Travelling around in Israel is exciting and fun, and every trip should be planned in advance. There are many ways to explore Israel by walking, taking buses, trains and cars. For some special trips, such as the round trip Masada-Jerusalem, it is essential to plan in advance because it is a three-hour round trip. There are different options to go around in Israel, such as:
- Public Transportation Via Trains is a very convenient, cheap and fast way to move through Israel. It is recommended to check always the schedules of trains to avoid missing yours. It is also better to charge your Rav-Kav, which is a reloadable card, online with the application to avoid long queues at the train station to buy your ticket. The best option is to buy a 100 shekels contract that allows you to travel everywhere you wish and not being bound to a specific train or a specific hour.
- Public Transportation Via Buses are the daily and most common way Israelis travel in Israel. You will use the same Rav-Kav that is also valid for trains. There are three categories of intercity buses: regular, express, and direct that is without stops. For some tourist destinations such as Eilat, it is better to buy tickets on the internet or by phone in advance of your trip.
- Public Transportation Via Taxis is the most expensive way to move around in Israel, but it is cheaper than American and European taxis. The taxis cost a bit more in the evening and night, and the starting fee is usually around 10 shekels, and on Shabbat ( Fridays and Saturdays ), you will pay an additional cost. Also, there is a fixed fare to pay to go back and forth to/from Ben Gurion airport. It is always better to agree about the fee of your trip with the taxi driver in advance. The best way to employ taxis is through taxi applications to make everything fast and easier paying online by credit card.
- Sheruts are big taxis for a group of people, and they are usually more frequent than trains and buses.
- Public Transportation On Saturdays is rarer than during the week because it is Shabbat. On Fridays and Saturdays, you will see fewer public transportations because public transports are suspended between Friday afternoons and Saturday evenings all over the country. It is the best time to explore Israel if you got a car because it is less crowded.
Shops are closed on Shabbat in Israel and public transport does not active. - Car Rental in Israel is the best option for travelling from one city to another because it gives schedules independence. However, parking is a problem to consider, especially in big cities, so selecting parking lots where you pay per hour is best. Traffic in the big urban centres can be another problem, especially in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. To drive in Israel is enough to have a driver’s license from your home country. To reserve a rental car is possible by phone or online, and it would avoid you hours of waiting at a car rental site.
In Israel, people drive on the right side, like in most of Europe and the USA. It is important to keep your driver license always with you. Between April and November, you have to keep your headlights on all the time by day and night. From north to south, the highways are labelled by even numbers, and from east to west, the roads are marked by odd numbers.
The three toll highways are Highway 6, the Carmel Tunnels with toll roads and Highway 1 between Ben Gurion Junction and Tel Aviv. - The Jerusalem tram is a great way to get around Jerusalem, for example, you can take a tram from the railway station in Jerusalem – Yitzhak Navon through the Jaffa street, to the tourist point-I Love Jerusalem.
To summarise, Israel is a small country that allows reaching different places in a relatively short time. Taxis are standard transports for urban and interurban trips, and they are also shareable with other people and quickly booked through applications and websites besides by phone.
The most diffuse public transportation is through buses and trains at low prices and serving every area of Israel. The tickets can be purchased at the central stations or with the online application. And it is essential to remind that most of the transports don’t run on Shabbat or Jewish holidays. Moreover, there are different national flights from Eilat to Ben Gurion.