How to Get to Jerusalem from Cairo??? (appointed, how much)

[Chi-townChica]

Hello all,

I'm going to be in Egpyt from 2/10-2/27 and I'm having difficulty finding a cheap option to Jerusalem. One of my co-workers from Egypt told me not to ride the bus because it's dangerous. Another person told me to try EL Al airlines, but they only have a flight going to Cairo from Tel Aviv. I've researched plane multi-city plane fares and it around an extra $800 to go! I was told I could get a cab from Mt.Sinai to Jerusalem, but it would cost a fortune (I'm on a backpacker budget).

Ahhh!!!! Help me! I really reallly really want to visit Israel while I'm in the area.

[Jdawg8181]

Swim across the meditteranean

Sorry I have no idea. Does Israel even have a train system? I don't recall seeing one when I was there.

[Chi-townChica]

Well...there's no train to anywhere in Israel from Cairo. Swim huh? Maybe I could walk there and record my journey? Not!

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

Swim across the meditteranean

Sorry I have no idea. Does Israel even have a train system? I don't recall seeing one when I was there.

[tablemtn]

Another person told me to try EL Al airlines, but they only have a flight going to Cairo from Tel Aviv.

That's really not a problem. Ben Gurion airport is less than 50 miles from Jerusalem, and you can simply take a bus there. I'm pretty sure Egged bus company has a route going from the airport right into Jerusalem's central bus station.

Anyhow, Israel only has two international airports, and the other one is way down south near the city of Eilat.

[Chava61]

Israel does have an internal commuter train system (see route map Route Map in English). Israel main bus company Egged: www.egged.co.il/Eng has buses all over Israel including a route from Eilat (which is near Aqaba in Jordan on the Red Sea). Perhaps you find a flight from Cairo to Aqaba, which borders Israel & Eilat (Eilat & Aqaba are just a few miles apart!) and then cross the border there at the Wadi Araba Crossing/South Border, located in the south, 324 kms away from Amman, connecting the two Red Sea resorts of Eilat and Aqaba. These are open Sun – Thurs 06:30hrs – 22:00hrs and Fri – Sat 0800hrs – 20:00hrs. At these crossing, visas for most nationalities can be obtained at the border; prior permits are not needed except for restricted nationalities. Wadi Araba Crossing closes on Islamic New Year day and Yom Kippur. Once you are on the Israeli side you could take an Egged bus up to Jerusalem or fly from Eilat to Tel Aviv & take a bus or train from the Tel Aviv area to Jerusalem.

[Chi-townChica]

Thank you! I'm going to check this out. One of my co-workers told me not to take the bus because they go around dangerous curves. Any truth to this?

Originally Posted by Chava61

Israel does have an internal commuter train system (see route map Route Map in English). Israel main bus company Egged: www.egged.co.il/Eng has buses all over Israel including a route from Eilat (which is near Aqaba in Jordan on the Red Sea). Perhaps you find a flight from Cairo to Aqaba, which borders Israel & Eilat (Eilat & Aqaba are just a few miles apart!) and then cross the border there at the Wadi Araba Crossing/South Border, located in the south, 324 kms away from Amman, connecting the two Red Sea resorts of Eilat and Aqaba. These are open Sun – Thurs 06:30hrs – 22:00hrs and Fri – Sat 0800hrs – 20:00hrs. At these crossing, visas for most nationalities can be obtained at the border; prior permits are not needed except for restricted nationalities. Wadi Araba Crossing closes on Islamic New Year day and Yom Kippur. Once you are on the Israeli side you could take an Egged bus up to Jerusalem or fly from Eilat to Tel Aviv & take a bus or train from the Tel Aviv area to Jerusalem.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by Chi-townChica

Thank you! I'm going to check this out. One of my co-workers told me not to take the bus because they go around dangerous curves. Any truth to this?

I haven't taken a bus between Cairo & Tel Aviv as I can't tell you about that.

[Naomi Manischewitz]

Originally Posted by Chi-townChica

Hello all,

I'm going to be in Egpyt from 2/10-2/27 and I'm having difficulty finding a cheap option to Jerusalem. One of my co-workers from Egypt told me not to ride the bus because it's dangerous. Another person told me to try EL Al airlines, but they only have a flight going to Cairo from Tel Aviv. I've researched plane multi-city plane fares and it around an extra $800 to go! I was told I could get a cab from Mt.Sinai to Jerusalem, but it would cost a fortune (I'm on a backpacker budget).

Ahhh!!!! Help me! I really reallly really want to visit Israel while I'm in the area.

i understand your frustrations! i did the same thing last winter (ended up not going to egypt after all that though).

anyway how much was the flight from tel aviv to cairo? whenever i looked, they were insanely expensive. anyway like someone said tel aviv isnt that far from jerusalem so you could just take a bus from jerusalem to tel aviv and then from tel aviv fly into cairo.

its a long trip to cairo from israel. what you would have to do if you go by bus is a route like this:
1. jerusalem to eilat LONG TRIP (have done that)
2. eilat to taba (taba is the border town from israel into egypt) which is a short trip
3. then taba into somewhere by the red sea like sharm(really want to do this). not that long of a trip, but forgot the time sorry.
3. sharm to cairo which takes forever. this should give you an idea
Egypt bus timetables


in any case, when getting on the bus into cairo it is very confusing figuring out which bus is yours unless you know a little arabic or have someone there that can help you. i would love to go to egypt one day.

[jtur88]

Forget about what people say about "dangerous busses". If you're really a backpacker, you''ll see a lot more dangerous busses than that. Wait till you get to Bolivia.

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are only an hour apart, there will be busses every few minutes. I'm not sure, but I doubt if they have separate airports. Most Isreali's hitchhike arouind the country.

[Naomi Manischewitz]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Forget about what people say about "dangerous busses". If you're really a backpacker, you''ll see a lot more dangerous busses than that. Wait till you get to Bolivia.

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are only an hour apart, there will be busses every few minutes. I'm not sure, but I doubt if they have separate airports. Most Isreali's hitchhike arouind the country.

hmm i dont know if i would recommend 100% taking the buses into egypt and i have stayed in hostels around the world. i went to israel when conflict skyrocketed and many tourists had drills in their hotels and had to leave areas close to gaza.
i was planning to go from eilat to egypt just went all this happened. most israelis i met said they wouldnt recommend me going to egypt during this time (im a jewish american young woman and traveled solo). i was disappointed but glad with my decision and i am a risk taker when i travel.

i did however hitchhike around israel and had no problems. its pretty much the norm there.

personally i dont know the op's situation. as a young woman though i wouldnt go to egypt alone and there are few places i would say this about. i had constant harassment in parts of israel and some people i got friendly with (all different religions) said it would be a million times worse in egypt if i were to go solo. i am not into tours, and hate the idea of traveling with other people, but for safety reasons i definitely would go to egypt one day if i had a boyfriend who would take me.