Dohany Street Synagogue (Great Synagogue)
Budapest, Hungary
The synagogue is run by the Jewish community of Budapest, and visitors buy a single ticket that covers the Great…
3 tickets & tours
By type
Best synagogues to visit worldwide
A synagogue is a house of prayer, study and assembly, and its essential parts are few: the ark on the wall facing Jerusalem, where the Torah scrolls are kept behind a curtain; the bimah, a raised platform from which the Torah is read; and, in traditional synagogues, a separate women’s gallery. The architecture tells each community’s story, from the medieval Gothic hall in Prague and the horseshoe arches of Toledo to the domed Moorish-style giants that confident nineteenth-century congregations built in Budapest and Berlin.
How to visit a synagogue: dress, security and Shabbat — When synagogues open to visitors, how to dress, why security is tight and how to behave at a service, from Prague to Djerba.
Spanish Synagogue
Prague, Czech Republic
The Spanish Synagogue is run by the Jewish Museum in Prague and cannot be visited on a ticket of its own.
3 tickets & tours
Portuguese Synagogue
Amsterdam, Netherlands
The synagogue is visited with a timed ticket from the Jewish Cultural Quarter, which also covers the Jewish Museum…
2 tickets & tours
Cordoba Synagogue
Córdoba, Spain
The Cordoba Synagogue is a state-run monument and costs almost nothing to enter: visitors from the European Union go in…
1 ticket or tour
Great Synagogue of Rome
Rome, Italy
The Great Synagogue can only be visited as part of a ticket to the Jewish Museum of Rome, which occupies rooms beneath…
1 ticket or tour
Kazinczy Street Synagogue
Budapest, Hungary
The only product sold online for this synagogue is a simple entry ticket, and it is the right choice for most visitors.
1 ticket or tour
Old Synagogue, Krakow
Krakow, Poland
The Old Synagogue in Krakow is no longer a place of worship but a branch of the city's historical museum, so a…
1 ticket or tour
Ancient Synagogue of Barcelona (Sinagoga Major)
Barcelona, Spain
The Sinagoga Major is a small site in the medieval Jewish quarter, the Call, and entry is paid at the door;
No online ticket
Ben Ezra Synagogue
Cairo, Egypt
Entry to the Ben Ezra Synagogue is free, and there is no ticket, timed slot or skip-the-line option to buy;
No online ticket
El Ghriba Synagogue
Djerba, Tunisia
There is no online ticket for El Ghriba. The synagogue lies in the village of Erriadh, formerly called Hara Seghira,…
No online ticket
Etz Hayyim Synagogue
Chania, Greece
No ticket for Etz Hayyim is sold online, and there is nothing to book in advance.
No online ticket
High Synagogue, Kraków
Krakow, Poland
No ticket for the High Synagogue alone is sold online. It operates as a small exhibition space, and you pay a modest…
No online ticket
Ibn Danan Synagogue
Fez, Morocco
No ticket for the Ibn Danan Synagogue alone is sold online.
No online ticket
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim and Coming Street Cemetery
Charleston, United States
No ticket for this site is sold online. The Coming Street Cemetery is a private burial ground belonging to Kahal Kadosh…
No online ticket
Maisel Synagogue
Prague, Czech Republic
The Maisel Synagogue is run by the Jewish Museum in Prague, and you cannot buy a ticket for it alone.
No online ticket
Neve Shalom Synagogue
Istanbul, Turkey
No ticket for Neve Shalom is sold through the booking platforms, and you cannot simply walk in.
No online ticket
New Synagogue Berlin (Centrum Judaicum)
Berlin, Germany
No ticket for the New Synagogue alone is sold through the booking platforms.
No online ticket
Novi Sad Synagogue
Novi Sad, Serbia
There is no ticket for the Novi Sad Synagogue sold online, and the building does not run as a museum with fixed…
No online ticket
Old-New Synagogue
Prague, Czech Republic
The Old-New Synagogue belongs to the Jewish Community of Prague, not to the Jewish Museum, and that shapes the…
No online ticket
Pinkas Synagogue
Prague, Czech Republic
The Pinkas Synagogue is not sold on its own. It belongs to the Jewish Museum in Prague, and entry comes with the…
No online ticket
Rumbach Street Synagogue
Budapest, Hungary
The Rumbach Street Synagogue is visited on an ordinary entry ticket bought at the door, and no ticket for this…
No online ticket
Synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca
Toledo, Spain
Santa Maria la Blanca is no longer a working synagogue or church but a monument run by the archdiocese of Toledo, and…
No online ticket
White Stork Synagogue
Wroclaw, Poland
The White Stork Synagogue is not sold as an online ticket.
No online ticket
Many of the synagogues in the catalogue are museums or memorials as well as places of worship, so visits run on a ticket, often shared across a Jewish quarter, as in Prague and Amsterdam. Expect a security check and bag search at the entrance. Men cover their heads, with paper kippahs handed out at the door, and shoulders and knees should be covered. Most close to visitors on Saturday, the Sabbath, and on Jewish holidays, and photography is not allowed during services.
The strongest examples are the Old-New Synagogue and the Spanish Synagogue in Prague, the Dohany Street Synagogue in Budapest, the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo and El Ghriba on the Tunisian island of Djerba.