Western Wall Tunnels Tour: Routes, Prices and Booking Rules

Route by Route

The table lists every Foundation route with its published adult and reduced prices, the length of the visit and the practical notes that decide which one fits your day. Reduced rates cover children 18 and under, and most routes also extend them to soldiers, students, senior citizens and visitors with disabilities. Prices come from the Foundation's own attraction pages, in shekels as published.

Entry on the two main tunnel routes is every 20 minutes. The Great Stone Route and the Great Bridge Route both admit guided groups of 18 to 35 people. If you organise your own group on the Great Stone Route, the published rate is ₪30 per adult and ₪19 per child, and a guide costs ₪295 per group.

Which Route to Pick

The Great Stone Route is the original Western Wall Tunnels tour. It passes the great stone station and ends at the Strouthion Pool. At ₪38 for adults it is also the same price as the Great Bridge Route, so the choice comes down to hours: the Bridge Route opens earlier, from 7:00, and runs later, to 23:00 Sunday to Thursday.

If you are short on time or travelling with young children, the Journey to Jerusalem at ₪25 and the Chain of Generations Center at ₪30 are shorter and cheaper, and the Chain of Generations Center sits at the entrance to the tunnels sites. A Look into the Past is the outlier at 15 minutes of virtual reality, so treat it as an add-on rather than a replacement. The prayer plaza is open all day, every day of the year, and is covered in the separate Western Wall guide.

Reserve Ahead, Certified Guide Only

The Great Stone Route and the Great Bridge Route must be reserved in advance, and the Great Stone Route can only be visited with a certified guide. Reserve every route ahead rather than arriving expecting to buy a ticket at the entrance. For questions the Foundation's visitor line is *5958 and its office phone is +972-2-6271333.

Arrive Half an Hour Early

The Foundation recommends arriving at the Western Wall Plaza about half an hour before your reserved time. Late arrivals are charged in full with no refund, so build in the walk to the Wall. The Foundation gives the walk from Jaffa Gate or Zion Gate to the Western Wall as 15 to 20 minutes, and from a taxi drop-off as 5 minutes.

City buses 1, 2, 3 and 83 serve the Wall.

Cancellation, Children and Bad Weather

Tickets cancelled up to 48 hours ahead are not charged. Cancellations are handled Sunday to Thursday between 8:30 and 17:00. Late arrivals and no-shows are charged in full with no refund. Bad weather is not accepted as a reason to cancel.

Children under 5 enter the tunnels free but still need a ticket and ID. On A Look into the Past and The Journey to Jerusalem, ages 3 to 5 need a ticket. A Look into the Past admits only children aged 5 and over in any case. Check the reduced rates in the table above before you book, because a family of teenagers pays child prices up to 18.

Inside the Tunnels

There is no mobile phone reception inside the Western Wall Tunnels, so screenshot your booking and meeting details before you go underground. The Great Stone Route is described as partly wheelchair accessible, including the way to the great stone station, but the Journey to Jerusalem includes stairs and is not wheelchair accessible.

The Hidden Wall

The Western Wall is 488 m long in total. The Foundation says only about 70 m is exposed at the plaza, while the reference figure for the exposed prayer section is 57 m, so most of the wall's length is not exposed. The wall carries 45 stone courses, 28 above ground and 17 below, and the lowest 7 courses date to the Herodian period around 19 BCE.

The Great Stone, the Vaults and the Water

The route's namesake is one of the huge Herodian stones near Wilson's Arch, 13.55 m long and estimated to weigh 250 to 300 tonnes. Along the way the Great Stone Route passes hidden stretches of the Wall, vaults, arches, cisterns and an ancient aqueduct trench, ending at the Strouthion Pool. Wilson's Arch and Warren's Gate give underground access along the wall, and the Great Bridge Route is entered through the lobby of the tunnels sites, to the left of the prayer plaza.

A Note on What the Tunnels Are Not

The tunnels are the Foundation's own sites. The City of David underground tour covers a different excavation, with the Gihon Spring, the Pool of Siloam and the Pilgrimage Road. The exit point of the tunnels is not stated, so check your exit route with your guide on the day.

Walks That Include the Western Wall

The cheapest combination is the Jerusalem Old City Half-Day Tour at $39 per person, a 3-hour walk from Jaffa Gate through the Jewish Quarter and the Via Dolorosa with groups capped at 25. The best-reviewed option is the Jerusalem Old City Walking Tour at $57 per person, rated 4.8 across 414 reviews, a 4-hour loop from Jaffa Gate that includes the Western Wall and finishes back at Jaffa Gate.

On Fridays the main tunnel routes close at 13:00, and the Shabbat experience tour runs before Shabbat: the Jerusalem Old City Shabbat Tour costs $47 per person, runs 2.5 hours and reaches the Western Wall as the sun prepares to set. All three walks are guided only, with entry fees not included, which is another reason the tunnels stay a separate ticket. For a full day trip instead, the Old City tour from Tel Aviv at $90 per person includes the Western Wall on a 10.5-hour day, but you would still book your tunnel slot yourself around it.

How to Time the Two

Book a tunnel slot for the afternoon and take a morning walking tour, or reverse it. The Great Bridge Route runs from 7:00 and the Foundation gives the walk from Jaffa Gate to the Wall as 15 to 20 minutes, so check the tour's start time before booking an early slot. Leave half an hour of margin at the plaza before your tunnel time, and remember that late arrivals are charged in full.

The Foundation's full plaza rules, dress guidance and how to reach the Wall are in the Western Wall guide.