Israel tips for the independent traveler
May 23rd, 2007 | 03:34 PM
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Israel tips for the independent traveler
I am an independent traveler and got a lot of good ideas and suggestions from this forum, so I thought I'd pay it back by sharing information gathered from my May 2007 trip to Israel.
From Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the sherut is 45 NIS or 11 USD (you can pay in dollars, no need to change currency at the airport). The ride took 45 min. around 9:00PM on a Wednesday, when there was no traffic.
Everything I heard about the taxi drivers in Jerusalem is true: they refuse to put on the meter and overcharge. If you insist, they would turn on the meter, but then they'll take you around and around a few times to "teach you a lesson".
Since I've been traveling on a budget, in Jerusalem I stayed at Ecce Homo (Sisters of Zion) convent on Via Dolorosa #41.
It's conveniently located in the Old City, close to the Lion Gate and Damascus Gate.
A single room with breakfast included was 33 USD (paid in dollars). Great location, wonderful views from the terrace, not to mention the fact that the Lithostrotos pavement stone is right in their basement. They have a web site at www.eccehomoconvent.com. Ruby, the person in charge of the reservations, is extremely efficient and prompt to respond.
Bring your soap though, they don't offer any.
Ecce Homo staff can also recommend you a taxi driver (Maged or Apple):
Maged Mushasha, tel 972-50-5-782977 from outside Israel, or 050-5-782977 from Israel.
Eg., from the American Colony Hotel to the Lion's Gate (Ecce Homo) was 35 NIS late at night, or 30 NIS during the day.
From Damascus Gate to Avis on King David St., 15 NIS during the day.
Expensive for a 5 min. ride, but what can you do? *deep sigh*
If you want to visit Bethlehem, which is in the West Bank, from Jerusalem, you will be quoted exorbitant prices from various taxi drivers. Instead, do the following: Get Arab bus #124 from Sultan Suleyman St., across from Damascus Gate. For a few shekels (was it 3 NIS? I can't remember exactly), it takes you to the check point, where you'll need your passport to cross. As soon as you're on the other side, there are Arab taxis waiting.
A one-way trip to the Nativity Church in Bethlehem costed me 15 shekels. The driver, Arjah, seemed a decent fellow.You can contact him by phone at:
Arjah, tel. 052-2297685 or 059-9437216
He also quoted me a price of 80 shekels for a whole tour, including not only the Nativity Church, but also Herod's palace and other sites.
To Jericho from Jerusalem, the same story: prices are prohibitive because it's in a "dangerous zone", as I was told. What I did was to take Arab bus #36 from across Damascus Gate to Azarya/Bethany (about 3 shekels, if I remember correctly). From Azarya (Bethany), take a shared taxi to Jericho for 10-12 NIS.
You need another taxi to the cable car (it's a couple of miles away from the town center) for 10 NIS.
The cable car from Jericho to the Mount of Temptation monastery is a steep 10 Euros. The hike took me about 20-30 minutes on a hot day.
To get to St. George's monastery is a little trickier: I took a cab for 20 shekels (one-way) from Jericho town center, established the time when the driver had to come back and pick me up, and then paid another 20 shekels on the return. Some cab drivers would try to charge you 80-100 shekels R/T, so be firm and just say "no", there are hundreds of cab drivers waiting.
My taxi driver was Ahmed, Tel 052-868193, 059-304646 (unfortunately, the business card he handed me is in Arabic, so I cannot read his family name).
Again, the car will leave you some distance from the monastery, and you'll need to walk -it's about 15 -20 min. walk, or hire a donkey.
The monastery door may be locked. Knock, and a monk will open. Going back from the monastery to where the cab left you, there is a path to the right that leads to a viewpoint from where you can observer breathtaking vistas in complete silence.The walk to the viewpoint is just a few minutes.
From Jerusalem to Petra: I made an advance reservation on the 7:00AM Egged bus to Eilat (they also have later buses, but I wanted to get to Petra on the same day).
By 11:30 AM I was in Eilat. From there I took a taxi (20 shekels) to the Yitzhak Rabin crossing. I had to pay 67.50 NIS (18 USD) exit fee from Israel, payable only in shekels. There was noone else crossing the border, so it went fast.
The entry visa to Jordan is free from there, because Aqaba is an economic-free zone. Read more about this free so-called ASEZ visa that entitles you to one month in Jordan from Virtual Tourist site (Lulu's or the Traveling Camel postings).
After crossing the border to Jordan, there are taxis that will take you into the town of Aqaba for the standard fare of 5 JD (Jordanian dinars, 1JD= 1.5 USD at the time of this writing).
There is a branch of the Jordanian Bank right at the border crossing, where you can exchange some currency to pay for the cab fare. The cab driver is going to try to convince you that there are no buses to Petra, and so you would need to hire him.
Don't believe that! The cab driver will insist... endlessly... it's tiresome.
The fare to Petra is 30 JD. If there are more of you (I was traveling alone), it's worth sharing. Otherwise, from Aqaba get a shared taxi to Wadi Musa for 3 JD. The ride take 2 hours. Wadi Musa is 1 km from Petra.
The budget hotels are all in Wadi Musa. I stayed at Peace Way Hotel, a few doors down from the better-known Cleopetra hotel.
A single room a Peace Way Hotel is 10 JD with breakfast, but I got a discount for staying 3 nights, and paid a total of 25 JD for all 3 nights.
Cleopetra was the same price for a single room (10 JD), but the room I was showed was noisy (right on the main road, with cars honking), hot (facing west), the fan was not working, the toilet tank was broken, there was no soap or toilet paper. I asked for another room, but was told they were full (no wonder, when all the guide books are mentioning Cleopetra, it's a popular place). Cleopetra is also located on top of a hill, the way there from the bus station is very, very steep!
Peace Way Hotel is in a -slightly- better location (closer to the roundabout, which is the center of town).
From Wadi Musa, the standard fare to Petra is 1 JD. The Red Cavern restaurant is Petra, mentioned in the Lonely Planet guidebook, is not worth the price. Head instead for Bukhara in Wadi Musa, a local hangout, with way tastier dishes for 1/3 of the price. I tried both restaurants, so I know what I'm talking about.
Also, the Sanabel bakery in Wadi Musa is worth a visit: they have yummy sesame bread sticks and all sorts of cakes.
The entrace to Petra was 21 JD/day. There are slightly higher priced tickets for 2 or 3 days.
It's a very challenging hike to all the places in Petra: the place of High-Sacrifice, the Monastery, etc. I could see them all in a very full day (got there at 7:00AM, stayed until 6:00PM), but it was trying, and very, very hot! So prepare yourself, get plenty of water. Bottles of watter are available on the site... for a price. But it's a necessity, not a luxury, so I don't skimp on this
I was never able to find out for sure what time the JETT bus to Amman was leaving from Petra. The driver told me 5:00AM, but his English was poor. A couple of other locals insisted the JETT bus to Amman was leaving Petra at 5:00PM. A 12 hours difference, go figure!
Besides, the JETT bus apparently does not stop in Wadi Musa, it leaves from the park next to the Movenpick Hotel in Petra.
The fare for the JETT bus is apparently 5-6 JD.
In any case, from the bus stop in Wadi Musa there is a shared taxi going to Amman at a more decent hour: around 8:00AM (it leaves when full, so in my case it left at 8:20AM) for 3 JD.
The ride from Wadi Musa to Amman took about 3 hours, with only one pit stop of maybe 10 minutes.
From Amman, I really cannot tell you how to get to the Allenby Bridge (called King Hussein bridge in Jordan) because I got missled by a well-intended Jordanian guy and was sent towards the Sheik Hussein bridge instead.
I ended up taking a lot of shared taxi to finally get to King Hussein bridge crossing at 3:00PM on a Thursday and it was closed!!!
Apparently, the last JETT bus (2.5 JD + 0.55 for piece of luggage) leaves around 2:00PM, and after that there is only a VIP Service available for 82 USD. The exit visa from Jordan is 5 JD.
Again, in broken English I was told that the border is closed - by the Israelis- so I couldn't understand how come the VIP Service could get me accross for 82 USD...
Suffice to say I stayed in the Jordanian village by the border (with some Jordanian , very gracious hosts, because there is no motel or hotel around) and showed up at the border at 8:00AM, when the first JETT bus leaves.
The border brossing at King Hussein seems to always be crowded, so it's going to take much longer than in Aqaba. Prepare yourself to spend a couple of hours.
From the Israeli side, there is a bus going to Jerusalem for 30 shekels. There is also a bus from there to Jericho for less, I can't remember exactly how much, maybe 13 shekels?
About car rental: I should have listened to everyone, and make the reservation from the US. I didn't know if I would confortable driving in Israel, so I waited until I got there to rent a car. From the US, Avis had an offer for a free car upgrade. This offer was not available from Israel, and would have saved me quite a bit of money.
The gas is very, very expensive: around 7 USD a gallon! And I was driving a tiny Hyundai Getz, but still paid about 100 USD for 3 days just in gas.
The roads are very good in Israel, the drivers are skilled, the fast lane is only used for passing, so driving was not a problem, as I had feared.
However, getting out of Jerusalem was a hassle: I got lost in Mea Sherim, the ultra-orthodox Jew quarter, and noone I asked seem to know the way to Massada (or they refused to help)!
Again, on advice from some travel forum contributors, I took Hwy 90 to the Sea of Galilee with no problem, despite the fact that it was marked as passing through a dangerous zone by the car rental company.
I didn't stop anywhere along it until I reached Tiberias though.
Hwy 65 that seems to be the most direct route from Jerusalem to Nazareth is currently closed in Jenin.
A car made it convenient to see Haifa, Akko (Acre) and Caesarea in a few days, and then go around the Sea of Galilee to all the tourist sites (Capernaum, Korazim, Meggido, etc.).
In Nazareth I stayed at the Rosary Sisters convent, and cannot find words to thank them for their hospitality. It's a new guesthouse, with new bathrooms, beautiful marble tiles from floor to ceiling, modern faucets, wooden shutters. The quiet place is surroudded by an enchanting garden from where the nuns give you fruits in the morning. Their breakfast is plentiful, with eggs, avocado, cheese, salami, fruits, marmalade, coffee, tea, and Arab sweets such as baklava. A single room was only 120 shekels (30 USD/night ) and so lovely that I extended my stay there. To get to the Rosary Sisters convent, ask the receptionist at Casa Nova, across the entrace at the Basilica of Annunciation in Nazareth, or contact them at:
Rosary Sisters, Saint Charles Hospice, Nazareth 16000, P.O. Box 2756 El-Dabas St. 6141/2 Tel/Fax: 972-4-6554435
Please convey my best regards to Sister Sylvia.
The Rosary Sisters also have a guest house in Jerusalem,on Agron St. # 14, next door to the American Consulate and a few minutes walk from the Avis (and other rental car companies) on King david Street.
A single room there is 200 NIS (50 USD) with breakfast.
From Jerusalem, you can order a Nesher sherut to Ben Gurion airport 24 hours before your departure.
More useful bus routes in Jerusalem and surroundings:
To Bethlehem, bus #124 from Sultan Suleyman street, across the Damascus Gate. To the top on the Mt. Of Olives, from where is easier to go downhill and visit those great sites: bus #75 from the Damascus Gate. To Azarya (Bethany): bus #36 To Abu Dis: bus #63 To Mt. Scopus, bus #18 on Nablus Rd.
To tel Aviv: bus 401, 402, 403 or the DIRECT bus 405, leaving every 15 min. from the Egged station on Jaffa Rd.
To Haifa, direct bus 940 leaving every 45 min, 6:30AM, 7:15 AM, 8:00AM, etc.
To Qumran, Eid Gedi, Massada: bus 421, 486 at 8:45AM, 9:45 AM, 11:00AM, 12:00AM, 1:00PM.
Happy travels!
pulcino
From Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the sherut is 45 NIS or 11 USD (you can pay in dollars, no need to change currency at the airport). The ride took 45 min. around 9:00PM on a Wednesday, when there was no traffic.
Everything I heard about the taxi drivers in Jerusalem is true: they refuse to put on the meter and overcharge. If you insist, they would turn on the meter, but then they'll take you around and around a few times to "teach you a lesson".
Since I've been traveling on a budget, in Jerusalem I stayed at Ecce Homo (Sisters of Zion) convent on Via Dolorosa #41.
It's conveniently located in the Old City, close to the Lion Gate and Damascus Gate.
A single room with breakfast included was 33 USD (paid in dollars). Great location, wonderful views from the terrace, not to mention the fact that the Lithostrotos pavement stone is right in their basement. They have a web site at www.eccehomoconvent.com. Ruby, the person in charge of the reservations, is extremely efficient and prompt to respond.
Bring your soap though, they don't offer any.
Ecce Homo staff can also recommend you a taxi driver (Maged or Apple):
Maged Mushasha, tel 972-50-5-782977 from outside Israel, or 050-5-782977 from Israel.
Eg., from the American Colony Hotel to the Lion's Gate (Ecce Homo) was 35 NIS late at night, or 30 NIS during the day.
From Damascus Gate to Avis on King David St., 15 NIS during the day.
Expensive for a 5 min. ride, but what can you do? *deep sigh*
If you want to visit Bethlehem, which is in the West Bank, from Jerusalem, you will be quoted exorbitant prices from various taxi drivers. Instead, do the following: Get Arab bus #124 from Sultan Suleyman St., across from Damascus Gate. For a few shekels (was it 3 NIS? I can't remember exactly), it takes you to the check point, where you'll need your passport to cross. As soon as you're on the other side, there are Arab taxis waiting.
A one-way trip to the Nativity Church in Bethlehem costed me 15 shekels. The driver, Arjah, seemed a decent fellow.You can contact him by phone at:
Arjah, tel. 052-2297685 or 059-9437216
He also quoted me a price of 80 shekels for a whole tour, including not only the Nativity Church, but also Herod's palace and other sites.
To Jericho from Jerusalem, the same story: prices are prohibitive because it's in a "dangerous zone", as I was told. What I did was to take Arab bus #36 from across Damascus Gate to Azarya/Bethany (about 3 shekels, if I remember correctly). From Azarya (Bethany), take a shared taxi to Jericho for 10-12 NIS.
You need another taxi to the cable car (it's a couple of miles away from the town center) for 10 NIS.
The cable car from Jericho to the Mount of Temptation monastery is a steep 10 Euros. The hike took me about 20-30 minutes on a hot day.
To get to St. George's monastery is a little trickier: I took a cab for 20 shekels (one-way) from Jericho town center, established the time when the driver had to come back and pick me up, and then paid another 20 shekels on the return. Some cab drivers would try to charge you 80-100 shekels R/T, so be firm and just say "no", there are hundreds of cab drivers waiting.
My taxi driver was Ahmed, Tel 052-868193, 059-304646 (unfortunately, the business card he handed me is in Arabic, so I cannot read his family name).
Again, the car will leave you some distance from the monastery, and you'll need to walk -it's about 15 -20 min. walk, or hire a donkey.
The monastery door may be locked. Knock, and a monk will open. Going back from the monastery to where the cab left you, there is a path to the right that leads to a viewpoint from where you can observer breathtaking vistas in complete silence.The walk to the viewpoint is just a few minutes.
From Jerusalem to Petra: I made an advance reservation on the 7:00AM Egged bus to Eilat (they also have later buses, but I wanted to get to Petra on the same day).
By 11:30 AM I was in Eilat. From there I took a taxi (20 shekels) to the Yitzhak Rabin crossing. I had to pay 67.50 NIS (18 USD) exit fee from Israel, payable only in shekels. There was noone else crossing the border, so it went fast.
The entry visa to Jordan is free from there, because Aqaba is an economic-free zone. Read more about this free so-called ASEZ visa that entitles you to one month in Jordan from Virtual Tourist site (Lulu's or the Traveling Camel postings).
After crossing the border to Jordan, there are taxis that will take you into the town of Aqaba for the standard fare of 5 JD (Jordanian dinars, 1JD= 1.5 USD at the time of this writing).
There is a branch of the Jordanian Bank right at the border crossing, where you can exchange some currency to pay for the cab fare. The cab driver is going to try to convince you that there are no buses to Petra, and so you would need to hire him.
Don't believe that! The cab driver will insist... endlessly... it's tiresome.
The fare to Petra is 30 JD. If there are more of you (I was traveling alone), it's worth sharing. Otherwise, from Aqaba get a shared taxi to Wadi Musa for 3 JD. The ride take 2 hours. Wadi Musa is 1 km from Petra.
The budget hotels are all in Wadi Musa. I stayed at Peace Way Hotel, a few doors down from the better-known Cleopetra hotel.
A single room a Peace Way Hotel is 10 JD with breakfast, but I got a discount for staying 3 nights, and paid a total of 25 JD for all 3 nights.
Cleopetra was the same price for a single room (10 JD), but the room I was showed was noisy (right on the main road, with cars honking), hot (facing west), the fan was not working, the toilet tank was broken, there was no soap or toilet paper. I asked for another room, but was told they were full (no wonder, when all the guide books are mentioning Cleopetra, it's a popular place). Cleopetra is also located on top of a hill, the way there from the bus station is very, very steep!
Peace Way Hotel is in a -slightly- better location (closer to the roundabout, which is the center of town).
From Wadi Musa, the standard fare to Petra is 1 JD. The Red Cavern restaurant is Petra, mentioned in the Lonely Planet guidebook, is not worth the price. Head instead for Bukhara in Wadi Musa, a local hangout, with way tastier dishes for 1/3 of the price. I tried both restaurants, so I know what I'm talking about.
Also, the Sanabel bakery in Wadi Musa is worth a visit: they have yummy sesame bread sticks and all sorts of cakes.
The entrace to Petra was 21 JD/day. There are slightly higher priced tickets for 2 or 3 days.
It's a very challenging hike to all the places in Petra: the place of High-Sacrifice, the Monastery, etc. I could see them all in a very full day (got there at 7:00AM, stayed until 6:00PM), but it was trying, and very, very hot! So prepare yourself, get plenty of water. Bottles of watter are available on the site... for a price. But it's a necessity, not a luxury, so I don't skimp on this
I was never able to find out for sure what time the JETT bus to Amman was leaving from Petra. The driver told me 5:00AM, but his English was poor. A couple of other locals insisted the JETT bus to Amman was leaving Petra at 5:00PM. A 12 hours difference, go figure!
Besides, the JETT bus apparently does not stop in Wadi Musa, it leaves from the park next to the Movenpick Hotel in Petra.
The fare for the JETT bus is apparently 5-6 JD.
In any case, from the bus stop in Wadi Musa there is a shared taxi going to Amman at a more decent hour: around 8:00AM (it leaves when full, so in my case it left at 8:20AM) for 3 JD.
The ride from Wadi Musa to Amman took about 3 hours, with only one pit stop of maybe 10 minutes.
From Amman, I really cannot tell you how to get to the Allenby Bridge (called King Hussein bridge in Jordan) because I got missled by a well-intended Jordanian guy and was sent towards the Sheik Hussein bridge instead.
I ended up taking a lot of shared taxi to finally get to King Hussein bridge crossing at 3:00PM on a Thursday and it was closed!!!
Apparently, the last JETT bus (2.5 JD + 0.55 for piece of luggage) leaves around 2:00PM, and after that there is only a VIP Service available for 82 USD. The exit visa from Jordan is 5 JD.
Again, in broken English I was told that the border is closed - by the Israelis- so I couldn't understand how come the VIP Service could get me accross for 82 USD...
Suffice to say I stayed in the Jordanian village by the border (with some Jordanian , very gracious hosts, because there is no motel or hotel around) and showed up at the border at 8:00AM, when the first JETT bus leaves.
The border brossing at King Hussein seems to always be crowded, so it's going to take much longer than in Aqaba. Prepare yourself to spend a couple of hours.
From the Israeli side, there is a bus going to Jerusalem for 30 shekels. There is also a bus from there to Jericho for less, I can't remember exactly how much, maybe 13 shekels?
About car rental: I should have listened to everyone, and make the reservation from the US. I didn't know if I would confortable driving in Israel, so I waited until I got there to rent a car. From the US, Avis had an offer for a free car upgrade. This offer was not available from Israel, and would have saved me quite a bit of money.
The gas is very, very expensive: around 7 USD a gallon! And I was driving a tiny Hyundai Getz, but still paid about 100 USD for 3 days just in gas.
The roads are very good in Israel, the drivers are skilled, the fast lane is only used for passing, so driving was not a problem, as I had feared.
However, getting out of Jerusalem was a hassle: I got lost in Mea Sherim, the ultra-orthodox Jew quarter, and noone I asked seem to know the way to Massada (or they refused to help)!
Again, on advice from some travel forum contributors, I took Hwy 90 to the Sea of Galilee with no problem, despite the fact that it was marked as passing through a dangerous zone by the car rental company.
I didn't stop anywhere along it until I reached Tiberias though.
Hwy 65 that seems to be the most direct route from Jerusalem to Nazareth is currently closed in Jenin.
A car made it convenient to see Haifa, Akko (Acre) and Caesarea in a few days, and then go around the Sea of Galilee to all the tourist sites (Capernaum, Korazim, Meggido, etc.).
In Nazareth I stayed at the Rosary Sisters convent, and cannot find words to thank them for their hospitality. It's a new guesthouse, with new bathrooms, beautiful marble tiles from floor to ceiling, modern faucets, wooden shutters. The quiet place is surroudded by an enchanting garden from where the nuns give you fruits in the morning. Their breakfast is plentiful, with eggs, avocado, cheese, salami, fruits, marmalade, coffee, tea, and Arab sweets such as baklava. A single room was only 120 shekels (30 USD/night ) and so lovely that I extended my stay there. To get to the Rosary Sisters convent, ask the receptionist at Casa Nova, across the entrace at the Basilica of Annunciation in Nazareth, or contact them at:
Rosary Sisters, Saint Charles Hospice, Nazareth 16000, P.O. Box 2756 El-Dabas St. 6141/2 Tel/Fax: 972-4-6554435
Please convey my best regards to Sister Sylvia.
The Rosary Sisters also have a guest house in Jerusalem,on Agron St. # 14, next door to the American Consulate and a few minutes walk from the Avis (and other rental car companies) on King david Street.
A single room there is 200 NIS (50 USD) with breakfast.
From Jerusalem, you can order a Nesher sherut to Ben Gurion airport 24 hours before your departure.
More useful bus routes in Jerusalem and surroundings:
To Bethlehem, bus #124 from Sultan Suleyman street, across the Damascus Gate. To the top on the Mt. Of Olives, from where is easier to go downhill and visit those great sites: bus #75 from the Damascus Gate. To Azarya (Bethany): bus #36 To Abu Dis: bus #63 To Mt. Scopus, bus #18 on Nablus Rd.
To tel Aviv: bus 401, 402, 403 or the DIRECT bus 405, leaving every 15 min. from the Egged station on Jaffa Rd.
To Haifa, direct bus 940 leaving every 45 min, 6:30AM, 7:15 AM, 8:00AM, etc.
To Qumran, Eid Gedi, Massada: bus 421, 486 at 8:45AM, 9:45 AM, 11:00AM, 12:00AM, 1:00PM.
Happy travels!
pulcino
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