Israel

Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 and is one of the world’s youngest major cities — and one of the most dynamic. The White City (UNESCO World Heritage Site): 4,000 Bauhaus buildings from the 1930s, many recently restored. The Carmel Market (HaCarmel) for fresh produce, spices, hummus and fresh pomegranate juice.

💡 Tel Aviv’s hummus culture is serious — Abu Hassan in Jaffa (open from 7am, closed when it runs out) and HaKosem near Dizengoff serve what many consider the best hummus in Israel. Arrive early; both sell out by noon.

Old Jaffa — 3,500 years old, one of the oldest continuously inhabited port cities in the world — is now a gallery district and restaurant quarter with the Ilana Goor Museum and extraordinary views back over Tel Aviv’s white skyline. Rothschild Boulevard for Bauhaus walking tour. Sarona Market for Israeli food culture.

💡 The Jaffa flea market (Shuk HaPishpeshim) on Saturday morning is the best market in Tel Aviv — antiques, Judaica, vinyl, ceramics and excellent street food from the surrounding Yemenite and Arab stalls.

45 min from Tel Aviv. The Old City of Jerusalem — divided into Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian quarters within walls built by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538 — contains the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the site of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, for Christians) and the Dome of the Rock (the third holiest site in Islam).

💡 The Western Wall at dawn (5:30am) before the tour groups arrive has a quality of stillness that is entirely absent by 9am. The tunnel tour beneath the Wall (separate ticket) reveals the full original height of Herod’s stones.

Yad Vashem — Israel’s Holocaust memorial and research centre — is one of the finest and most important museums in the world: the Hall of Names (six million victims documented by name), the Children’s Memorial (one and a half million candles in a dark room, each for a child). The Israel Museum for the Dead Sea Scrolls and Judaean antiquities.

💡 Yad Vashem requires a full half-day at minimum. The outdoor sculpture garden, the Valley of the Communities (the names of 5,000 destroyed Jewish communities carved into rock walls) and the permanent exhibition building are all substantial.

The Via Dolorosa (the 14 Stations of the Cross through the Muslim Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre). The Mount of Olives — the view from the ridge across the Old City, the Dome of the Rock and the Kidron Valley is the most recognised skyline of Jerusalem. The Garden of Gethsemane.

💡 The Garden of Gethsemane has eight olive trees that are 2,000 years old — ancient enough to have been present at the time of Jesus. Carbon dating has confirmed they date from the 1st century CE. The site is small and easily overlooked.

1h drive south. Masada — the desert fortress on a 400m mesa above the Dead Sea where 960 Jewish Zealots made their last stand against the Roman siege in 73 CE — at dawn by cable car. The Dead Sea (430m below sea level, 34% salt) for the mid-morning float. The Ein Bokek resort area.

💡 The Masada complex at dawn (gates open at 5am) is one of the finest historical experiences in Israel — the Roman siege ramp, the palace terraces and the view over the desert at first light, before the heat and the tour buses arrive.

3h drive from the Dead Sea to Eilat. The Gulf of Aqaba has excellent snorkelling and scuba directly from the beach — the coral reef at the Coral Beach Nature Reserve is accessible without a boat. Fly back from Ramon Airport (ETM) near Eilat or return to Ben Gurion (TLV).

💡 The underwater observatory at Eilat’s Coral World is built into the reef and allows non-divers to see the Red Sea coral ecosystem from below the waterline — a more affordable alternative to diving and genuinely impressive.