Jerusalem in 6 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Six Days Builds a Dedicated Shabbat Day In, Instead of Working Around One
This plan extends the 5-day version with a full day built for Friday afternoon through Saturday evening, when light rail and buses stop citywide and most West Jerusalem shops close. Expect roughly 300 ILS ($95) a day on foot, since the Shabbat day itself costs almost nothing beyond a meal or two. It nests inside the 7-day version, and the shorter 2 , 3 and 5 day plans if your trip shrinks instead.
Book These Before You Go
- A free timed slot at Yad Vashem , required in advance with a small non-refundable booking fee, and not usable on Shabbat.
- A City of David and Western Wall Tunnels ticket on Viator , since weekend slots fill first and the tunnels close Saturday.
- An Old City walking tour on GetYourGuide for Day 1.
- A budget room near Jaffa Gate or the German Colony on Booking.com , booked further ahead around Passover, Sukkot or Easter week.
Day-by-Day at a Glance
| Day | Focus | Approx. spend |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old City free wins: Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulchre | 60-90 ILS ($20-30), meals only |
| 2 | Temple Mount window, Mount of Olives, Mahane Yehuda | 70-100 ILS ($23-33), transit and food |
| 3 | Yad Vashem, City of David, Western Wall Tunnels | 130-150 ILS ($43-50) in tickets, plus food |
| 4 | Israel Museum, German Colony | 54 ILS ($17) ticket, plus a slower lunch |
| 5 | Ramparts Walk, Armenian Quarter, souks | 25-40 ILS ($8-13) in entry fees, plus street food |
| 6 | Shabbat day: Mount Zion, Old City on foot | Meals only, transit and most shops closed |
Day 1: Free Wins in the Old City
Enter through Jaffa Gate and walk into the Armenian Quarter, the smallest and quietest of the four, before crossing into the Jewish Quarter for the Western Wall Plaza (free, open 24 hours, modest dress, shawls and paper kippot provided at the gate). Cut through the excavated Roman-era Cardo, free to walk, into the Christian Quarter for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (free, no reservation; arrive before 8am or after 5pm to skip the tour-group crush, shoulders and knees covered). Lunch standing up at a hummus counter costs 20-35 ILS ($6-11) and is usually a full meal on its own. Dinner in the Jewish or Christian Quarter runs 45-75 ILS ($15-24) for a casual sit-down main. Every sight today is free; the only spend is two meals.
Day 2: Temple Mount Window, Mount of Olives and Mahane Yehuda
This is the one fixed appointment of the trip. Non-Muslim visitors reach the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif esplanade only through the Mughrabi Gate beside the Western Wall Plaza, Sunday to Thursday, in two short windows (roughly 7:30-11:00 and 13:30-14:30 in summer, shorter in winter). Bring a passport, dress strictly modestly and expect a security line; entry is free but esplanade only, with no Dome of the Rock or Al-Aqsa interior for non-Muslims. If your dates fall on Friday or Saturday, skip this slot and add a second Old City wander instead. Afterward, walk the Via Dolorosa’s 14 stations (free, self-guided) toward the Lions’ Gate, then taxi or bus to the Mount of Olives for the free view over the Old City and the Garden of Gethsemane. Finish at Mahane Yehuda Market for dinner: snack through the stalls for 20-40 ILS ($6-13) a stop, or sit down once the produce stalls close and the bars open after dark. Today’s spend is a bus or light rail fare (5.90 ILS, about $2) plus whatever you eat.
Day 3: The Worth-Paying Day
Light rail or bus to Yad Vashem on Mt. Herzl (book a free timed slot ahead; a small non-refundable booking fee applies, roughly 10-15 ILS). Give it a full morning; it is not a site to rush, and it is closed on Shabbat. Back in the Old City by afternoon, the City of David pairs an archaeological dig with the Hezekiah’s Tunnel wade (65 ILS adult, about $21; 10 ILS child or senior; wear shoes that can get wet or rent boots on-site). Book ahead, since slots fill. In the evening, the Western Wall Tunnels guided tour (roughly 45-50 ILS, about $15-16, an hour, book ahead especially for weekends) runs along the Wall’s buried foundation stones. This is the one day this trip spends real money, and the one day worth it.
Day 4: Modern Jerusalem
The Israel Museum plus the Shrine of the Book, home to the Dead Sea Scrolls (adult ticket roughly 54 ILS, about $17; check the late Tuesday evening opening for thinner crowds), is worth 2-3 hours minimum. Walk or bus to the German Colony/Emek Refaim in the afternoon, Jerusalem’s cafe strip, for a slower lunch and Templer-era architecture that has nothing to do with the Old City’s religious sites. Dinner here runs later than most of the city, useful on a Friday when West Jerusalem otherwise shuts early for Shabbat (Day 6). Today’s spend is one museum ticket and one relaxed meal.
Day 5: Deeper Old City
The Ramparts Walk lets you climb sections of the 16th-century walls from Jaffa Gate (25 ILS adult, about $8; 15 ILS child, senior or student; the northern and southern routes do not connect, so pick one). Spend midday in the Armenian Quarter for St. James Cathedral’s exterior and a small museum on Armenian history, then back into the Muslim Quarter’s souks for kanafeh (15-25 ILS, $5-8), a shredded-pastry dessert best eaten hot from a stall. Return to Mahane Yehuda in the evening for its after-dark bar scene, standard casual pricing. Today’s spend is one small entry fee and street food.
Day 6: The Shabbat Day
With light rail and buses stopped from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening, build this day entirely around walking. Mount Zion, just outside the walls, holds the Room of the Last Supper, King David’s Tomb and the Dormition Abbey, all free to enter. For lunch, the Muslim Quarter or East Jerusalem is the reliable fallback, since Arab-owned restaurants stay open through Shabbat while West Jerusalem’s kitchens close. Spend the afternoon on a second, unhurried lap of the Old City’s quarters; nothing else is reachable without a car or a Gett/Yango ride, since no Uber operates in Israel. The Western Wall Plaza on Friday night and into Saturday is one of the more memorable free things Jerusalem offers, worth a second visit. Today’s spend is a meal or two, since transit and most shops are closed anyway.
Is 6 Days Enough for Jerusalem?
Enough to cover every free sight, the three paid extras worth booking, the Israel Museum and a full Shabbat day without cutting anything. A 7th day, in the longer version of this plan, is mostly slack for a slower pace or a repeat visit to whichever site landed best.
What Does a 6 Day Jerusalem Trip Cost?
Roughly 300 ILS ($95) a day averaged across the week, pulled down by the Shabbat day’s near-zero spend and pulled up by Day 3’s tickets. Confirm the current Temple Mount hours on itraveljerusalem.com before Day 2, since Friday and Saturday closures mean this plan places that window early in the week on purpose.
Should You Book Yad Vashem Before or After the Shabbat Day?
Before. Yad Vashem is closed Saturdays and Jewish holidays, so this plan places it on Day 3, well ahead of the Day 6 Shabbat day, rather than risk a closed museum eating into a fixed itinerary slot.