Jerusalem Things to Do Free Things to Do

The 9 Best Free Things to Do in Jerusalem (2026)

Updated August 2026 · 9 picks

The best free things to do in Jerusalem are walking the Old City's four quarters, Yad Vashem, Machane Yehuda market and the Mount of Olives viewpoint at sunset. Entry to the Old City and to the Western Wall plaza costs nothing, and Israel's national Holocaust memorial is free to all. Nine, below.

The list at a glance

The Old City's four quarters Old City, Jerusalem
Yad Vashem Mount Herzl, Jerusalem
The Western Wall plaza Old City, Jerusalem
Machane Yehuda market Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem
The Mount of Olives viewpoint Mount of Olives, East Jerusalem
The Old City free walking tour Jaffa Gate, Old City, Jerusalem
The Israel Museum sculpture garden and Knesset menorah Givat Ram, Jerusalem
The Haas and Sherover promenade Armon HaNatziv, Jerusalem
Ein Kerem Ein Kerem, western Jerusalem

1. The Old City's four quarters — Old City, Jerusalem

Free to enter, endless to walk, and the reason everyone comes to Jerusalem.

₪ BudgetBest for Families · Couples · Solo · Groups

All seven open gates are free, and so is everything inside that most visitors come for: the Muslim quarter souk, the Cardo, the Armenian and Christian quarters, the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The scale is deceptive — the whole walled city is under a square kilometre — but it takes days to stop finding new lanes, and a first pass should be slow and aimless.

The only genuine cost is being stopped by security at the gates, which is quick, and resisting the souk.

Good to know: Enter by Damascus Gate rather than Jaffa Gate at least once — it is the livelier arrival by far.

Google Maps

2. Yad Vashem — Mount Herzl, Jerusalem

The world's principal Holocaust memorial, free to enter, and unmissable.

₪ BudgetBest for Solo · Couples · Groups

Yad Vashem occupies a large campus on the Mount of Remembrance, and admission to all of it costs nothing: the Holocaust History Museum, the Children's Memorial, the Hall of Names, the Valley of the Communities and the Avenue of the Righteous.

The main museum is a concrete prism cut through the hillside that you walk end to end, emerging on a terrace over the Jerusalem forest. Three hours is a minimum.

The Children's Memorial — a dark chamber of mirrored candles reading names aloud — takes five minutes and is the part people remember. Children under ten are not admitted to the main museum.

Good to know: Book a free timed entry slot online in high season and leave the rest of the day empty.

Google Maps Website

3. The Western Wall plaza — Old City, Jerusalem

Open at all hours, free, and at its most extraordinary on a Friday night.

₪ BudgetBest for Families · Couples · Solo · Groups

The plaza is open around the clock with no charge, and the wall itself is divided into men's and women's sections. Head coverings are provided at the entrance and modest dress is expected.

Friday evening as Shabbat comes in is the time to go: yeshiva students dance in circles, the plaza fills, and it is one of the genuinely unforgettable hours in Israel — no photography once Shabbat has started.

The Tunnels beneath are a separate paid guided visit and worth doing, but the plaza on its own is the free experience.

Good to know: Arrive about 30 minutes before sunset on a Friday and stay for an hour.

Google Maps Website

4. Machane Yehuda market — Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem

Free to walk, generous with samples, and a completely different place after dark.

₪ BudgetBest for Couples · Solo · Groups · Families

The shuk is Jerusalem's food heart and costs nothing to wander. Thursday afternoon and Friday morning are peak, when the entire city shops for Shabbat.

The halva grinders, olive stalls, spice merchants and date sellers all sample freely, which makes an hour here close to a free lunch if you are shameless about it.

After the produce sellers close, bars open behind the shuttered stalls, and the painted shutters themselves — a portrait project covering hundreds of them — become an open-air gallery.

Good to know: Come twice: Friday morning for the market, and after 9pm for the shutters and the bars.

Google Maps

5. The Mount of Olives viewpoint — Mount of Olives, East Jerusalem

The definitive Jerusalem view — the Old City and the Dome of the Rock, straight on.

₪ BudgetBest for Couples · Families · Solo

The promenade at the top of the Mount of Olives looks across the Kidron Valley directly at the Old City walls and the Dome of the Rock, and it is the image on most of the postcards.

Late afternoon is when the limestone turns gold. The walk down through the Jewish cemetery, the Church of All Nations and Gethsemane to the Lions' Gate is free and takes about forty minutes.

There is no ticket, no barrier and no queue — only camel handlers who will offer you a photograph for money you do not have to spend.

Good to know: Take a taxi up and walk down — the climb up is steep, hot and much less rewarding.

Google Maps

6. The Old City free walking tour — Jaffa Gate, Old City, Jerusalem

Tip-based, licensed guides, and the best-value orientation in the country.

₪ BudgetBest for Solo · Couples · Groups

Several operators run tip-based walks from Jaffa Gate covering all four quarters, the Cardo, the Holy Sepulchre and a Western Wall viewpoint, several times a day in season.

It is a survey rather than a deep dive, but it fixes the geography in your head and explains the layering of the city in a way that wandering alone will not.

Expect to tip ₪50–₪80 a head. The guides are licensed more often than not, and the good ones will tell you where the contested readings of a site diverge rather than picking one.

Good to know: Do it on your first morning, not your last — everything afterwards makes more sense.

Google Maps Website

7. The Israel Museum sculpture garden and Knesset menorah — Givat Ram, Jerusalem

A free outdoor sculpture collection, the Knesset menorah and the Rose Garden, all in one walk.

₪ BudgetBest for Couples · Families · Solo

The Billy Rose Art Garden at the Israel Museum holds work by Rodin, Picasso, Serra and Oldenburg laid out across a terraced hillside, and it is periodically opened free of charge — the museum publishes the windows.

Across the road, the bronze Knesset Menorah, carved with scenes from Jewish history, stands in a public plaza with no ticket, and the Wohl Rose Garden below it is free and open daily.

Together they make an easy couple of hours in the government quarter, ten minutes from the centre by light rail.

Good to know: Check the Israel Museum's site for its free-entry windows before you go — they move around.

Google Maps Website

8. The Haas and Sherover promenade — Armon HaNatziv, Jerusalem

A stone walkway above the desert edge with the whole city laid out in front of it.

₪ BudgetBest for Couples · Families · Solo

The promenade in Armon HaNatziv runs along a ridge in the south of the city, and it is the best full-city view in Jerusalem — the Old City, the Mount of Olives and the Judean desert dropping away behind.

It is a locals' place rather than a tourist one: joggers in the morning, families in the late afternoon, and almost nobody with a camera on a tripod.

It is free, open at all hours, and the stone benches are positioned exactly where you would want them.

Good to know: Sunrise here is even better than sunset, and you will have it to yourself.

Google Maps

9. Ein Kerem — Ein Kerem, western Jerusalem

A stone village inside the city, free to wander, with springs, churches and terraced hillsides.

₪ BudgetBest for Couples · Families · Solo

Ein Kerem sits in a valley on the western edge of Jerusalem and does not feel like part of the city at all — stone houses, cypress trees, terraced slopes and a spring at the bottom.

The Church of the Visitation and the Church of St John the Baptist are both free to enter, and the walk between them up and down the valley sides is the point.

It is a twenty-minute bus ride from the centre and it is where Jerusalemites go on a Saturday. The cafés cost money; everything else does not.

Good to know: Walk up to the Russian church at the top of the valley — hardly anyone does and the view is the best in the village.

Google Maps

Frequently asked questions

What can you do in Jerusalem for free?

A great deal. The Old City and all four of its quarters, the Western Wall plaza, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Yad Vashem, Machane Yehuda market, the Mount of Olives viewpoint and the Israel Museum's sculpture garden at certain times are all free. The paid sites — the Tunnels, the Tower of David, the City of David — are extras rather than essentials.

Is Yad Vashem free?

Yes, entirely, including the Holocaust History Museum, the Children's Memorial, the Hall of Names and the grounds. It is one of the most significant museums in the world and it charges nothing. Allow at least three hours and book a timed slot online in high season.

Is the Western Wall free to visit?

Yes. The plaza is open to everyone at all hours, free, with a security check at the entrance and separate men's and women's sections at the wall itself. Modest dress is expected and head covering is provided at the entrance for men. The Western Wall Tunnels underneath are a separate, paid, guided visit.

Are there free walking tours in Jerusalem?

Yes — tip-based tours of the Old City's four quarters leave from Jaffa Gate several times a day, and there are free municipal walks at points in the week. The tip norm is ₪50–₪80 a head. On a first morning it is the best-value few hours in the city.

What is free in Jerusalem on Shabbat?

The Old City is open and walkable, the Christian and Muslim quarters trade as normal, and the Western Wall plaza is at its fullest and most atmospheric on Friday night. Almost everything else in West Jerusalem — museums, shops, buses, Machane Yehuda — is shut from Friday afternoon until Saturday night.

Can you visit the Temple Mount for free?

Entry to the Haram al-Sharif compound is free for non-Muslim visitors during limited morning hours, Sunday to Thursday, through the Mughrabi Bridge next to the Western Wall. The queue is long, the hours are short and change often, and the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa interiors are closed to non-Muslims.

1. The Old City's four quarters — Old City, Jerusalem

2. Yad Vashem — Mount Herzl, Jerusalem

3. The Western Wall plaza — Old City, Jerusalem

4. Machane Yehuda market — Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem

5. The Mount of Olives viewpoint — Mount of Olives, East Jerusalem

6. The Old City free walking tour — Jaffa Gate, Old City, Jerusalem

7. The Israel Museum sculpture garden and Knesset menorah — Givat Ram, Jerusalem

8. The Haas and Sherover promenade — Armon HaNatziv, Jerusalem

9. Ein Kerem — Ein Kerem, western Jerusalem

Frequently asked questions

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