Jerusalem is an amazing city.

It has a long, complicated and troubled history, that is still being written today; it is an important religious centre for Judaism, Christianity and Islam; it has an incredibly diverse - and often conflicting - population; it also has, let us not forget, its very own mental syndrome. It is a busy, modern, fascinating city, mixing new and old, conservative and alternative, east and west. In short, it truly is an amazing place. This entry is here in an attempt to provide you with a basic guide through it.

Getting There and Getting Around

Buses in Jerusalem

No, not really, despite the fact that for anyone watching the news in the last couple of years the words 'bus' and 'Jerusalem' might bring to mind images of cgarred, blood-stained wrecks. Think of it this way: the risk is there, in the same way that in other places in the world you might be at risk of being mugged, or shot, or kidnapped, or attacked by an aligator. Jerusalem isn't really more dangerous, just differently dangerous. And buses are a great way to get around town - you can get almost everywhere by one or at most two buses.

As with the inter-city buses, the buses don't work at the weekend or after midnight; then some lines stop running as early as 21:00, or they might not run on Saturday night, or both. This can be quite confusing, so the best thing to do is ask people, who tend to be very useful. Same goes for destination - if you're not sure how to get somewhere, just ask people on the street, and you'll probably get more information than you need¹.

An important thing you should pay attention to is the line number: some lines have two variations of the route, and then there will be the regular line (e.g. 4) and also an 'aleph' version (e.g. 4-aleph; the Hebrew letter aleph looks like a crooked X). If you fail to notice that difference you might find that the second route is very different and doesn't go anywhere near where you need.

Remember to ring the bell before you get to the bus-stop, otherwise the driver might not stop. If the bell isn't working - which might happen on some of the newer buses - stand by the door to make yourself noticed. If you haven't been noticed, a loud 'Nahag!' ('driver!') usually does the trick - and don't be surprised if other passengers help you out by joining the shouting. If you got to a bus-stop when the bus is just about to leave, don't give up, run after it and bang on the doors, with a bit of luck someone inside will shout to the driver to stop and let you in (this doesn't always work though).

Another note should be made on the subject of queuing. Israelis do not believe in queues, and tend to form blocks instead (or as someone once put it, 'the Israeli queue is characterised by the fact that its width is equal to its length'). Standing in place and expecting people to let you pass will not work - you need to push your way through.

Prices: There are several different payment methods. The most basic one is of course the ticket - kartis. At the time of writing, a ticket costs 5.50 NIS (approximately 1 Euro). You can also get a transfer ticket, kartis ma'avar, which costs 6.20 NIS and is good for two bus rides within one hour. If you are planning to take the bus more often than that you should get a multi-ride pass, kartisiya - these have 10 rides on them and cost 44 NIS, or for youth (under 18) and elderly (over 65) they have 20 rides for 55 NIS. You could also get a monthly pass, called hofshi hodshi, for 220 NIS, but note that these are for a calendary month, so getting one at the end of the month is probably a bad idea.

Other means of transport

There aren't in fact that many options besides you are not taking the bus or walking **(see below)**. There is an Arabic company called As-Safarat Al-Muwahhada that runs very cheap buses and minibuses from the Arabic neighbourhoods and villages to the Old City, but you would need to be on their route to catch them, which isn't very likely. **phrasing!** Then there are taxis.

When it comes to taxis ***What, actually?***

Walking around town

As in many other places, walking is the best way to see things; and in Jerusalem, there is always something to see. Just make sure you have either a good street map or plenty of time, or preferably both, because in Jerusalem, no street is really straight - they all have a nasty way of curving around until you can't remember which way you're supposed to be going anymore. Don't worry, you'll get used to that soon enough!

The street names are supposedly arranged by different themes for the different neighbourhood, but even without all the exceptions, and even without them being in Hebrew, most of those themes are related to Jewish/Israeli history, so they probably won't be of much use to the average tourist.

Places to go (? got an idea for a better header?)

Sites

Museums

Lookouts

Food

Hikes and One-Day Trips

Kids Friendly

what else? Night life, culture? (sorry it's not as detailed here, I'm starting to get tired of it and I think this post is quite long as it is)

Neighbourhoods

Nahlaot and Mahne Yehuda (market)

'The Triangle'

Nahlat Shiva

Mishkenot Sha'aninim and Yemin Moshe

Rehavia and Talbiyeh

The German Colony (HaMoshava)

Ein Karem

Musrara

Ultra-Orthodox Neighbourhoods

In each one of this subsections - a (very) short history, plus what you can do there. Shouldn't be very long, just to give a basic idea.

The Old City

Some More Useful Bits & Bobs