The Dead Sea and the Negeb Desert

• Float on the Dead Sea
• Waterfalls and wildlife at Ein Gedi
• The legendary fortress of Masada

Floating on the highly saline waters of the Dead Sea, reading a book, is the oddest of sensations, and one every visitor should experience for themselves. Most people choose to go to Ein Gedi, where there is a wide beach popular with bathers, and showers to remove the water’s filmy residue. Ein Gedi is also home to a national park  with lush vegetation, twin gorges, waterfalls and abundant wildlife. Further south is Masada, a mountain-top fortress constructed by King Herod but famous for the Jewish defenders who killed themselves rather than be captured by the Romans.

Jerusalem

Panorama of Jerusalem

• Biblical sites
• The Western Wall
• Dome of the Rock
• Museum of the Holocaust

 It’s hard to overstate the historical significance of Jerusalem. Any trip begins with an exploration of the tightly walled Old City, home to the cornerstones of three faiths. It has the Western Wall of Judaism; the Christian sites of the Via Dolorosa  and Church of the Holy Sepulchre; and the third holiest site of Islam, the Dome of the Rock. Beyond these are many more attractions of similar significance, including the Mount of Olives, with its marvellous views over the city, not to mention more churches, synagogues and mosques, Roman and Byzantine remains, medieval walls and gates, and colourful markets and bazaars. Visits to the Mea Shearim quarter of the new city, the Holocaust museum of Yad Vashem , and an evening in the 19th-century neighbourhood of Nakhalat Shiva bring the Jewish Jerusalem experience up-to-date.