West Jerusalem

Striking and varied in its own right, West Jerusalem is not just long lines in the central bus station, Ben-Yehuda rnidrahov eateries, and Russian Compound bars. It also boasts fine museums, shaded parks, and elegant, thickly gardened neighborhoods. Since the first Jewish pioneers dared to move outside the protective walls of the Old City in the 1860s, the communities they established in West Jerusalem have thrived. In all but its most run-down slums-and West Jerusalem has a few of those-the requisite Jerusalem stone facing strangely harmonizes the most uninspired housing developments with the ancient building traditions of the Old City.