Visa/Crossing the border
Since this is a very tricky question, there's a whole page dedicated to this subject.
Money matters
We were in Israel in October 1998, and at that time the Shekel was loosing value fast. So be careful when interpreting prices on this page, the were correct in 10/98, but if the shekel continues to loose value, there will be price rises.
When we were there 1 US$ was about 4,1 NIS, and for 10 BF you could get 1,14 NIS.
Which currency ?You can get away with almost any western currency, even Belgian Francs, so no need to change into dollars first. There's 1 exception, have some cash dollars at hand, because some of the tours in Jerusalem charge you in US$, and if you don't have them they'll give you a lousy conversion rate.
Where to change ?The rate at the airport was about 7% less then in the city, but again there was a difference of 1 day and the shekel had lost a bit already. Still, it's better to change the minimum there.
We found it better to change at the money changers. Their rates are a little bit worse then the banks, but they don't charge commission. Banks always charge between 3 and 6 US$ per transaction!
Traveller chequesEasy to exchange, rate was the same, no extra charge.
Credit cardMajor credit cards are accepted almost everywhere, even at the entrance of national parks, museums etc...
Gas stations announce they accept VISA, but apparently this only counts for the Israeli version.
Currency converterIf you want to know the actual rate, go to this currency converter
http://www.oanda.com/cgi-bin/travel
Flights within Israel
Arkia has frequent domestic flights.
Here are some examples:
- Eilat-Tel Aviv (Sde Dov): about 8 flights a day
- Eilat-Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion): about 4 flights a day (80 US$ one way)
- Tel-Aviv (Sde Dov)-Tiberias (Rosh Pina): about 4 flights a day (47 US$ one way 10/98)
There are other airports in Haifa, Jerusalem and Kyriat Shmona. The airport of Tiberias is situated in Rosh Pina, about 20 km north of town.
The prices quoted here are prices Arkia and a travel agent gave me.
However, an employee of our hotel told me he could get Eilat-Tel Aviv for only 30 US$. I don't know if you can get this rate as a tourist though. Apparently you can get a 50% price reduction with a student card, but I only have this from the ISIC website.
BE CAREFUL: Arkia flies most of the time on smaller airports like in Eilat or Tel Aviv. This is usually an advantage since they are most often much closer to town then the international airports of Eilat and Tel Aviv, but take this into account when you want to connect with an international flight! Flights to Ben Gurion are possible.
They have their own website at
http://www.arkia.co.il/ with an up to date list of their prices and some other info.
Bus
General infoThere are 2 buscompanies, Dan and Egged. Dan only runs around Tel aviv, Egged through the whole country.
The bus network is very extensive. Prices are reasonable, though more expensive then neighbouring countries. ISIC cards give you a 10% reduction.
The buses stop driving on Sabbath, this means from Friday 4 pm till Saturday 6 pm. Shared taxis still run.
You could consider to buy an Israbus pass giving you unlimited travel on Egged buses, but unless you spend a lot of time on the bus, it's not useful. Here are the prices (10/98): 7 days 270 NIS14 days 430 NIS21 days 540 NIS
Bus schedule Egged (10/98)
|
TO/FROM
|
Haifa |
Tel-Aviv |
Jerusalem |
Eilat |
| K. Shmona |
5.45-20.30 every 30' |
5.20-20.00 every 30-45' |
6; 9; 12; 14; 15; 16h. |
via Tel Aviv |
| Tiberias |
5.30-19.30 every 30-40' |
6.30-20.30 every 30-45' |
6.30-(18.15) every 60-80' |
via Tel Aviv |
| Haifa |
|
5.40-23.15 every 15-20' |
5.45-20.30 every 30-50' |
9.00 and 23.00 |
| Tel-Aviv |
5.20-23.00 every 15-20' |
|
5.40-23.40 every 10' |
6.30-17.00 every 60' + 24.30 |
| Ben Gurion |
Via Tel Aviv |
>5.20-23.00 every 15-20' |
(6.30)-(21.30) every 30-40' |
Via Tel-Aviv or Jerusalem |
| Jerusalem |
6.00-20.35 every30-50' |
5.50-23.30 every 10-15' |
|
7; 10; 14 and 17 h. |
| Eilat |
8.30; 14.30; 23.30h |
5.00-17.00 every 60- 90' +1 am |
7; 10; 14; 17> |
|
RemarksHours between brackets are approximate hours.
The buses stop driving on Sabbath, this means from Friday 4 pm till Saturday 6 pm.
FaresHere are some examples of bus fares (10/98):
- Jerusalem-Eilat: 57 NIS
- Tel-Aviv-Eilat: 57 NIS
- Ben Burion-Tel Aviv: 9.20 NIS
- Ben Gurion-Jerusalem: 17 NIS
- Tel Aviv-Tiberias: 32 NIS
- Tel Aviv-Haifa: 22 NIS
You get 10% off with student card.
Taxi
Taxi's start at around 5.40 NIS, and a typical ride will cost around 15 NIS.
A fee of 2 NIS for every luggage is charged in Eilat, and if you call a taxi from your hotel, they charge another 2 NIS.
You can also rent a taxi for longer distances at fixed prices. Here are the prices starting from Tel Aviv (between brackets price during the evening and Saturday) (10/98):
- Ben Gurion 68 NIS (79)
- Jerusalem 150 NIS (179)
- Haifa 221 NIS (286)
- Tiberias 302 NIS (373)
- Dead Sea 403 NIS (539)
- Eilat 783 NIS (929)
Renting a car
Plenty of opportunities to rent a car.
If you rent for 1 day, mileage is usually limited to 100 km for the day.
Starting from 3 days you have unlimited mileage. Price is between 40 and 50 US$ per day for the smallest car, including insurance. The CDW differs from company to company from 275 US$ (Hertz) to 400 US$. El Dan is the biggest local firm, but their prices where not better then the international firms.
TIP 1: prices often include VAT. However, if you pay with a credit card, you don't have to pay this VAT, so you should ask for a reduction of at least 10%.
TIP 2: always refill before giving back the car. We didn't do it, and our tank was 65% full, however Hertz charged us almost a full tank saying they add 10% service tax !!!
TIP 3: There's always a drop off charge of about 20 US$ for Ben Gurion airport, for other cities (f.i. pick up Tel Aviv and drop off Jerusalem) there's no drop off charge.
TIP 4: Don't let you scare off by horror stories of "Israeli drivers being very dangerous". In fact, most of them stick to the speed limits and don't drive faster then 110 km/hours. Also directions are mostly well signposted (except maybe sometimes in the big cities).
TIP 5: Israeli police has red number plates. Sometimes they have anonymous cars but still with the red number plates. I was stopped by one since I was the only one overtaking this car, all the Israeli knew of course it was a police car. I got off with a warning.
Train
There's a very small railway system which is not used very much. There was 1 train a day from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, but the trail is actually (2/99) in repair for about 18 months. Probably service will be increased after the repairs.
Go to General info 2
