3 Best Places to Shop in Around Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, Israel

This gallery is filled with bright and colorful hand-painted wooden dishes, furniture, floor mats and other housewares. The pieces feature geometric designs and Israeli motifs, including pomegranates, grapes, and birds. In addition to shopping for Kakadu art, you can chat with owners Aharon and Reut Shahar while sipping tea or coffee on comfortable couches overlooking the lush Ella Valley. Aharon is a tour guide and can give advice on trails and biking nearby. Workshops, by appointment only, allow visitors of all ages to create their own colorful wooden art pieces. The gallery ships globally.

The Giacaman family has been whittling olive wood into elaborate Nativity scenes and souvenirs for more than 100 years. At this shop and factory, you can get a glimpse at Palestinian craftsmen working away the local wood. Ask to go up to the roof, which has a great view of Manger Square. The shop ships worldwide. Don't forget to bargain.

Three siblings from Moshav Beit Nekofa have turned an old chicken coop into a store selling products from the surrounding countryside and a café serving sandwiches, salads, pasta, and other dishes made with local ingredients. Stop here to buy wine, beer, cheeses, baked goods, jars of honey, and produce from many of the farms in the Judean Hills. Enjoy breakfast, lunch, or dinner, complete with frequent live music performances. Or, pick up lunch or picnic provisions to take to the nearby Ein Hemed or Castel national parks.