Israel’s international gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, inaugurated its state-of-the-art Terminal 3 in 2005. Most visitors and Israelis are impressed by the glossy departure hall with cascading ceiling-to-floor waterfall, cafés, and upmarket duty-free shops. Others resent the extra walking distances and miss the cozy ambience of the old arrangement.
Domestic flights use Terminals 1 and 2 at Ben Gurion and the Sde Dov airport just north of Tel Aviv. There are daily flights to Eilat and to Rosh Pina in the Galilee. Planes are packed with tourists, businessmen, and vacationing locals.
On exiting Ben Gurion, signs direct you to the taxi stands for various destinations where taxi coordinators fix the fare and order the cab. Otherwise cabs are flagged down or ordered by phone. Fares are either by the meter or agreed on in advance, according to an intercity table of fares set by the Ministry of Transport. There are surcharges at night, on Saturdays, and on public holidays, and for luggage. On prefixed cab fares a small tip may be expected, but is not obligatory. Generally, tipping is not expected.
Sherutim (singular, sherut) are shared taxis, mostly eight-seater minibuses, that ply the busy city thoroughfares and intercity highways. In the city, passengers flag them down along the route. The intercity minibuses generally wait until all seats are taken before they depart, and also run on Friday evenings and Saturdays when trains and buses have stopped. Fares are a little higher than regular bus fares.
Israel’s two main bus companies, Egged and Dan, are both are cooperatives. Egged, the larger company by far, reaches the remotest parts of the country. Dan caters to the Greater Tel Aviv area. Buses are air-conditioned, clean, comfortable, well-maintained, and inexpensive. The drivers are courteous, helpful, and security trained. There are no conductors. You pay as you embark.
Israel Railways operates routes from Beersheba in the south to Nahariya in the north (one cannot reach Eilat by train). Trains are relatively inexpensive, modern, clean, punctual, and comfortable. Express trains run between the new international terminal at Ben Gurion Airport and Haifa and Jerusalem. A new line is being built that will connect Tel Aviv and Jerusalem by means of an express train, which means the travel time between Israel’s largest cities should be just thirty minutes.
In Jerusalem a new light rail line operates across the city, part of a planned network of rapid transit lines aimed at easing congestion. A similar light rail project is underway in Tel Aviv and the surrounding cities. Three separate lines have currently been approved and are due for completion as early as 2021. A significant portion of the rail will be underground.
In Israel you drive on the right-hand side of the road. At intersections give way to traffic coming from the right. Cars already on a traffic circle have the right of way. Highways are well maintained, but there aren’t enough overpasses—in the morning and late afternoon entrances to the city and industrial areas can be hopelessly congested. It’s largely a matter of luck. Sometimes you get a clear run and at other times are stuck for ages. So if you have an appointment to keep, make an early start. Auxiliary roads can be narrow and winding, particularly in the Galilee and the Judean hills. Signs can be confusing, forcing the driver to make fast and possibly risky decisions. Israel has suffered more fatalities from road accidents than from all its wars and terror attacks put together.
As in most countries, there are drivers who are aggressive and impatient, exceed the speed limit, weave suddenly in and out of traffic lanes, refuse to give way, drive too close to the car in front, and honk. There are bus and truck drivers who may fail to take into consideration the lethal nature of their vehicles. There are pedestrians who look neither to the left nor to the right when crossing the street. But, if there are drivers and pedestrians like this throughout the world, in Israel there are many more, particularly in the summers, which are hot and humid. There are many older vehicles that are not air-conditioned, and the patience of their drivers is tried to the limit.
So, when renting an air-conditioned car, follow the rules. Keep a safe distance from other vehicles and plan your route carefully before setting out. Take a map or use a GPS! And, of course, don’t drink and drive. The legal blood alcohol level is 0.5 mg/ml.
Israel generally uses all the international road signs, and these are self-explanatory. Directions to major and tourist destinations are in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. Others may be in Hebrew only.
There is a dearth of signs warning the driver which lane to choose if he needs to leave the highway. A sign may come too late for you to do anything about it.
There can be confusion between speed limit and route signs. The number 60, for example, might be taken to mean either a sixty-kilometers-an-hour speed limit, or Route 60. This is avoided if you know that the two signs are shaped differently, the former a circle and the latter a rectangle.
Note that municipal signs may spell the name of their city one way, and national signs another. Drive from Tel Aviv toward the town of Herzliya, for example, and the first sign you’ll see will spell it “Herzliyya;” the second, “Herzlia.” There are alternative spellings for Caesarea (Qesariyya), Petach Tikvah (Petah Tiqva), and many other places. Initials are often used for towns, cities, and important streets—T. A. for Tel Aviv, P. T. for Petach Tikvah. The sign for Keren Kayemmet L’Israel Boulevard simply states “KKL Blvd.”
If you don’t want to drive yourself, you can travel all over Israel by public transportation, by private car with an English-speaking driver guide, or by taking one of the many regular coach tours. The following brief descriptions highlight just a few of the many visitor attractions. Main cities and other towns offer a range of accommodations, from cheap rooms, to boutique hotels, up to five-star hotels; the rest have up to three- and four-star accommodation. Major international hotel chains that have recently opened in Israel include the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem and the Ritz-Carlton in Tel Aviv.
An alternative and less expensive way to see the country is to stay in a zimmer (pronounced “tsimmer”), the Israeli version of a bed and breakfast. Located in rural areas all over the country, zimmers offer accommodation that varies from standard huts with basic amenities to luxurious cabins with a private pool. Breakfast will often include fresh local produce.
Less humid than the cities of the coastal plain, Jerusalem has clean mountain air and clear light. Here honey-colored limestone competes with glass and steel. Tall office buildings, hotels, and apartments rise above the narrow lanes and small squares of the old neighborhoods and the leafy, tree-lined streets of the new. Synagogues, mosques, and churches abut restaurants, cinemas, theaters, and shopping malls. Ancient wells, tunnels, and holy sites are minutes from soccer and basketball stadiums, parking lots, and gas stations. In summer, day and night, crowds throng the outdoor cafés.
Visit the Old City for its legendary Jewish, Christian, and Muslim holy sites—the Western Wall, the Mount of Olives, the Tomb of the Virgin, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Dome of the Rock, the al-Aqsa mosque, and many others. Pilgrims follow Christ’s footsteps along the Via Dolorosa. Walk along the ramparts and see all the way to the Dead Sea, and linger in the markets and ancient lanes of the Muslim, Christian, Armenian, and Jewish quarters.
In West Jerusalem you can have a cup of coffee at the Knesset coffee shop and visit the nearby Israel Museum, with its permanent and current exhibitions, the Billy Rose sculpture garden, and the “Shrine of the Book” housing the Dead Sea Scrolls. Close by is the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University. You can view the Chagall murals in the synagogue of the modern Hadassah Hospital, attend a concert at the Sultan’s Pool in the Hinnom Valley, or stroll along the Haas/Sherover promenade for a view of the Old City.
Jerusalem is a city of remembrance. The huge ashlar blocks of the Western Wall are part of the supporting wall of Herod’s Second Temple. (You can make a wish by leaving a note tucked into the cracks.) The Yad Vashem Museum commemorates the six and a half million who perished in the Holocaust. A city of profound and passionate beliefs, Jerusalem is a place for prayer, contemplation, and discovery.
With more time to spend you could visit Yemin Moshe, the nineteenth-century residential quarter built opposite the walls of the Old City and today home to many local poets, writers, and artists. The nearby Ottoman-era railway station has been restored and rebuilt as the First Station, a buzzing cultural, culinary, and recreational center linked to a walking and cycling park along the old rail track.
Ein Kerem, the birthplace of John the Baptist, is a charming village nestling in the valley below the Hadassah Medical Center, shaded by cypress and olive trees and dotted with churches, convents, and art galleries. Abu Ghosh is a Christian Arab town west of Jerusalem in the Judean hills. It is crowned with a Romanesque church, dating back to Crusader times and famous for its acoustics, where regular concerts take place. Good Arab restaurants and lovely views attract both Jerusalemites and Tel Avivians.
Jerusalemites on the whole lack the spontaneity and joie de vivre of their Tel Aviv counterparts, and are more modest both in their dress and in their approach to life.
Tel Aviv is sometimes called the “White City,” a legacy from the Bauhaus School of Architecture that flourished in the 1920s and ’30s, when leading German architects of the school immigrated to Israel. Their buildings, with plain white stucco exteriors, rounded balconies, and windowed stairwells, bequeathed to Tel Aviv one of the largest concentrations of Bauhaus buildings in the world, and the city was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003. Over the years the buildings fell into a state of grayish peel, but today they are protected and are being restored. For a concentration of Bauhaus splendor, visit Lev Tel Aviv, the “heart” of Tel Aviv, including Montefiori, Rothschild Boulevard, and Ahad Haam streets.
Other architectural influences came from Le Corbusier, and the need to provide housing for the rapid growth in population. The ugly rows of uniform, rectangular, shuttered, economy built, three- and four-story workers’ apartment blocks called shikunim are today mostly concealed by trees and high hedges.
Tel Aviv–Jaffa is a city of tall green trees, shady boulevards, beaches, parks—the largest of which, the Yarkon Park, is situated on both sides of the Yarkon River—lively streets, bustling markets, and gleaming modern office and residential towers.
Stop in gentrified Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv’s oldest Jewish neighborhood. Stroll down Shabazi Street, lined with chic boutiques, arts and crafts shops, small restaurants, and cafés; explore the narrow lanes and courtyards; visit the Nachum Gutman Museum and the Suzanne Dellal Dance Center.
A little further south toward Jaffa, take a look at the Tachana, the meticulously restored site of the old Tel Aviv–Jaffa railway station. The railway buildings have been transformed into a large complex with restaurants, designer clothing, art galleries, and more. The lively beachfront promenade passes a marina and imposing international and local hotels, and leads to the lanes and alleyways of Old Jaffa.
In Jaffa, visit the restored Turkish Quarter, and the picturesque artists’ quarter, with its Crusader walls, cobbled streets, and ancient harbor. The architect-turned-sculptor Frank Meisler exhibits objets d’art made of gold, silver, and pewter. Enjoy the views from the terrace of the idiosyncratic Ilana Goor Museum, the Horace Richter Gallery, or the Aladin restaurant, and search for bargains in the flea market.
With an hour or so to spare, you can walk along the pedestrian promenade (tayelet) from Jaffa to Tel Aviv port in the north. Beyond the city’s borders, the promenade also extends further north to Herzliya and south from Jaffa to Bat Yam. Or you can make use of the Tel-O-Fun bicycle share program and cycle round the city on a bright green rented bike. Tel Aviv is a tolerant and a safe place. Women can and do walk alone at night almost anywhere and at any hour.
In Tel Aviv you can dine at many restaurants until the early morning, and lunch hours are flexible. One seaside restaurant serves its famous champagne breakfast till five in the afternoon. Cafés are open till late and pubs and wine bars close when the last guest leaves. Clubs, straight and gay, only open late and the city has its share of all-night red-light amenities. Fashionable streets, the Tel Aviv promenade, and outdoor cafés are crowded until after midnight, and in summer the beaches are never empty, with young Tel Avivians and backpacking tourists huddling around bonfires picnicking, singing, and playing guitars. Then at sunrise, as the last revelers go home to bed, the retirees do their early morning exercises.
Mediterranean in character, Tel Avivians are generally warm, friendly, spontaneous, and eager to live life to the full. They can also be quite inconsiderate, particularly when driving or talking on their cell phones.
Haifa’s residents are, by and large, a relaxed and steady crew, holding sound secular values and not attracted to extremes—historically moderate Laborites who, over their morning cup of coffee, would first look at the view and then the morning’s headlines.
A modern port city with theaters, museums, cinemas, hotels, shopping malls, and sandy beaches, Haifa owes its beauty to its setting. Hugging the slopes and spread out on the crest of Mount Carmel, it provides spectacular views in all directions. To the west, the Mediterranean, the ships in the bay; to the north, on a clear day, the coastline, including the ancient walled city of Acre, up to the Lebanese border; and to the southeast, the green and fertile Jezreel Valley.
Haifa has three levels, each with its own personality. The city’s downtown has undergone a revival in recent years. The Turkish Market and many of the old shipping warehouses have been converted into a mix of cafés, galleries, bars, shops, and restaurants, and the area is now home to a vibrant community of artists, entrepreneurs, and students. The nearby Ben Gurion Boulevard, a street lined with cafés and restaurants, is a lovely place for an evening meal, against the illuminated backdrop of the Baha’i hanging gardens.
The middle section, Hadar Hacarmel, is commercial and cultural. The top section, the Carmel, is mainly residential and includes hotels and shopping areas. It is home to Haifa University, a tall structure that can be seen from virtually anywhere in the northwest of Israel, and to the large new Technion campus in Neve Sha’anan. On the summit are forest nature reserves, with walking and cycling tracks and panoramic views.
Drive along the Panorama Road for a dizzying view of the sea, lower city, port, and bay. Visit the Baha’i Temple and Gardens, which in 2008 became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Book a tour in advance, as a limited number of tourists are allowed in daily.) Have a snack or fish lunch at one of the restaurants on the new seaside promenade, or Middle Eastern specialties in the nearby Druze village of Daliat-El-Carmel on the summit of Mount Carmel.
Haifa is Israel’s only city in which there is public transportation on a Saturday, though at a reduced capacity. The recently developed Metronit, Haifa’s bus rapid transit system, means the main travel hub, the beaches, and downtown are now conveniently all a short bus ride from one another.
At this modern Red Sea resort you can watch the sun rise over the purple mountains and aquamarine waters of the Gulf of Aqaba, where you can swim, sunbathe even in the winter, and snorkel. Eilat is hot in summer and warm in winter, with great beaches, corals, scuba diving, entertainment facilities, and a unique underwater marine-life observation chamber.
North of Haifa, this walled Crusader city (visit the Knights’ Hall) is populated mainly by Arabs; there are adjacent Jewish neighborhoods. It is picturesque, with a busy bazaar and spice market, fish restaurants, and an old fishing harbor.
Israel’s most northern city, established by German immigrants in the mid-1930s, has retained its German character. It is close to the steep, white cliffs of Rosh Hanikra on the Lebanese border, where a cable car takes tourists down to rocks and grottoes. With its stream flowing down the main street, horse-drawn carriages, and broad beach, it is a favorite with honeymooners.
Overlooking the Valley of Jezreel, half Arab Muslim and half Arab Christian, Nazareth is famous as the town where Jesus grew up. In addition to its religious buildings—more than forty churches, including the Basilica of the Annunciation, convents, monasteries, and mosques—there is a lively market. In 2011, the Gospel Trail was opened to the public. The 37.3 mile (60 km) modular trail allows visitors to walk in the footsteps of Jesus from Nazareth to Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee.
This mystical hilltop town in Galilee has medieval streets and an artists’ quarter, and is a center for ultra-Orthodox Jewish religious and philosophical studies. For escaping the heat, it’s a popular summer resort among older Israelis.
On the Sea of Galilee, 700 feet (213 m) below sea level, the city of Tiberias was once a center of Jewish learning. It dates back to 18 CE, and has Crusader ruins, beaches, and an active waterfront. It is rich in biblical lore and is an excellent base for exploring the Galilee and the Golan Heights.
From the waterfront promenade there are views across the lake—to the east, the Golan Heights, and to the northeast, on a clear day, the snowy peaks of Mount Hermon. You can have a spa treatment at the hot springs on the lakeshore, or a short distance away at Hamat Gader. Visit Capernaum (Kfar Nahum) and other biblical sites where Jesus preached and performed miracles; the Hula Nature Reserve, teeming with wildlife; and Rosh Pina, a charming hillside town with a restored old quarter. The nearby Kibbutz Ein Gev holds an annual music festival.
Named after Augustus Caesar, Caesarea was Herod’s showpiece port city and headquarters of the Roman administration in Judea. The restored Roman amphitheater seats five thousand people, and operas, concerts, and dance are performed there in the summer against the backdrop of sea and sky. You can explore the remains of the Crusader city and the Roman aqueduct, or visit the golf club for a round of golf, a drink, or lunch.
Part of the Great Rift Valley, 1,338 feet (408 m) below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth. Visitors come for the curative powers of the sea, mud, and air, and the views are spectacular. Float (you can’t sink!) in the thick, mineral-rich waters, indulge in a treatment at one of the spas, and try a mud bath.
Visit Herod’s dramatic rock fortress at Masada, 1,300 feet (396 m) above the shore. There is a cable car, but the athletic still prefer to climb, especially to see the sun rise over the sea.
The annual Masada Opera Festival attracts tens of thousands of tourists and visitors. Masada provides a breathtaking and dramatic setting for the Israeli Opera productions.
Israel enjoys a high standard of medical care, with health professionals trained to Western standards. There is an extensive network of general and specialized modern hospitals and health centers throughout the country. The National Health Insurance law of 1995 provides all Israeli residents with a standardized range of medical services, including hospitalization.
The Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David), which is Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, provides emergency care and other services. Yad Sara is a volunteer service that lends medical equipment of all kinds to those who need it. It is customary for those who use the service, and can do so, to make a donation in order to maintain it for those who can’t.
There is also a high level of private medicine available, and those with private medical insurance can be treated by leading specialists in luxurious medical centers throughout the county.
You won’t need vaccinations or immunization.
Protect yourself from the sun and drink plenty of water. Tap water is safe, but most Israelis, if they can afford it, prefer mineral water. Although it is generally safe to eat street food, avoid unfamiliar spicy foods if you are sensitive. Most hotels have doctors on call.
Mosquitoes can be a problem on the coastal plain; there are plenty of repellent lotions or devices and antihistamines on the market.
If you cut yourself badly or are bitten by a dog (unlikely), get yourself to a hospital or first aid station for an anti-Tetanus injection.
Take normal precautions against AIDS.
Hospital emergency rooms and first aid stations provide emergency services to all who need them.
The chances that a visitor will be caught up in an act of terrorism in Israel are slight. Normal, busy life goes on. But the rule, as in many other countries, is to play it safe.
Don’t ignore unattended bags or parcels in public places. Report them immediately to the authorities or security personnel. Keep your own belongings with you.
Don’t carry unauthorized firearms or other weapons about your person. Cooperate with security personnel who search your bags and scan your body at entrances to shopping malls, cinemas, hotels, restaurants, and other places.
Be patient if you find the road you are traveling on is temporarily closed while police sappers detonate a suspect unidentified object.
Draw the attention of police or security personnel to anyone you suspect because of their behavior or attire.
Obey instructions from police, bus drivers, and security personnel promptly and without question. Be vigilant on roads close to borders, and even more so across the Green Line, where it is inadvisable to drive after dark. Don’t pick up hitchhikers, even those in army uniform.
Follow the lead of Israelis, and seek advice from them on where to go and what not to do.