What Is the Ramparts Walk in Jerusalem?

The Ramparts Walk lets you climb up and walk along the top of the Old City's walls. Here's what it actually offers.

The Ramparts Walk lets you climb up and walk along the top of the Old City's walls, built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century on the remains of much older fortifications. It is one of the few ways to see the Old City from above without a helicopter.

What the walk actually offers

Views down into the Armenian Quarter's cloistered compound that you genuinely cannot see any other way, wide views over the rooftops of the Christian and Muslim Quarters, and a real sense of the walls as a defensive structure rather than just scenery.

The two routes

A northern route from Jaffa Gate to Lions' Gate, covering the Christian and Muslim Quarters, and a southern route from Jaffa Gate to the Dung Gate, covering the Armenian and Jewish Quarters. You cannot do the whole loop in one continuous walk, since the section over the Temple Mount is closed off.

What to actually know before going

There are a fair number of stairs, uneven surfaces in places, and limited shade, so timing around the heat matters. It also requires a ticket, and opening hours vary, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.

For more ideas along these lines, see my roundup of alternative tours of Jerusalem. The Ramparts Walk is not the centrepiece of most people's Jerusalem trip, but as an add-on for the right group, especially anyone who wants photographs and a different vantage point on a city they have already walked through at street level, it is genuinely worth the stairs.

Written by Orit Kropp

Licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, Jerusalem-based, and endlessly enthusiastic about bringing the Tanach to life on the ground where it happened.