Israel for independent travel: travel by bus

We will say only one thing so that everything becomes clear at once: it takes only 8.5 hours to cross the country from edge to edge by bus. Impressive ?!

We hope that you are intrigued by the opening prospects, so we reveal the details.

Transport in Israel

In this wonderful, and most importantly - small country, there is everything you need: minibuses, buses, trams, subways, trains, planes and water (sea) transport. Everyone can use for the benefit of independent travel!

Photo by Dana Friedlander

It seems to us that it makes no sense to make domestic flights (it is much more pleasant to study the country from the window of ground transport), but there is such an opportunity. Air traffic is established between Tel Aviv, Haifa, Lod (David Ben-Gurion International Airport is located near this city) and Eilat. To date, * the cheapest flight ticket from Tel Aviv to Eilat costs approximately 4,000 rubles. Travel time is about 40 minutes.

The main seaports of Israel are Eilat, Haifa, Ashdod and Ashkelon. It is not so simple with boat trips - you need to carefully monitor the schedule, which is constantly changing. But you can go on an exciting cruise to neighboring countries. For a note, several cruise operators: Louis Cruise Lines and Salamis Cruise Lines.

Photo by Dana Friedlander

Trains run from Tel Aviv to most major cities, from Nahariya in the north to Dimona in the south, as well as to Jerusalem. Tickets for the desired route (and not for a specific train) are sold at the box office or at a ticket machine.

The only Carmelit metro line in Israel connects Carmel and Haifa. The word "metro" is in quotation marks, because it acts on the funicular type, but underground. The train runs from Paris Square in the Lower City to Carmel Park. There are only six stations and two trains on the line, the path length of 2 km is the shortest independent underground transport system in the world. Yes, yes, you heard right, nobody controls the train, everything else, everything is completely automated. You certainly have never ridden this before! The Israeli "subway" is included in the Guinness Book of Records, so do not miss the chance to ride. You can learn more about it and see ticket prices here.

So we got to the main thing. Despite all of the above, the most popular form of transport in Israel is buses. The network is very well developed, without problems you can get from one city to another, inter-city trips are also easy and enjoyable. The prices are affordable, the buses are quite comfortable, run often and regularly. Tickets are sold by the driver and at ticket offices.

However, it should be borne in mind that most buses and trains do not run on holidays and on Shabbat, that is, on Saturdays (essentially the same holiday in Israel). The only exceptions are inner-city routes in Haifa and Eilat. Do not forget when you plan your mega-route.

Photo by Itamar Grinberg

If you need to get somewhere urgently, take a minibus. Most of them still go to Shabbat both inside the city and between cities. Public transport in Israel runs on average from 6am to 12pm.

So, how are things with buses in Israel?

About 48% of the traffic is provided by the Egged bus company. Egged works both in most large cities and between cities across the country, and is considered one of the leading public transport operators in the world (this is to understand the whole level and scale).

On the Egged website you can easily find the bus you need, look at the transport card in real time, get directions from one place to another, see the schedule, find out prices, etc. In general, everything to navigate.

Photo by Noam Chen

Tickets are sold for one trip, round-trip, transit for 90 minutes and reusable. There is an electronic card like our "Troika" or "Plantain" - Rav Kav. The card may apply to one or several types of transport, such as a regular travel card or throughout the country. It can be personalized, anonymous and semi-anonymous. It may sound not so simple, but in reality everything is elementary. To understand and look out for yourself interesting routes, click here, the online schedule is here.

The Gush Dan region, which includes Tel Aviv with its suburbs, as well as Judea and Samaria, is served by the Dan bus company. This is the second largest bus operator in Israel. Get your route using the Dan buses and see the schedule on their website.

Photo by Dafna Tal

Another two popular bus companies operating in Israel: Metrodan and Kavim. If you want to find information about all existing bus carriers and find out about all their routes, immediately follow this link.

Cross the whole country

Israel is ideal for independent travel. Especially on the buses. Traveling all of Israel by public transport is absolutely real. The road from the northernmost city of Israel - Metula - to the southernmost - Eilat - will take eight and a half hours. Not without changes, but you can visit four cities in Israel in one day, including Kiryat Shmona and Jerusalem. Wow! The total time, taking into account transfers and expectations, will be 9 hours 55 minutes. For money it will cost 123 Israeli shekels (2129 rubles). What is the price of the opportunity to travel across the country in one day ?!

Photo by Dafna Tal

If such a quick option does not suit you, make your plan. Look at the map, choose interesting cities and places, use the sites of carriers to plan your route and enjoy Israel!

Travel by car

About 18 thousand kilometers of excellent roads, plus high-speed freeways - in itself, a recommendation to go on a trip on wheels, be it buses or cars, to whom it is more convenient and pleasant. To see the cosmic nature of Israel and visit the "inaccessible" sights - such a chance should not be missed (we know that). If possible, do not even think. Just do it!

To rent a car, prepare international laws that state that you can already ..., or rather, that you are over 21 years old. Grab an international credit card, otherwise you won’t be able to conclude an agreement. Otherwise, everything is very simple: read what is written in the documents and strictly execute it. The traffic in Israel is right-hand. The road signs are understandable - in Hebrew, English and Arabic. Difficulties should not arise, and if they do, people will help. The Israelis are a very responsive people.

The largest car rental companies in Israel are Avis, Hertz, Sixt, Budget, Eldan, Suncar, Cal Auto and Albar. It will be much cheaper to book a car in advance. The rental price per day on average is about 200 shekels (3,500 rubles). Is that really the price ?!

* All prices indicated in the article are valid at the time of writing - September 12, 2016.

Useful information that will help you plan your vacation in Israel can be found on the website of the Ministry of Tourism Israel: tourism.goisrael.ru

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