If you've decided to drive directly from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, you should know the drive will take about forty minutes, but will feel like you’ve been transported in time.

The highway rises through the Judean Hills. Pale limestone walls, the light changing as the altitude climbs… until suddenly the city appears, golden and dense, built on its own gravity.

Once you enter the Old City, make sure to see the Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Western Wall, the last standing remnant of the Second Temple. Standing there is standing at the intersection of three thousand years of prayer, and it registers physically, not just intellectually. Also worth including: the Pilgrim's Road in the City of David, only recently excavated and opened to visitors, which offers one of the most visceral encounters with ancient Jerusalem available today.

WORTH KNOWING  
By day, the Tower of David functions as one of the finest history museums in the Middle East, mapping Jerusalem's layers through its own ancient stones. By night, a sound-and-light show turns the citadel walls into a living canvas. If the schedule allows, do both. which offers one of the most visceral encounters with ancient Jerusalem available today.

End your day at Mahane Yehuda Market. The stalls run deep. Piles of olives and spices and fresh bread, vendors who have been working the same spots for generations. And as the evening sets in the market shifts: bars open in the same narrow lanes, and the crowd changes entirely. It's worth staying for both.

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Next installment coming soon...  
Adapted with permission from the LA Times article by the same name - feel free to look it up :)

9 Days in Israel: Chapter Five: Day 4 Jerusalem: The Holy City