Jericho

Jericho (Ariha) occupies the Jordan Valley at 258 metres below sea level — the lowest city on Earth. Tell es-Sultan, on the city's northern edge, contains over 20 successive archaeological layers spanning roughly 11,000 years from around 9000 BCE. In September 2023 UNESCO inscribed the site as Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan, recognising its evidence of early urban planning, Neolithic agriculture, monumental architecture and the domestication of plants and animals. Jericho lies 35 kilometres east of Jerusalem and 13 kilometres north of the Dead Sea.

Within Tell es-Sultan stand excavated remains of one of the earliest known defensive towers, a circular Neolithic structure built around 8000 BCE. Adjacent, Elisha's Spring (Ein es-Sultan) has sustained the oasis for millennia. To the west, the Mount of Temptation rises 366 metres above the valley; a cable car climbs to the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Temptation, built into the cliff face at the spot traditionally linked to Jesus's 40-day fast. Hisham's Palace, 1.5 kilometres north, is an early-8th-century Umayyad complex renowned for its intricate mosaic floors.

Jericho is 35 kilometres from Jerusalem via Route 1 through the Judean Desert, roughly 45 minutes by road. November to March offers mild, sunny conditions; summer heat in the below-sea-level valley can be intense. Jericho pairs naturally with a Dead Sea excursion and a stop at Bethany (Al-Eizariya) on the return journey to Jerusalem.