The 9 Best Places to Buy Souvenirs in Israel (2026)

Updated August 2026 · 9 picks

The best souvenirs in Israel are Armenian hand-painted ceramics from the Old City workshops in Jerusalem, glass and Judaica from the Safed artists' quarter, and spices, halva and za'atar sold by weight in the markets. The rule is to buy where the thing is made rather than from a stall on a tourist street. Nine, below.

The list at a glance

Armenian Ceramics Old City and Armenian Quarter workshops, Jerusalem
Yad LaKashish (Lifeline for the Old) Shivtei Israel Street, Jerusalem
Hutzot Hayotzer (Arts and Crafts Lane) Below the Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem
Jerusalem Pottery Via Dolorosa, Old City, Jerusalem
Machane Yehuda spice and halva stalls Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem
The Turkish Bazaar Old City centre, Akko
Old city craft workshops Old City lanes, Akko
Khan al-Umdan By the harbour, Akko
The Cardo shops Jewish Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem

1. Armenian Ceramics — Old City and Armenian Quarter workshops, Jerusalem

A Jerusalem craft since 1919, still hand-painted by the same families.

₪₪₪ Upmarket

Armenian ceramic painting came to Jerusalem in 1919, when craftsmen were brought from Kutahya to restore the tiles of the Dome of the Rock and then stayed, and their descendants have kept the craft going ever since.

The work is unmistakable — deep blues and greens, pomegranates, birds, geometric borders — and it appears throughout the city on street signs as well as on plates, tiles and bowls. The family workshops paint everything by hand and will make pieces to order.

It is the single most genuinely Jerusalem thing you can buy, and prices in the workshops are far better than in the souvenir shops reselling it.

Good to know: Buy from a workshop rather than a shop — you will pay less and can watch the painting being done.

Google Maps Website

2. Yad LaKashish (Lifeline for the Old) — Shivtei Israel Street, Jerusalem

Handmade Judaica and textiles made by elderly Jerusalemites, in workshops you can visit.

₪₪ Mid-range

Yad LaKashish employs hundreds of elderly Jerusalem residents in craft workshops — metalwork, ceramics, needlework, bookbinding, paper — producing Judaica, textiles and gifts sold in its own shop.

The organisation exists to give older people work, income and community, and visitors can walk through the workshops and see the pieces being made, which is unusual and genuinely affecting.

The Judaica is well made and reasonably priced, and unlike most souvenir purchases the money goes somewhere you can see.

Good to know: Ask to walk through the workshops — visitors are welcome and it is the best part of the visit.

Google Maps Website

3. Hutzot Hayotzer (Arts and Crafts Lane) — Below the Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem

Established artists selling from their own studios, under the Old City walls.

₪₪₪ Upmarket

Hutzot Hayotzer is a lane of restored stone vaults in the valley below the Jaffa Gate, occupied by studios and galleries of established Israeli artists — jewellers, ceramicists, glassmakers, silversmiths and sculptors.

Everything is made by the person selling it, which makes it the highest-quality souvenir shopping in the city and the least likely to be duplicated in every shop you pass afterwards.

The setting, quiet stone vaults directly beneath the walls, is a relief after the souk. A summer arts festival takes over the whole valley each year.

Good to know: Prices are fixed here, not negotiable — and they reflect the fact that a person made the thing.

Google Maps Website

4. Jerusalem Pottery — Via Dolorosa, Old City, Jerusalem

One of the original Armenian ceramic families, working on the Via Dolorosa since the 1920s.

₪₪₪ Upmarket

Jerusalem Pottery on the Via Dolorosa is run by the Karakashian family, among the Armenian ceramicists who came to Jerusalem in 1919, and it has been producing hand-painted work in the Old City for a century.

The workshop paints tiles, plates, bowls and the ceramic street signs that mark the Old City's lanes, all by hand, and pieces can be commissioned including custom lettering and house signs.

Buying here means buying from a family that has practised the craft in this city for four generations.

Good to know: They make custom name tiles and house signs to order — the best personalised souvenir in the city.

Google Maps Website

5. Machane Yehuda spice and halva stalls — Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem

The best edible souvenirs in Israel, sold by weight for very little.

₪ Budget

The spice merchants, halva stalls and dried fruit and nut sellers of Machane Yehuda are the most underrated souvenir shopping in Jerusalem: za'atar, sumac, hyssop, dried limes, tahini, halva in a dozen flavours, dates and preserved lemons.

It costs a fraction of what the equivalent does in a shop abroad, it packs flat, and unlike most souvenirs it will actually get used.

Vacuum-packed halva and sealed spice bags travel fine. Buy the tahini in a tin rather than glass if it is going in hold luggage.

Good to know: Ask for a taste before buying halva — the difference between stalls is significant.

Google Maps Website

6. The Turkish Bazaar — Old City centre, Akko

A restored Ottoman market hall of craft shops and galleries.

₪₪ Mid-range

The Turkish Bazaar is a restored Ottoman market hall in the middle of the old city, its vaulted arcade now housing craft shops, small galleries, jewellers and cafés.

It is the visitor-facing side of Akko shopping and the easiest place to find something well made in a short visit, without the pressure of a souk.

The building itself is worth walking through regardless of whether you buy anything.

Good to know: Fixed prices and no pressure here — the working souk outside is where you haggle.

Google Maps Website

7. Old city craft workshops — Old City lanes, Akko

Soap, ceramics and metalwork made in the lanes behind the main streets.

₪₪ Mid-range

Scattered through the lanes behind Akko's main streets are small workshops producing olive oil soap, ceramics, metalwork and textiles, several of them family operations of long standing.

They are not signposted in any organised way and finding them is part of it. The old city is small enough that wandering is a reasonable strategy.

Buying from a workshop rather than a shop means a better price and a better object.

Good to know: Wander the lanes behind Al-Jazzar Street — the workshops are not on the main drag.

Google Maps Website

8. Khan al-Umdan — By the harbour, Akko

An Ottoman caravanserai of granite columns, by the port.

₪ Budget

Khan al-Umdan, the Khan of the Pillars, is an eighteenth-century Ottoman caravanserai beside the harbour, built around a courtyard ringed with granite columns taken from the ruins of Caesarea, with a clock tower added in 1906.

It is one of the finest Ottoman buildings in the country and has been the subject of long-running restoration work, with shops and stalls operating around it.

Whatever its current state of works, the courtyard and the columns are worth seeing.

Good to know: Check the current restoration status locally — access to the courtyard varies with the works.

Google Maps Website

9. The Cardo shops — Jewish Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem

Judaica and art in the restored arcade of a Roman street.

₪₪₪₪ Splurge

The restored covered section of the Cardo, the Roman main street running through the Jewish Quarter, houses a run of shops selling Judaica, jewellery, art and antiquities.

Quality and price both run high, and the setting — shopping inside a two-thousand-year-old colonnaded street — accounts for some of both. It is a good place for serious Judaica if you know what you are looking at.

For anything presented as an antiquity, ask about export documentation before buying; Israel regulates the trade.

Good to know: If a piece is sold as an antiquity, ask for the export paperwork before you pay — it is regulated.

Google Maps Website

Frequently asked questions

What should you buy as a souvenir from Israel?

Armenian ceramics from Jerusalem, blown glass and Judaica from Safed, olive-oil soap and ceramics from Akko, and edible things by weight from the markets — za'atar, halva, dates, silan and spice blends. All are made here, all travel well, and none of them is a fridge magnet.

Where do you buy authentic Armenian ceramics in Jerusalem?

From the workshops themselves, on and around the Via Dolorosa and in the Armenian Quarter, where families have been painting them since the 1920s. The pieces are hand-painted and signed. What you find on the tourist streets at a quarter of the price is transfer-printed and imported.

Are souvenirs in Israel expensive?

The genuine handmade things are — a signed Armenian ceramic plate or a Safed glass piece is a real object at a real price. Edible souvenirs are the opposite: a bag of za'atar or a slab of halva from Machane Yehuda costs almost nothing and is the best-value thing you can take home.

Can you haggle for souvenirs in Israel?

In the Old City souk, the Akko markets and the Jaffa flea market, yes, and it is expected — the opening price assumes it. In the artists' studios, at Hutzot Hayotzer and at Yad LaKashish, no: those are fixed prices from the maker, and haggling is out of place.

What can you not take out of Israel?

Antiquities without an export licence from the Israel Antiquities Authority — a licensed dealer will supply one and an unlicensed one cannot. Genuine ancient coins and oil lamps are sold legally by licensed dealers with paperwork; anything offered without it in a market is either illegal or fake.

Where can you buy souvenirs in Israel on Shabbat?

The Old City souk in Jerusalem, the Akko markets and the Jaffa flea market all trade on Saturday. West Jerusalem and the Jewish markets are shut from Friday afternoon. If Saturday is your only shopping day, plan around the Arab-owned markets.

1. Armenian Ceramics — Old City and Armenian Quarter workshops, Jerusalem

2. Yad LaKashish (Lifeline for the Old) — Shivtei Israel Street, Jerusalem

3. Hutzot Hayotzer (Arts and Crafts Lane) — Below the Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem

4. Jerusalem Pottery — Via Dolorosa, Old City, Jerusalem

5. Machane Yehuda spice and halva stalls — Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem

6. The Turkish Bazaar — Old City centre, Akko

7. Old city craft workshops — Old City lanes, Akko

8. Khan al-Umdan — By the harbour, Akko

9. The Cardo shops — Jewish Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem

Frequently asked questions

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