Taxi fares are about 25% higher on Saturdays.
I've never taken a taxi for such long distances but I would take a wild guess and say at least 500-600 shekels for Jerusalem to Haifa on a Saturday with luggage. The trip could take 2 hours or more.

Haifa to Tel Aviv will be less, but could still be 400 shekels. What time Sunday? Sunday is a work day and many people drive between those 2 cities. Maybe about an hour's drive, but up to 2 hours in the worst traffic.

Taxis are usually used in each city, and drivers may not be able to get a fare in the other city to get them back to their home base. So the charges will be high.

Is renting a car an option for you?

Thank you, Alex!

Would you know if sheruts (which I know NOTHING about) are a viable option from Jerusalem to Haifa (Saturday night) and then from Haifa to Tel Aviv (Sunday)?

How do I learn about sheruts?
Thank you!!!

Hi mrsgo - (is it really SOS??)

i have a different idea for 100% fast loading Sherut:
Jer-->AP (change cabs)--> Haifa
(ask to get to AP arrivals taxis

Jer->AP http://www.neshertours.co.il/english.asp

from AP you can also take a train
http://www.rail.co.il/EN/Pages/HomePage.aspx

hope i've saved some souls

aby

Thanks, Aby, for writing, but I do not know what you mean. I have never taken a sherut and I do not know how they work. If we wanted to leave Jerusalem about 4 - 5 pm on Saturday, July 11, and get to Haifa, can I be certain that it would be an easy, guaranteed process?
THANK YOU!
Sandy G.

hi mrsgo
i'm no expert on 'sherut', but i can give you some info:
Sherut is a regular service from A to B just like a bus (only a smaller vehicle e.g. a van) thus it costs less than a taxi.
if you are 4 pax maybe the difference is not worth it, but if you are on your own the difference is substantial

now i searched but couldn't find a sherut from Jerusalem to Haifa (maybe there is - does anybody know? ... There is a regular service between them and Tel-Aviv.
That means you can take 2 sherut cars Jer -> TLV -> Haifa
which means changing cars etc'
Then i had this idea of going through BG Air Port (on the main Road anyways from Jerusalem to TLV). The advantage is (AFAIK) that the sherut from the airport takes everybody to her/his exact address in Haifa, as people come with luggages... the regular city-to-city sherut drops you at a central station and you need another taxi to your specific destination within Haifa

To sum it up: my suggestion means changing sherut shuttle at AP and waiting a while to fill up, while saving money

Train: mind you the train at BG-A.P. has special cars with luggage space

Bus: there's also a bus service http://www.egged.co.il/Eng/
which should have a Jerusalem to Haifa line

all the best

aby

Aby, You have been most helpful, even though I am not happy with the information. Thank you so much for your time. I think we are now going to look into renting a car from Jerusalem to return in Tel Aviv 2 days later. We have never been in Israel before and can not read or speak Hebrew. With not knowing the roads etc, do you think this is a practical solution for us? We need to go from Jerusalem to Haifa on a Saturday night and from Haifa to Tel Aviv on Sunday.
With appreciation,
Sandy G

Aby's idea of using SHERUT and changing at the airport is not a bad one. (SHERUT is basically a shared taxi - rather a minibus than a regular taxi). Anyone been to turkey and saw or used a Dolmoosh? That is a Sherut
Renting a car will certainly make life easier for you. Shouldn't be a problem for you, as important road sign are writen also in Latin letters (and also Arabic).
The very faint-hearted, may use a GPS these days...

One thought I had is that getting any public transportation from Jerusalem to anywhere on a Saturday afternoon in July is going to be tricky. I believe a few sheruts operate on Shabbat, but not very many. Does Egged (the bus system) even operate on Shabbat? I don't think so.

So a car might be your most practical alternative. Driving is not terribly difficult - all the roads are well signposted in Hebrew, Arabic and English. A GPS would definitely help you navigate your way out of Jerusalem and into Haifa - both can be a bit confusing, but once on the road it's like anywhere else - good freeways or multi-lane roads, etc. Drivers can be a little aggressive sometimes, so by all means take the CDW insurance, but it's really pretty easy.