museum
Yad Vashem
Israel's official memorial to the Holocaust, with deeply moving exhibits and a striking modernist museum built into a mountainside.
18 km · about 20 min drive
AsiaIsraelJerusalem
Bet Shemesh
Jerusalem, Israel · Asia
About Bet Shemesh
Bet Shemesh works well as a base: 10 minutes from Zekharya, 21km from Church of the Nativity.
Bet Shemesh is in Jerusalem, Israel, with about 120,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Zekharya, about 5 km away.
Where to Stay in Bet Shemesh
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Bet Shemesh?
Within an hour or so of Bet Shemesh: Yad Vashem (18 km), Church of the Nativity (21 km), Church of the Holy Sepulchre (23 km), Jerusalem Old City (23 km).
Are there any good drives near Bet Shemesh?
The nearest famous roads are King's Highway, Scorpions Ascent (Ma'ale Akrabim) and Dana to Petra Trail.
Where is Bet Shemesh?
Bet Shemesh is in Jerusalem, Israel, about 5 km from Zekharya.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 124,957
- Continent
- Asia
- Country
- Israel
- Region
- Jerusalem
- Timezone
- Asia/Jerusalem
- Coordinates
- 31.7307, 34.9929
Tags
Worth the detour from Bet Shemesh
8 notable places within an hour's drive.
cathedral
Church of the Nativity
One of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world, built over the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
21 km · about 25 min drive
cathedral
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Christianity's holiest site, built on the traditional locations of Jesus's crucifixion and burial.
23 km · about 25 min drive
landmark
Jerusalem Old City
A walled sacred city of one square kilometer containing holy sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam within four historic quarters.
23 km · about 25 min drive
landmark
Western Wall (Wailing Wall)
The holiest site where Jews can pray, a 2,000-year-old limestone remnant of the Second Temple retaining wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.
23 km · about 25 min drive
landmark
Dome of the Rock
The iconic gold-domed Islamic shrine on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, built in 691 CE over the sacred Foundation Stone.
24 km · about 25 min drive
restaurant
Abu Hassan (Ali Karavan)
A Jaffa hummus counter running since 1971, famous for masabacha made with whole chickpeas and extra tahini. It sells out and closes by mid-afternoon, and the queue starts well before that.
42 km · about 50 min drive
landmark
Old Jaffa
One of the oldest port cities in the world with 4,000 years of history, now an artists' quarter with galleries, restaurants, and views of Tel Aviv's skyline.
43 km · about 50 min drive
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