Old City

In the late afternoon, with the sight of golden light bleaching the ancient stone buildings, the sound of church bells clanging in the distance, the smell of spices wafting out of the bazaars and a distinct awareness of tension in the air, the Old City really is a feast for the senses. Within its mighty walls you can sleep in 700-year-old edifices, haggle over everything from souvenir T-shirts to ancient artefacts and taste the delectable food of the Levant.

But far from being merely ancient and spectacular, the Old City is above all a holy place, containing a number of sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are a camel's spit from each other. It's also a living city, where families live, work and play - the ancient paving stones bear witness to unknown generations of Jerusalemites.

Most visitors enter through Jaffa Gate, where it's downhill to everything. Roads circle the Old City, so you could take a taxi to any of the gates, including Damascus Gate for the Muslim Quarter and Dung Gate for the Western Wall and Temple Mount.