Things to Do in Jericho

Tell es-Sultan archaeological mound

You climb the rickety staircase to the top of humanity's oldest city wall and the wind brings desert salt. The Jordan Valley unrolls below like a green ribbon. Inside the trench stone towers pre-date the pyramids by four millennia. Ravens wheel, wings creaking like old leather.

Mount of Temptation cable car and monastery

The cable car swings above thyme-scented cliffs. Metallic clack mixes with distant goat bells. At the hilltop monastery incense hangs thick enough to chew. The viewing gallery drops into a bronze void where the Dead Sea's white salt rim glints. A monk may hand you thick spiced coffee that tastes of cardamom and rust.

Hisham's Palace mosaic hall

Inside the Umayyad winter palace the rosette mosaic still gleams under a veil of desert dust. Damp earth drifts in from night irrigation of nearby lettuce plots. Sparrows hop between fallen capitals, chirps echoing off limestone grapes that look ready to burst.

Ein es-Sultan spring and date-palm walk

You wade through cool silty water pushing between reeds while date fronds rattle like paper streamers. The air smells of wet compost and fermenting fruit. Bite a just-picked Medjool and you get honeyed caramel that turns supermarket dates into cardboard.

Sunset over the Jordan Valley from Eucalyptus Hill

The hill is only a bump behind the museum. Yet the view spills wide: silver irrigation pivots, Bedouin tents, Dead Sea glint turning mauve. Cicadas start their evening maracas while the sun roasts the cliffs peach.

Sultan Center: faded high-rise balconies over palm groves. Request north-side room to dodge afternoon blast.

Oasis Hotel complex on the eastern edge: pools fed by Ein es-Sultan water, packed with weekenders from Ramallah.

Aqbat Jaber guesthouses: plain family rooms in the refugee camp, great for evening street football.

Mount of Temptation Monastery cells: spartan, pre-dawn bells. Book through custodian after evening service.

Tourist Village bungalows: concrete chalets among banana fields, quiet once tour buses roll out.

Budget rooms above cafés on Al-Wadi Street: shared baths, windows on the square. You'll wake to muezzin and grinder.