Israel Off the Beaten Path: 5 Day Plan
Five days based in Jerusalem, adding Jericho, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited sites, onto the Dead Sea, Masada, Bethlehem, and Tel Aviv days already built into the 4 day itinerary . Drop back a day if Jericho’s light infrastructure doesn’t appeal, or add a slower desert day with the 6 day plan .
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Jerusalem |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival, an Old City taste, settle in | None, city-based |
| 2 | The Dead Sea and Masada | About 1.5 hours each way |
| 3 | Bethlehem | About 30-40 minutes each way, including the crossing |
| 4 | Tel Aviv | About 35-40 minutes each way by fast train |
| 5 | Jericho | About 1 hour each way, tour only |
Book these before you go
- Book a Masada and Dead Sea small group tour on GetYourGuide , entry fees included
- Book a Bethlehem half-day tour on GetYourGuide
- Book a West Bank day tour covering Jericho on GetYourGuide
- Compare Jerusalem hotel rates on Booking.com
Day 1: Arrival and an Old City taste
Settle in near the Old City or the German Colony and keep the afternoon light. Walk Jaffa Gate to the Western Wall plaza, free and open 24 hours, and back through the Jewish Quarter, roughly 20 minutes each way. Confirm your passport and ETA-IL confirmation before the week’s two West Bank crossings.
Day 2: The Dead Sea and Masada
Tours leave by 6:30-7am, about 1.5 hours through the Judean Desert. Take the cable car up Masada (combined with entry, roughly NIS 59-77) or the offbeat Snake Path before dawn for the sunrise crowd’s view. Float in the Dead Sea afterward, the shore is salt-crusted rather than sandy, and most tours add Ein Gedi Nature Reserve on the way back. Details at Masada National Park and Ein Gedi Nature Reserve .
Day 3: Bethlehem
Bus 231 or a permitted taxi crosses Checkpoint 300 into the West Bank, passport and ETA-IL record required to re-enter. See the Church of the Nativity, then the Milk Grotto and Shepherds’ Field just outside town, usually part of a guided half-day and skipped by anyone doing the crossing alone.
Day 4: Tel Aviv
The A1 fast train runs direct and hourly, roughly 35-40 minutes each way, fares from about 31 ILS. It doesn’t run Friday afternoon through Saturday evening, so keep this day off a Saturday. Spend part of the day in Jaffa, the four-thousand-year-old port town most beach-only visitors skip. Check current schedules on Israel Railways .
Day 5: Jericho
Jericho’s Tel es-Sultan excavation is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited sites, predating Jerusalem itself by thousands of years, yet it has far less tourist infrastructure than Bethlehem and most independent travelers never add it. Access rules for foreign visitors shift, so almost everyone goes on an organized day tour rather than public transit or a rental car, roughly an hour each way from Jerusalem. It’s a niche pick for travelers specifically chasing ancient sites rather than a default addition to a shorter trip.
Do you need a rental car across these five days? No. Every day trip here runs on an organized tour, public transit, or the fast train, and driving into the West Bank yourself only complicates re-entry paperwork for no real benefit. Save a rental car for a trip that continues north beyond Jerusalem’s day-trip range.
Five days covers the full gateway list except a slower encore day; add the 6 day itinerary next for a second, unrushed look at Ein Gedi’s hiking trails.