The road from Ashdod to Jerusalem
 

Hello: we will have a two day stop in Ashdod in Oct. and would love to see Jerusalem of course. However as my wife becomes pretty sick from motion sickness when traversing winding, twisting roads and as I have heard that Jerusalem is along a mountain I want to be more sure of the road there b4 I book a tour so can anyone tell me just how this road is. I assume that once in Jerusalem it should be OK but I am concerned about the road getting there. If its not too long or winding or doesn't take too much time then with a little help from dramamine this should be OK. Thanks folks. Larry :-)

The approach to Jerusalem on road number 1 does indeed climb. But it's a multilane 2 way highway, not a narrow road with switch backs, not what I'd call twisty either,but I only suffer from mild motion sickness ;)

I can say that when I took an intercity doubledecker bus and sat on the top level, I did feel a little woozy, but driving doesn't bother me at all. When you enter the city, you are on the "inner" side of the road, leaving the city you get the full effect of being in the hills (not really a mountain)The part where you can overlook the hills and really see the height difference is a few miles, but if the change in elevation is a bother (ear pressure changes), that might be a little longer.

I don;t know exactly how much help or how specific this is for you. I can tell you that it's nothing like descending to the Dead Sea (much greater diff in elevation, narrower roads, many more turns) or some of the mountain roads in say Napa Valley California

It helps a great deal. The difference in pressure has never been a problem but I am so glad you mentioned the part about the descent to the Dead Sea. This sounds like trouble so we will probably skip it. Do you recall how long the ride on the winding part of the road approaching Jerusalem took? Thanks so much. Larry :-)

I would not call the road that enters Jerusalem winding. The double decker buses referred to in the previous post do not exist anymore. The road curves --in places but I do not see it being problematic---dramamine should more than take care of any problems. I assume you are coming on a cruise if you are stopping in Ashdod. The motion of the cruise will be more than anything encountered on the way to Jerusalem. It is hard to indicate how long it takes because there is a small curve and then there is a longer area of straight followed by another small curve! In only one place have I ever felt any pressure change in my ear and that will only occur if there is no traffic and you are moving fast!

Yes the doubledecker bus I took was a while ago but since jacketwatch is talking about a tour bus, I thought it might be possible that some operate with these taller buses. Anyway, it gives an idea of what did and did not bother me.

I agree that it is not a road with a huge number of severe curves, but if someone is prone to motion sickness, who knows? And although it's not too bad, I definitely feel the pressure changes in my ears . Better to have several perspectives from different people

Jacketwatch, if you go to Google maps and type in Jerusalem Israel you can see the shape of route 1 as it approaches the city. Zoom in to see the curves and you can also calculate the distance. If there's traffic, you could be crawling these few miles for a while, but if things are moving quickly, I would say 10 minutes maybe? Hard for me to estimate since I haven't been there in several months ( I believe Elkaz lives in Israel)

About the Dead Sea: I didn't know that you were also considering that but I believe it would be much much more troublesome in your situation. It is an amazing place, and the view on the descent is breathtaking, but if someone is going to be really sick, that could be a real problem

Sped up, but still pretty illustrative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcYb4bbhHLw

Gardyloo: One picture or in this case one video is worth a thousand words. Thank you. Should be just fine. Larry :-)

Larry, Book a private tour and make stops for Dead Sea, Masada, and Acre. They are sort of along the way but well worth the side trip.

I keep hearing about the Dead Sea and Masada but haven't heard about Acre. Isn't that the ancient city that changed hands several times from the Saracens and the crusaders?

Masada is at the Dead Sea. Acre/Akko is 150 or so miles away on the northern coast. That would be an exhuasting trip that would not allow time to see these amazing sights.
Did you mean Arad? Not much worth seeing there, though.