While no one knows who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls, or even when, the Qumran site delivers fascinating insights into the community that once lived there. Besides meeting rooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a watchtower, stables, and workshops, the wealth of purification pools show how seriously residents took their religion. A historical film and the museum put everything in context.
Many travelers visit on a day trip from Jerusalem, although tours also leave from Tel Aviv. Travelers with an interest in Jewish history often pair Qumran with Masada, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; Christian travelers often add in West Bank biblical sites such as Bethlehem and Jericho; others combine Qumran with a desert safari and a float in the Dead Sea.
Qumran National Park is about a 25-mile (40-kilometer) drive east of Jerusalem, about a mile (1.5 kilometers) inland from the Dead Sea. Buses from Jerusalem pass the site en route to other Dead Sea destinations, but self-driving or joining a tour lets you cover more ground.
The caves are open from morning until late afternoon, seven days a week; during winter, they close a little earlier and shut at lunchtime on the eve of national holidays. Plan to avoid the Israeli weekend (Friday and Saturday) to beat the crowds.
At 1,412 feet (430 meters) below sea level, the Israeli side of the Dead Sea offers more than just spa treatments and beaches. Head to the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve for gorgeous oasis landscapes, discover the rock fortress of Masada, built by King Herod and site of a famed mass suicide, or take a 4WD desert safari.