As you cross the city boundary into Jerusalem, there's a frisson of excitement about its long history and immense religious and political importance.
  However, the busy central area (in West Jerusalem) with its traffic, crowds of shoppers and lively, upbeat atmosphere, is surprisingly like any other city, albeit with weightier political concerns than most.
  Pass through the mighty fortifications into the Old City - where most of the historic and religious sights are located - and come face to face with an awesome heritage and complex cultural diversity.

Jerusalem - Yerushalayim in Hebrew - is located on Israel's eastern boundary, in the region historically called Judaea.
  The city dates back at least to the construction in about 1000BC of the First Temple where the Jewish priests made sacrifices, and which was the focal point for all Jewish religious observance at that time. It stood on Temple Mount.
  That Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in about 586BC, but just 70 years later was rebuilt as the even grander, more vast, gold-clad Second Temple. Although Jews had become more scattered by now, the Temple remained the focal point of their religion and nationhood.
  The Temple was further reconstructed, enlarged and adorned by King Herod in about 19BC, during the Roman occupation of Judaea. However, because the Jewish people resisted Roman rule, the Temple was again destroyed in 70AD, along with most of Jerusalem (135AD).
  Having crushed the Jewish Revolts and banished the Jews from Jerusalem, Emperor Hadrian also changed the name of Judaea to Palaestina and brought in measures to humiliate the population. Most fled from Judaea and became scattered throughout the Roman empire, beginning the Jewish exile which lasted until the decline of Rome and the Arab conquest (638AD), after which Jews began to return to Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish Diaspora remained scattered in different countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Having to flee the medieval  Crusades of western Europe, the majority were eventually living in Eastern Europe, for a period of some 1000 years.
  Under the impetus of extreme anti-semitism in the 19th-century Russian Empire, while many Jews fled to the Americas, Zionism emerged as the Jewish national liberation movement and led to an organised, idealistic return to Jerusalem and Judaea, especially during the early 20th century. By this time, the British had taken control of the Jewish homeland, under the British Mandate.
  The rise of the Nazis in 1930s Germany, their conquest of Europe during WW2 and their extermination of Jews during the Holocaust, gave an extreme urgency to Zionism.
  Zionism triumphed over Arab and British colonialism in 1948, and the liberated Jewish land was renamed Israel. Jerusalem was finally fully re-conquered by Jewish forces in 1967, and once more became the Jewish capital.

The main tourist office is just inside the Jaffa Gate into the Old City.

Although it has many neighbourhoods and districts, the city consists principally of three distinct zones, which are historically and culturally quite separate.
••The Old City is the walled ancient city that lies on Jerusalem's eastern edge.
••East Jerusalem is a small, densely populated Arab district north of the Old City.
••West Jerusalem extends west from the Old City, and includes the busy Jaffa (Yafo) Road and the vibrant modern downtown area around King George V Street and Zion Square.

Walking is easy, pleasant and safe at all times in West Jerusalem (almost the whole city). Take more care in the Old City and East Jerusalem.

There's an extensive and inexpensive public transport network, run by different companies. For an overview and information, visit the Jerusalem Transportation website.

Single-fare tickets are available before boarding from machines at stops. Locals normally travel using a pre-paid Rav Kav card (a plastic smart card like London's 'Oyster', that can be topped-up with prepayment). This is available for visitors too: just complete an application form at the bus station; you'll need ID and a passport style photo.

Buses - also Express Buses running in dedicated lanes - are operated by Egged. Useful for visitors is the hop on/hop off Line 99 which follows a circular sightseeing route. There's no service on Shabbat. East Jerusalem has its own buses.
Egged website.

Taxis can be hailed in the street or pre-booked. Shared taxis called sheruts [Hebrew: sherutim] run along set routes, usually the same as the bus routes, and generally cost less than the bus.

Jerusalem Light Rail is a slick, modern tram service. To date only Line 1 (or Red line) is open, with 23 stops from Mount Herzl to Air Force Street, including all along Jaffa St, King George St, Mechane Yehuda and Damascus Gate (for the Old City). Trains run every 10 minutes throughout the day (except Shabbat - though they do run on Saturday after Shabbat finishes).
Jerusalem Transport Light Rail webpage.
Jerusalem Light Rail operator's website.

By air - Airlines, including budget airlines, fly direct from every part of the world to Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, 30km (18 miles) from Jerusalem with good transfers by rail or road. Flight time from London is around 5 hours.
Avoid arriving on Shabbat or festivals (Fri sunset to Sat sunset), when there is no public transport out of the airport - only taxis.

      The Old City