Where to Stay in Jerusalem for an Old City Visit

The Areas at a Glance

Only the Mamilla area has a described walk to the Old City, and it is given as a short stroll rather than a number of minutes. The other areas have no published walking figure here.

Inside the Old City Walls

Staying inside the walls puts you inside a UNESCO World Heritage site listed in 1981. The walled area covers 0.9 square kilometres and splits into four quarters: the Muslim Quarter in the northeast with about 21,850 residents, the Christian Quarter in the northwest with about 3,870, the Jewish Quarter in the southeast with about 3,240 and the Armenian Quarter, the smallest, with about 2,160.

Two named places to sleep sit inside. The New Imperial Hotel stands at the entrance to the Old City near Jaffa Gate, has 50 rooms and a rooftop terrace, and has welcomed guests for over a century. The Austrian Hospice on the Via Dolorosa asks groups to book 16 months ahead. The Christ Church compound just inside Jaffa Gate is the Anglican church consecrated in 1849, the oldest Protestant church building in the Middle East, and its visitor centre opens Wednesday to Friday and Sunday 9:00 to 15:00.

The trade-off is practical. Vehicles enter through the breach beside Jaffa Gate, and Dung Gate is the main vehicle exit. Dung Gate was widened in 1952 and again in 1984 and 1985 to a 4.5 m opening. For the full picture of what you are sleeping among, see the four quarters of Jerusalem.

Jaffa Gate and Mamilla

Mamilla was built outside the Old City west of Jaffa Gate in the late 19th century, and the Mamilla Hotel today stands on Mamilla Avenue a short stroll from the walls and Jaffa Gate. This is the area with the shortest hotel-to-gate walk described here.

Jaffa Gate itself is a working hub. Its Ottoman gate dates from 1538, the wide breach beside it was cut in 1898 so Kaiser Wilhelm II's party could ride in on horses and in carriages, and that breach is still the main route for vehicles into the Old City from the west. The vehicle checkpoint runs Sunday to Thursday 9:00 to 18:00 and Friday and holiday eves 9:00 to 13:00. Just inside, a plaza leads to the Christian Quarter on the left, the Muslim Quarter ahead and the Armenian Quarter on the right by the Tower of David. Paid parking near Jaffa Gate sits at the Mamilla Boulevard or Karta car parks, which matters if you hire a car. The Tower of David Museum is by Jaffa Gate, and several walks start here, including the Jerusalem Old City Walking Tour.

Damascus Gate, Sheikh Jarrah and the North

On the north side, you are at Damascus Gate, built in its present form in 1537 over a Roman gate from around 129 to 130 CE. Its Arabic name, Bab al-Amoud, means gate of the column. Unlike at the other gates, steps lead down into it, and it opens straight onto the bazaar of the Muslim Quarter, so a stay here starts your day at the bazaar. The Red Line light rail has a stop named Damascus Gate right there. Herod's Gate, rebuilt in its current form in 1875, connects the Muslim Quarter with the Bab az-Zahra neighbourhood just outside, and Lions' Gate on the northeastern wall, built in 1538 and 1539, is where the Via Dolorosa is traditionally entered.

The named hotel for this side stands a little further out. The American Colony's house in Sheikh Jarrah, on the road to Nablus, later became the American Colony Hotel, which stands outside the walls. It was converted into a hotel in the late 1950s and describes itself as a boutique hotel with over a hundred years of history. Notre Dame Hospice, completed in 1886, sits just outside New Gate, which was built between 1887 and 1889 and is the quickest way from the Old City to West Jerusalem. Details on the Damascus Gate page cover the gate itself.

The City Centre on Jaffa Road

The Red Line light rail, 22.5 km long with 35 stations, serves Jaffa Center, City Hall and Damascus Gate around the Old City, and the Mahane Yehuda stop sits on Jaffa Road beside the market. Trains run every 3 minutes at rush hour and every 6 minutes otherwise, The line uses the Rav-Kav card.

For arrivals, Jerusalem-Yitzhak Navon station opened about 80 m below street level, sits beside the Central Bus Station and the Red Line, and has 300 m platforms. The train to Tel Aviv takes about 30 minutes and the train to Ben-Gurion Airport about 25 minutes, and the airport is about 45 minutes from Jerusalem by road. Bus 480 between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv's Arlozorov station takes about 50 minutes and runs roughly every 20 minutes. From City Hall, the Western Wall Foundation gives 5 to 7 minutes on foot to Jaffa Gate, the only official walking figure on this page. If you base yourself here, the Jerusalem Old City Half-Day Tour lists the David Citadel Hotel as its meeting point.

The German Colony

This guide has no walking distance, transport detail or named hotel for the German Colony, so its walk to the Old City is not stated. If you are considering it, check your booking site's distance map against the gate you plan to use most. For a structured day from any base, a Jerusalem Old City itinerary helps you decide how much walking each area implies.

What Stops Running

Buses do not run on Shabbat, from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening, so both Bus 480 and Bus 405 to and from Tel Aviv are out for that window. The light rail has no Shabbat or Jewish holiday service either. Trains resume after Shabbat ends, and published hours differ between sources, so check the operator for your exact dates. The Jaffa Gate vehicle checkpoint also closes early on Friday and holiday eves at 13:00.

If your stay bridges a Saturday, book any Tel Aviv transfer around it, or read the options on Tel Aviv to Jerusalem before fixing your nights.

What You Can Still Do

Sites have their own Shabbat patterns. The Ramparts Walk opens Sunday to Thursday and Saturday 9:00 to 17:00 in summer and 9:00 to 16:00 in winter, but on Fridays only the south route opens, 9:00 to 14:00, and the north route is closed. Christ Church Jerusalem and Heritage Center is closed Monday, Tuesday and Saturday and opens Wednesday to Friday and Sunday 9:00 to 15:00.

The Jerusalem Old City Shabbat Tour is a 2.5-hour walk at $47 per person that moves through the Jewish Quarter as the city prepares for Shabbat and ends at the Western Wall at sunset, and it starts at Jaffa Gate, so it suits a stay in the walls or in Mamilla. Entry fees are not listed as included on the Shabbat tour.

Pickup Tours at a Glance

The table compares the pickup tours on price, duration and whether entry fees are included. Three are group tours and one is private. Two include entrance fees and two do not, so read the fee line before you compare headline prices.

What Each Pickup Tour Covers

The Jerusalem Half Day Tour costs $50 per person, takes up to 40 people and includes entrance fees, a professional guide, an air-conditioned vehicle and hotel pickup. Be aware that it ends in the Old City around 13:00 with no hotel drop-off, so you make your own way back. It covers the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The City of David Underground Tour costs $89 per person over 9 hours, with entry fees, a guide, an air-conditioned coach and hotel pickup and drop-off included. It covers the City of David, the Gihon Spring, the Pool of Siloam and the Pilgrimage Road, then Mount Zion. About 3 hours involve walking and tight spots, so skip it if you dislike enclosed spaces.

The Footsteps of Jesus Walking Tour also costs $89 per person over 9 hours, with hotel pickup and drop-off included but entrance fees not included. It runs 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, for up to 40 people.

The Private Jerusalem Holy City Tour costs $190 per person for a private group over 3 to 5 hours. A private licensed guide meets you at your central Jerusalem hotel, with a hotel meet-up shown at booking, and the tour ends near Jaffa Gate. Entry fees and transport during the tour are not included, and it is offered in 14 languages. For a private option without pickup, the Private Old City Four Quarters Tour is $500 per group for 5 hours and meets just outside Jaffa Gate.