Jerusalem travel guide

A city of where the holy and the every day exist side by side.

Not only is Jerusalem holy to Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike, its glorious skyline--made of white "Jerusalem stone," capped with the golden Dome of the Rock, and dotted with a few distant skyscrapers--has also been known to inspire awe in even the most secular of people. Millennia-old religious sites such the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Al-Aqsa Mosque are very much the city's defining sights, and for good reason. But this doesn't mean that Tel Aviv has a national monopoly on contemporary life. As the political capital of the state of Israel, Jerusalem is home to the Knesset (parliament) as well as its premier university and many other cultural and educational centers, such as Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. Perhaps more than anything, Jerusalem is a bustling Middle Eastern city, as it has been for centuries. This vibrancy can be found in the winding streets of the Old City, in the market stalls of the Arab souk, and in the boisterous bars, cafes, and falafel shops (where falafel sandwiches are served Israeli style, stuffed with French fries).