Mount Herzl and Yad Vashem

Two national institutions stand on the same ridge in western Jerusalem, about a kilometre apart. Mount Herzl holds the grave of Theodor Herzl, the plot where Israel’s presidents and prime ministers are buried, and the national military cemetery. Yad Vashem, on the neighbouring slope known as the Mount of Remembrance, is the state memorial to the Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

The walk between them is short and mostly downhill. The reading is not. Most visitors need a full day, and a break between the two sites.

Getting there. The Jerusalem Light Rail red line terminates at Mount Herzl station. A free shuttle runs from there to the Yad Vashem entrance; on foot it is about 1 km along Herzl Boulevard and a signed path.

Tickets and hours. Admission to Mount Herzl and to all sites on the Yad Vashem campus is free. Reservations for guided visits carry a handling fee. Both sites close on Saturdays and Jewish holidays; Yad Vashem closes early on Fridays and holiday eves. Check opening hours before travelling.

Age guidance. Yad Vashem does not admit children under 10 to the Holocaust History Museum, and asks that they not be brought into it, including infants in carriers. Families with younger children are directed to other parts of the campus. Plan accordingly if you are travelling with kids.

Good to know:

Both sites are working memorials. State ceremonies are held on Mount Herzl on Memorial Day and Independence Day, and the campus may be closed or restricted around them.
Photography is restricted inside the Holocaust History Museum.
The route is paved throughout and largely wheelchair accessible.

Day 1

The national cemetery and the Mount of Remembrance

Mount Herzl light rail station → Valley of the Communities, Yad Vashem 4 km

Navigate this day

From Herzl’s grave at the top of the hill, down through the cemetery, and across to Yad Vashem.

Segments

Herzl's grave and the Herzl Museum 0.4 km 📍 Map

Mount Herzl light rail station → Herzl's grave

Paved paths

The hill is named for Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, who died in Austria in 1904. His remains were brought to Jerusalem in 1949 and reburied here in a state ceremony. The grave is a single block of black granite at the summit, inscribed only with his name. The Herzl Museum at the entrance covers his life and work. Allow about 60 minutes with the museum.
The plot of the nation's leaders 0.4 km 📍 Map

Herzl's grave → National leaders' section

Paved paths and steps

The southern slope, set aside in 1952, holds the graves of Israeli presidents, prime ministers and Zionist leaders. Five prime ministers are buried here: Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. Rabin, assassinated in 1995, is buried beside his wife Leah. About 30 minutes.

About this place

A list of the monuments and the memorials at the Mount Herzl national cemetery and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: KarineNahon · CC BY-SA 4.0
The national military cemetery 0.7 km 📍 Map

National leaders' section → Military cemetery

Paved paths and steps

The northern slope has been Israel's national military cemetery since 1949. It holds the graves of about 22,700 soldiers and members of the security forces killed since 1860. The graves are laid out in terraced rows by war and by unit; the headstones are uniform. The Memorial Hall and its eternal flame stand at the top of the section, and the Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial, opened in 1997, is nearby. About 45 minutes.

About this place

A list of the monuments and the memorials at the Mount Herzl national cemetery and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
Read more on Wikipedia ↗
Photo: KarineNahon · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Holocaust History Museum 1.1 km 📍 Map

Mount Herzl → Yad Vashem entrance

Paved path or free shuttle

Yad Vashem was established by an act of the Knesset in 1953 and occupies about 180 dunams (roughly 45 acres) on the Mount of Remembrance. The Holocaust History Museum, designed by Moshe Safdie and opened in 2005, is a prism-shaped corridor cut through the hillside. Its galleries run chronologically from pre-war Jewish life in Europe to the end of the war, using documents, artefacts and recorded survivor testimony. Entry is free. Under-10s are not admitted. Allow about 2 to 3 hours.

About this place

Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of the Holocaust, known in Hebrew as the Shoah (שואה). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the survivors; honoring Jews who fought against their Nazi oppressors and gentiles who selflessly aided Jews in need; and researching the phenomenon of the Holocaust in particular and genocide in general, with the aim of avoiding such events in the future. Yad Vashem's vision, as stated on its website, is: "To lead the documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust, and to convey the chronicles of this singular Jewish and human event to every person in Israel, to the Jewish people, and to every significant and relevant audience worldwide."
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Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain
The Hall of Names and the Children's Memorial 0.3 km 📍 Map

Holocaust History Museum → Children's Memorial

Paved paths

The Hall of Names, at the end of the museum route, is the repository for the names of Holocaust victims. Photographs of the dead line a ten-metre cone above; a matching cone is cut into the rock below, its base filled with water. The surrounding shelves hold the Pages of Testimony — about 2.8 million had been collected as of November 2025 — each one a form filled in by a relative or acquaintance recording a single victim. Names not yet recovered account for the empty shelves. The Children's Memorial, a separate underground structure also designed by Safdie, commemorates the roughly 1.5 million Jewish children killed in the Holocaust. A small number of candles are reflected through mirrors into a dark chamber. A recording reads out names, ages and countries of origin. About 45 minutes for both.

About this place

The Hall of Names is a repository for the names of millions of Holocaust victims at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem. These names also appear in the Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names on the Yad Vashem website. Most of the names are commemorated on Pages of Testimony, with the rest gleaned from Holocaust-era lists, such as those of ghetto and concentration camp prisoners, Jews whose property was confiscated by Nazi Germany and its allies, Jews deported on transports, victims of death marches, etc.
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Photo: Ilya Varlamov · CC BY-SA 3.0
The Avenue of the Righteous and the Valley of the Communities 0.6 km 📍 Map

Children's Memorial → Valley of the Communities

Paved paths and gravel

The Avenue and Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations honour non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Trees and plaques carry the names of those recognised by the state; as of 2024 the title had been conferred on 28,707 people. The Valley of the Communities is a 2.5-acre excavation into the bedrock, cut into a series of connected courtyards walled in Jerusalem stone. The names of more than 5,000 Jewish communities destroyed or damaged in the Holocaust are carved into the walls, grouped by region. It is open air, and open to visitors of all ages. About 60 minutes.

About this place

The Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations is part of the much larger Yad Vashem complex located on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. Along with some two dozen different structures within the Yad Vashem memorial – which is the second most-visited destination in the country after the Western Wall – the Garden of the Righteous is meant to honor those non-Jews who during the Holocaust risked their lives to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.
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Photo: Proesi at German Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 2.0 de