What it's like visiting one of the world's greatest treasures, the 2,000 year-old mountaintop fortress Masada

Israel's ancient fortress Masada is an incredible place to visit, on a mountaintop plateau above the Dead Sea.

Masada is a UNESCO World Heritage site that's been remarkably preserved for thousands of years, and you can visit it.

I climbed up to Masada last summer, and I can't suggest it enough. Here's why!

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Visiting Masada, the ancient fortress built atop a mountain plateau in modern day Israel, is a life-changing experience. No caveats necessary.

There's simply nothing like visiting an ancient mountaintop fortress that overlooks the Dead Sea. It doesn't feel real. But because of its isolation and the arid desert climate, the fortress once occupied by King Herod is a remarkably well-preserved relic of humanity's ancient past, one you can climb to on the same paths used by visiting dignitaries and invading Roman troops.

I did exactly that last July — here's what it was like: