six denominations share the church under the Status Quo, and a daily procession starts at 17:00 in summer. The Jerusalem Old City Half-Day Tour ends at the church after three hours on foot.
₪25 · both start at Jaffa Gate A ticket costs ₪25 for adults and ₪12 reduced, and the Southern and Northern Promenades both start at Jaffa Gate. In July and August the ramparts open Sunday to Thursday 9:00 to 21:00, with Fridays and Saturdays limited to the southern section 9:00 to 14:00. The walk is not wheelchair accessible. The Jerusalem Old City Walking Tour starts and ends at the same Jaffa Gate spot.
₪55 · Night show ₪69 The museum reopened on 1 June 2023 with a new exhibition in 10 galleries. The museum's price list gives ₪55 for adults, ₪35 for children and ₪44 for students, and the Night Spectacular costs ₪69. It opens Sunday 12:00 to 17:00, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 to 17:00, Tuesday 9:00 to 20:00, and Friday and Saturday 9:00 to 15:00, with the ticket office closing an hour earlier. The Old City Shabbat Tour passes the citadel on its 2.5-hour route.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Western Wall, Gary Todd, CC0; Western Wall Tunnels, Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0; Church of the Holy Sepulchre, TZivyA, CC BY-SA 4.0; Ramparts Walk, Fallaner, CC BY-SA 4.0; Tower of David, Gary Todd, CC0
The Old City is small enough to cover in one loop on foot, and most stops are free or cost a modest site ticket. The figures in the table are the sites' own listed prices and hours, not tour prices. A fuller plan is on the Old City itinerary page, with every place on the Old City map.
Jaffa Gate, the start of the route. Photo: Gary Todd, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The table lists each stop in walking order from Jaffa Gate, with the hours and ticket prices the sites and the Jerusalem tourist office publish. Most of the route costs nothing to enter.
You can shortcut the whole thing by joining the Guided Walking Tour of the Old City, which covers most of this ground in four hours.
| Stop | Quarter | What to see | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaffa Gate | By the walls | Tourist information centre at 1 Omer Ben el-Hatab St, free maps and brochures, open Sun-Thu and Sat 8:30-17:00, Fri to 13:30 | Free |
| Tower of David | Just inside Jaffa Gate | Citadel museum on the city's history, Night Spectacular show | ₪55, show ₪69 |
| Cardo and Hurva Synagogue | Jewish | Roman Cardo laid out around 120-130 CE, Hurva Synagogue rebuilt by 2010 | Not stated |
| Western Wall | Jewish | 488 m wall, gender-separated plaza | Free |
| Via Dolorosa from the first stations | Muslim | About 600 m route with 14 Stations of the Cross, nine in the streets | Free |
| Church of the Holy Sepulchre | Christian | Tomb and Calvary under the Status Quo of six denominations, open 5:00-20:45 summer, 4:00-19:00 winter | Free |
| St James Cathedral | Armenian | 12th-century cathedral with hanging ceramic eggs from Kutahya, open daily 15:00-15:30 | Free |
The walled Old City covers 0.9 square kilometres, and the Via Dolorosa alone runs about 600 m. A guided walk over the same ground takes 3 to 4.5 hours on the cards, from the 3-hour half-day walk to the 4.5-hour dual-narrative walk.
Eight gates carry names: Jaffa, Zion, Dung, Lions', Herod's, Damascus, New and the sealed Golden Gate. Seven are in use, since the Golden Gate on the eastern wall is shut. Suleiman's walls run about 4.5 km, stand 5 to 15 m high and carry 35 towers.
If you wanted a free guided walk, the Sandemans tips-based tour from Jaffa Gate is shown as temporarily suspended, so the free option is the map from the Jaffa Gate information centre. For an explanation as you walk, the lowest-priced guided option costs $39.
Sources: Old City of Jerusalem), Gates of the Old City, itraveljerusalem visitor information, Sandemans
Jerusalem's week bends around Shabbat and the Temple Mount's restricted visiting days, so the same itinerary can succeed or fail depending on the day you pick. The hours below come from the sites, the Christian Information Center and the Jerusalem tourist office. The platform rules in full are on the Temple Mount page.
Check your day against this table before you plan the order of stops. Friday is the tightest day for almost everything.
| Place | Open | Closed or limited |
|---|---|---|
| Temple Mount | Sunday to Thursday for non-Muslims, via Mughrabi Gate | Fridays, Saturdays and religious holidays, and it can close at any time |
| Western Wall Tunnels | Sun-Thu 09:00-22:00, Fri 09:00-13:00, entry every 20 minutes | Saturday |
| Church of the Holy Sepulchre | 5:00-20:45 summer, 4:00-19:00 winter | Not stated |
| Ramparts Walk, July and August | Sun-Thu 9:00-21:00 | Fri and Sat southern section only, 9:00-14:00 |
| Tower of David | Sun 12:00-17:00, Mon, Wed, Thu 9:00-17:00, Tue 9:00-20:00, Fri and Sat 9:00-15:00 | Ticket office closes an hour before the museum |
| Jaffa Gate information centre | Sun-Thu and Sat 8:30-17:00 | Fri and holiday eves 8:30-13:30 |
Buses stop from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening for Shabbat, and the light rail stops for Shabbat and Jewish holidays too. Plan to walk on Saturday or build the day around a pre-Shabbat walk that reaches the Western Wall as the sun sets.
Friday also closes the Temple Mount to non-Muslims, along with Saturdays and religious holidays, and entry is never guaranteed. Visitors go through airport-style security and should carry a passport. The dress code for the site asks women to wear knee-length skirts or trousers with covered arms and chest, and men trousers below the knee. If the site is shut on your day, the 4-hour walk from Jaffa Gate includes a viewpoint over it instead.
Listing photos show the Dome of the Rock from the Mount of Olives. These show the walk itself: a guided route with maps, the walls and gates, and an unnarrated stroll through the lanes.
A guide walks the whole Old City with maps, gate by gate and quarter by quarter.
Video: HolyLandSiteThe layout of the walls and the gates, useful before the Ramparts Walk.
Video: HolyLandSiteAn unnarrated walk through the lanes, to see how narrow and busy the quarters are.
Video: walking4kThird-party videos, embedded from YouTube. This site did not shoot them and has no relationship with the creators.
Most headline sites inside the walls are free, so a ticket buys explanation, timing and logistics more than access. Here is the honest balance.
Who it's NOT for: If you already know the history, have a free morning midweek and are happy with a map, you can cover the free sites without a guide.
If You want the classic first visit on foot
Take the Guided Walking Tour of the Old City, $57 for four hours from Jaffa Gate.
If You want the cheapest guided walk
Take the Jerusalem Old City Half-Day Tour, $39 for three hours in groups of up to 25.
If You want two perspectives on the same streets
Take the Dual Narrative Tour, $65 for 4.5 hours with two guides and a 20-person cap.
If You are coming from Tel Aviv without a car
Take the Jerusalem and Bethlehem day trip, $121 with hotel pickup from nine Tel Aviv hotels and entry fees included.
If Underground archaeology is your priority
Take the City of David and Underground Jerusalem Day Tour, $89 with entry fees included.
If You want the tunnels, ramparts and museums without a guide
Read the sites you can see on your own and reserve the Great Stone Route ahead.
We had an excellent guided tour of Jerusalem’s Old City. Everything was perfect: interesting, informative, and very well organized. Our guide, Alex, presented the history and background in a fascinating and engaging way, Even though the tour was quite long, the time flew by because it was so interesting throughout. A great experience and highly recommended!
Ariel is an excellent guide knowledgeable, professional and well organised. He gave us a perfectly guided tour of Jerusalem, providing insightful information and a clear overview of each area we visited. His instructions regarding meeting points and free time were always clear. I highly recommend taking a tour with Ariel!
This was an amazing tour. Yuval was a fantastic guide. Very funny, knowledgeable and really brought the sights to life. Definitely would recommend this tour if you want to see both Bethlehem (for example the Church of the Nativity), and Jerusalem.
Thouroughly enjoyed the City of David underground day trip. We found Daniel, our guide to be interesting and engaging. We picked this tour to supplement the other Jerusalem tours we were doing. This tour was overall more interesting than the others having a greater mix of content both from historical and religious perspectives. There was a lot of walking and I think everyone of all ages were pretty tired by the end, but worthwhile. Perhaps not a tour for people with claustrophobia and there were a number of tight squeezes.
Uriel was absolutely brilliant. So knowledgeable and attentive to our many questions. Thank you.
Eti was a great guide, passionate and motivated. She showed us even more than the program included. She really did her best. We feel lucky and greatful.
The walled Old City covers 0.9 square kilometres with walls about 4.5 km long, so a full loop is short, and a guided walk over the main sites takes 3 to 4.5 hours. The details are in the self-guided route section.
Non-Muslims can visit Sunday to Thursday through the Mughrabi Gate with airport-style security and a passport, and the site can close at any time. The timing section lists the days and the dress code.
The Sandemans tips-based tour from Jaffa Gate is shown as temporarily suspended, so the free option is the map from the Jaffa Gate information centre. The cheapest paid walk is the $39 half-day tour.
Yes, the day trips run 9 to 10.5 hours, such as the Jerusalem and Bethlehem coach day with hotel pickup, or the small-group boutique tour capped at 18.
Yes, the Great Stone Route can only be visited with a certified guide on a reserved slot, costing ₪38 for adults. The site-by-site details are in the self-guided route section.
Reserve the tunnels ahead, carry a passport for the Temple Mount, dress modestly there, and remember buses stop for Shabbat from Friday afternoon. The tips section lists the dos and don'ts.
Before you book
The holy sites one by one, the gates and quarters, the rules that decide when you can visit, and getting there.
Jerusalem Old City Tour
