Israel Travel Forum

Hi,
I'm going to Israel next month.
Can someone give me details about transportation from:
Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv?
Tel Aviv to Eilat? Tel Aviv to Jerusalem? Tel Aviv to Haifa?

What will be better? Flight? Train? Bus? Taxi?

Airport to Tel Aviv--take a taxi
Tel Aviv to Eilat- you can take a bus ( advance reservations required) or you can fly
Tel Aviv to Haifa--you can take a bus or you can take a train ( train is faster)
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, you can take a bus or you can take a shared taxi (sheruit) or regular taxi. First two options are the best.

Airport to Tel Aviv - you can also take the train. The station is in the airport. No problem.
Schedule here: http://www.rail.co.il/EN/Pages/HomePage.aspx


Tel Aviv to Eilat-
Bus schedule here (put in the city name and dates)

http://mslworld.egged.co.il/eggedtimetable/WebForms/wfrmMain.aspx?width=1024&company=1&language=en&state= http://mslworld.egged.co.il/eggedtimetable/WebForms/wfrmMain.aspx?width=1024&company=1&language=en&state=

Tel Aviv to Haifa, train is best. Same site as above: Israel Rail

Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - buses every 15 - 30 minutes from either the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station or from Arlosoroff Station to the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem. Sherut (group taxis) also available and inexpensive.

You can fly to Eilat from either Sde Dov or Ben Gurion: http://www.arkia.com/
Personally i don't think it is worth it. Much more expensive and considering the need for early check in and security checks you really don't save much time at all. Only if perhaps you want to make it a package deal - flight & hotel - it might be worth your while.

If you have any further questions or want more details, feel free to ask.

The link for the Egged bus schedules isn't good.

Use this one: http://www.egged.co.il/Eng/
Click on "Plan a Trip"

Then put in your dates and cities.

For Tel Aviv you want Tel Aviv and not Tel Aviv-Yafo
For Eilat you want Eilat and not Eilat Ali

thank you very much.

i have one more question: what the drive/flight time to each city?

is it worth to rent a car?

Driving means parking in the cities. That can be a drag. Many more cars than parking spaces available.

But - it is more convenient if your schedule doesn't suit the available buses/trains/sherut, so in balance you will have to decide for yourself.

TA->Jerusalem:
Good road, wide, modern highway, BAD traffic jams 7 - 9 am and 4-6 pm. During *non* rush hours the whole trip is maybe 35 minutes (45 minutes by bus).

Ditto TA->Haifa:
The drive will take a little longer, it is about 100 km (~62 miles). The coast road is nice. The train takes about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Driving to Eilat is a problem because it is a long, tiring drive on a straight road in the desert w/o distractions to rest the eye. Many drivers tend to doze off e.g. lots of accidents. Not recommended.

Airport to Tel Aviv, by taxi is approx. 20 minutes ( depends where you are going in Tel Aviv. ) The train is probably faster but once you get to the train station in Tel Aviv you need to take a bus or cab to your ultimate destination.

Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is about 1 hour by bus. Again, once at the bus station you need to take a bus/cab further and Jerusalem is full of constuction right now.

Tel Aviv to Haifa is around 1.5 hours by cab. It is less by train and train is the best way to go.

You do NOT want a car in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Traffic is horrendous and so is parking. I am not as familiar with Haifa. The drive to Eilat is about 4-5 hours. Renting a car gives you the freedom to go easily to places where public transportation doesn't go. If you are only going to be in the main cities I do not see it being necessary. If you want to tour as you go to Eilat, or if you had wanted to visit the Galilee/ Golan areas than it would be a real plus.