Places around Jerusalem

Jerusalem does have a lot of places to visit, there are also many other places to see just around Jerusalem. Most of these are at a maximum of 1 hour drive from Jerusalem. Cars of course can be hired easily in Jerusalem although all places are closed on Saturday so we generally hire a car for the weekend on Friday morning. Maps of Israel are available at the car hires and are extremely useful as the roads are also well marked in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

The route number 1 runs from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. On the way, near Latrun interchange, are a couple of places that you can stop for. There is a scale model of Israel in the area. It is called Mini Israel (why would anyone call it anything else). This contains the entire landscape of Israel with all its important landmarks created on a much smaller scale. It looks quite beautiful although the guys with me didn't enjoy it too much. It is not a place to be visited in peak summer as not much shade was available.

The other places of interest near there are the Soreq caves. Not sure about the spelling as every site spells it differently. This is a cave with natural formations of stalactite and stalagmites which are truly beautiful to see. There was a signboard saying photography allowed only on Fridays. Not sure if they follow it since I went there both times on Friday. They do have a film and a guide to explain the natural process and the place didn't require as much walking as some of the other caves I have been to.

Also near Latrun is the Army memorial, with a huge range of tanks and other war machinery. This is certainly worth a visit. There is a Trappist monastery which is quite famous but I never got around to going there so no comments on that.

Another famous religious site near Jerusalem of course is Bethlehem. This is located south of Jerusalem and since it is controlled by Palestine authority, it is recommended to take an Arab taxi there. The taxi guys generally also provide guides so that could also be arranged. When I first went there all churches except the church of Nativity were closed due to some shootout that had occurred the previous day so it would be a good idea to find out before making plans. The church of Nativity marks the birth place of Christ and contains some of the oldest mosaics. The manger where Jesus was born is depicted.