Visitors
Visiting Ma'ale Adumim: start here
Ma'ale Adumim sits on the ridges east of Jerusalem where the Judean Desert begins, about 20 minutes from downtown Jerusalem. Most visitors come for the desert sites nearby: Byzantine mosaics at the Good Samaritan, the springs of Nahal Prat, and the northern Dead Sea beaches and Qumran about half an hour's drive down Route 1. In town there is the Moshe Castel art museum, a lakeside park and a culture hall.
Visitors
Start here
7 steps, in the order most people take them.
- 1
Book desert sites ahead
Since 1 January 2026 the Nature and Parks Authority admits visitors to the Good Samaritan Museum (on Route 1, about 7 km east of the city) and the Nahal Prat springs only with advance registration. Entry to the Martyrius and Euthymius monastery sites is for groups by reservation.
Go (opens in a new tab) - 2
Check heat and flood warnings
Nahal Prat (Ein Prat and Ein Mabua) closes on extreme-heat and flood-risk days, and parts of the stream are closed because of water pollution; St George's Monastery is reached only on the green trail 8105 along the aqueduct. Start early and carry plenty of water.
Go (opens in a new tab) - 3
See the Castel Museum
The Moshe Castel Museum of Art (1 HaMuze'on St) opens Sun, Mon, Tue and Thu 10:00-16:00 and Wed 12:00-20:00, and is closed Fri, Shabbat and holidays.
Go (opens in a new tab) - 4
Go down to the Dead Sea
Kalia, Biankini and Neve Midbar are paid, declared beaches on the northern shore, roughly 25 minutes' drive from Jerusalem; Qumran and Einot Tzukim are a few kilometres further south on Road 90.
Go (opens in a new tab) - 5
Plan around Shabbat
Buses do not run from Friday afternoon to Saturday night, and many attractions and the mall close on Shabbat. Nature and Parks Authority sites are open on Saturdays with Saturday hours.
Go (opens in a new tab) - 6
Catch a show
The municipal culture hall (Heichal HaTarbut) sells tickets online for theatre, concerts and children's shows; most are in Hebrew.
Go (opens in a new tab) - 7
Where to sleep
There is no hotel in the residential city itself. The nearest is the Kassland Hotel in the Mishor Adumim commercial zone (the former DHotel website now points to it), then Genesis Land's desert zimmers near Alon and Jerusalem hotels on Mount Scopus.
Go (opens in a new tab)
Guides
Read next
- Getting around Ma'ale AdumimBuses to Jerusalem's light rail, the central bus station and Tel Aviv, the Rav-Kav centre in the mall, walking on the Nativ HaKaronit footpaths, parking, and what to expect on Shabbat.
- Desert sites near Ma'ale AdumimMosaics, monasteries, springs and the Dead Sea: what is within half an hour of the city, how far each place is, and the booking and heat rules to know before you go.
- Where to stay in and near Ma'ale AdumimThere is no hotel in the residential city. The closest beds are in the Mishor Adumim commercial zone, at a desert farm near Alon, on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem and at the northern Dead Sea.
- Where to shop and eat in Ma'ale AdumimThe Kanyon and what opens on Motzei Shabbat, the big supermarkets in Mishor Adumim, the neighbourhood centres, DCITY, and how to read kashrut here (the levels are from 2022).
Good to know
Most desert sites close an hour before their listed closing time for entry; in winter that can mean 15:00. Bring modest dress for monasteries (covered shoulders and knees).
Community groups
Where people talk
- Ma'ale Adumim Municipality (Facebook page)Facebook · Ma'ale Adumim Municipality
- Religious services WhatsApp bot (prayer times, shiurim, eruv map)WhatsApp · Ma'ale Adumim religious services department
From our network
Good people I work with
A few organisations from the Consult With Ari network whose work reaches people in Ma'ale Adumim.
These are not paid listings, and they are separate from the checked directory.
Source
- KassLand Hotel (own site) (opens in a new tab)
- Israel Nature and Parks Authority (opens in a new tab)
- Israel Nature and Parks Authority (opens in a new tab)
- htma.smarticket.co.il (opens in a new tab)
- castelmuseum.co.il (opens in a new tab)
- Dead Sea Regional Council (deadsea.co.il) (opens in a new tab)
- hebcal.com (opens in a new tab)
- Israel Nature and Parks Authority (opens in a new tab)
This page was written for Ma'ale Adumim from the sources above.
