48 HOURS IN

FRIDAY, 5PM

Check into the Mount Zion Hotel (www.mountzion.co.il) and as dusk falls have a Goldstar lager in the lobby, taking in the cityscape. 6:30PM Quickly head to the Tower of David (www.towerofdavid.org.il, 55ILS/£9) for the 45-minute sound and vision show which introduces you to the dramatic history of the city. 8:30PM Walk to First Station (www. firststation.co.il), the old railway station where trendy restaurants and shops have replaced the trains and tracks. Chef Moti Ohana specialises in Mediterranean-israeli inspired grilled meat, casseroles and fish at Hachatzer (www.thecourtyard.rest-e.co.il, tasting menu, 230ILS/£38). SATURDAY, 9AM Head for the Old City. It is Shabbat so Jewish businesses will be shut, but that shouldn’t stop you seeing the important sites. Avoid worst of the queues by going first to the traditional site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Then explore at leisure, fuelled by fresh pomegranate juice or a snack, until exhausted. 3PM Test drive a Segway (created by a Jewish inventor Dean Kamen) with Smarttour (www.smart-tour. co.il,195ils/£32.50 for two hours). A guide teaches you the techniques before

the leading you through the city, explaining the sights as you go. 8PM Dine at Adom at First Station (mains from 62ILS/£10), where the fusion is French-italian. If you see seaweed, calamari and crab risotto on the menu, don’t miss it. SUNDAY, 9AM After a leisurely breakfast, discover the hotel’s past as an eye hospital built by the British Order of St John in the 1880s. In the 1940s, when Israelis were blockaded in the Old City’s Jewish quarter, a secret cable car ran at night from the building to Mount Zion, carrying supplies to those who needed them. The skyline above the Western Wall, below

10AM

Take a taxi to the Israel Museum (www.imj.org.il, 54ILS/£9). See the Dead Sea Scrolls and the 1:50 scale model of Jerusalem just before it was destroyed by the Romans in 66AD. Enjoy the art, both inside and out, and then have one last Israeli feast at the onsite restaurant Modern before

your flight home.

FIONA LAING

Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion) airport is 45km from Jerusalem. Easyjet (www.easyjet.com), El Al (www.elal.com) and BA (www.ba.com) have regular flights from the UK. For further information on Israel, see www. thinkisrael.com

20 JUNE 2015