getting from Ben Gurion to Tzfat

hila

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 12:58 am

From the Egged site ...
מנתבג,טרמינל 3, לצומת אל-על
בתאריך 05/03/2008 משך נסיעה : כ-11 דקות

קו 5, מ07:48 עד 11:00 כל 12 דקות מ11:15 עד 13:00 כל 15 דקות; מ13:12 עד 15:00 כל 12 דקות; 15:15; 15:30;
קו 239, מ14:10 עד 18:10 כל 60 דקות
קו 475, 23:04 23:34; 00:14;
מנתבג,צומת אל-על, לתל-אביב,תחנה מרכזית חדשה
משך נסיעה : כ-37 דקות

קו 475, מ08:13 עד 19:13 כל 20 דקות 19:43; 20:17; 20:47; 21:22; 21:57; 22:42;
מתל-אביב,תחנה מרכזית חדשה, לצפת,תחנה מרכזית
משך נסיעה : כ-198 דקות

קו 846, 17:00

It means take a 5 bus to Tel Aviv, and then a 475 from TA to Tsfat

---------------------------------------

Or a better way would probably be to take the train - from ben Gurion - right in the terminal to Acco, and a bus or cab from there

מעכו,תחנה מרכזית לצפת,תחנה מרכזית
בתאריך 05/03/2008

קו 361, 08:05 08:35; 09:00; 09:25; מ10:00 עד 12:00 כל 30 דקות; 12:40; 13:10; 13:35; 14:10; 14:35; 15:05;
קו 501, 20:15 21:05; 22:10;

Use the Egged site . http://www.egged.co.il/ for busses - I recommend in Hebrew as their English search is really bad.
railways .... are on http://www.israrail.org.il/
the rail seems a lot quicker, and is much more pleasant.

amother

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 1:04 am

actually, it's more convenient to take a bus to Y-m and then a direct bus from there to Tzfat, since they run every other hour, as opposed to the buses from TA. Another option (esp. in the middle of the nt, when there are no buses) is to take a train straight from the airport to Acco, then a bus from there to Tzfat. Either way, you have to cross the street between two.

(yes, $200 for a cab actually sounds like a good price!)

grin

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 1:06 am

smiley:) wrote:

The problem is how much luggage you will be coming with, and if you will be able to take public transportation as a result, or not.

yes, and also how many people you're traveling with, if it's even cost-effective. Bus fare can really add up for a large group.

smiley:)

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 1:07 am

I could be wrong but I think the busses from the airport to Y-m dont even run all the hours that regular busses do. It stops earlier in the night from what I recall from looking it up a long time ago. Maybe something has changed.

amother

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 1:37 am

hila wrote:

From the Egged site ...

Or a better way would probably be to take the train - from ben Gurion - right in the terminal to Acco, and a bus or cab from there

a cab from there won't be cheap either, but there's a bus across the street form the station.

hila wrote:

Use the Egged site . http://www.egged.co.il/ for busses - I recommend in Hebrew as their English search is really bad.
railways .... are on http://www.israrail.org.il/
the rail seems a lot quicker, and is much more pleasant.

you're probably right about buses not running so late. You can check that out also on the Egged site.
(I think their site in Hebrew is pretty un-user-friendly - every time they "improve" their site, it gets worse. Confused

)

Chanie

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 9:00 am

Late night is not a factor. The plane arrives at 10am. On the way back I'll probably be traveling from Natanya, so its much closer to the airport.
I've been told not to rent a car, that its a mess driving there, and that I'll probably get lost, but maybe thats the best option.......

Chanie

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 9:26 am

car rental isn't a one day thing, if I'm renting a car, I will be using it for 16 days (until I return to the airport) It means going into Yerushalim and everywhere by car, and everyone I speak to tells me that driving and parking is horrible in any major city in Israel. Plus we really do not speak the langauge well enough to ask anyone for directions or anything.

Tamiri

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 9:28 am

When I was visiting here I ALWAYS rented, but then I was always with at least a few kids. Public transportation was not an option. You will manage whatever you do, but I never heard anyone with a car here preferring to take public transportation. If you travel during off hours (non rush hour), traffic is not so bad - it's just like anywhere else in the world.

Tamiri

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 9:33 am

GPS = gives you instructions to go everywhere.
What major cities will you be travelling into?
Tel Aviv: wide open from 10:30-11:00 am until around 2:30-3:00
Jerusalem: the same
Haifa: no idea. But if you are standing in traffic in a car, it's a pretty good assumtion that the bus will be too.
Bnai Brak: Wide open after 12 midnight and until around 10 am.
Train is another story, but it's not always so easy to get to the station - sometimes you have to get a ride/bus there.
Eilat: the only traffic you may hit is at the entrance to the city if you arrive when hotel check-in is and everyone else wants to check in at the same time.

What other major cities are there?

Chanie

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 9:57 am

Dont really have an itinaray, but thats the next thing. But I'll start another thread on that, but any and all ideas are welcome here as well. I'll be there for almost 3 weeks in April. I'll be spending probably 3 days in Netanya but will be in tzfat the rest of the time. My DH has never been to Israel, and I want to make the most of our time.

Tamiri

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 10:03 am

With a car you will have a much better time. You can get everywhere, especially in the North, from Tzfat with little to no traffic, as long as it's not on Pesach. On Pesach itself, the best thing is to hibernate, the country is impossible on the Chagim.

Chanie

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 10:33 am

I'm going to be there over pessach... I'm going to be there most of the week before and most of the week after. So I guess we should do most of the touring then. (we will have about 7-8 touring days that are not pessach) Probably do just Tzfat, Tveria and surronding areas durring chol hamoed, and spend the rest of the time touring other places. Not only because of the crowds, but because of food convienience when you're close to home base. Plus I get to spend the time with my sister and her kids while they are out of school.

Tamiri

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 10:45 am

It's a known secret that the best time to do trips in Israel is the week before Pesach, because nearly everyone is busy preparing and if they are not preparing they are working. You can do all the wonderful nature trails up north and probably won't be tripping over people (we did that four years ago). For this, a car is a fabulous option - you can't get around without one. For the week of Pesach, sticking close to your base sounds great. First of all, till you leave the house in the morning it won't be morning anymore and then there is the whole day with the family. Perfect.
The week after Pesach will be strange, still full of tourists but it won't be as bad as the holiday week cause the Israelis will be back at work (many companies take vacation en-masse that week and many religious don't work the whole week no matter what the company policy is).
It's a great time to be here. Food is no problem either, unless you are beyond mehadrin. There are mehadrin KFP restaurants. Gan Eden!

Chanie

Wed, Mar 05 2008, 11:56 am

I'm so excited about this trip. Talking about it is making my heart fluster. We are going to look into car prices, but now when I look, automatic cost double the price from standard. Maybe I should rent a manual for a couple of days and have my dh drive it around to learn... or maybe send him for lessons.