Tips and useful information on how to organize an independent trip to Israel: prices, links, reviews, recommendations for a safe and pleasant stay.
Exchange rate: 1 Israeli shekel (ILS) ≈ 21 RUB.
Visa to Israel
Russians in 2021 visa need notif the purpose of the visit is tourism, medical treatment, business or private travel. Term - up to 90 days, extension is possible on the spot. If you need to visit the country for study, work or other reasons, you will need to apply for a visa in advance. You can read more about this in the article on visa to Israel.
How to get to Israel on your own
The cheapest flight is from Moscow to Tel Aviv: the cost of tickets starts from 8500 rubles in both directions (El Al, Air Serbia and others). From St. Petersburg - from 10 thousand rubles. Flights from Krasnodar and Ufa are already more expensive - from 13 thousand, from Yekaterinburg, Samara, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don - from 15 thousand rubles round trip.
Tickets from Moscow to Eilat cost from 16 thousand rubles, to Jerusalem - from 15 thousand.
Where to find cheap tickets? This is most conveniently done using the search engines Aviasales and Skyscanner. To find the best price, check both and see tickets for different dates. Read also the instructions on how to search for cheap flights correctly.
How to book a hotel
There are quite a few offers of housing in Israel, but living here is not cheap at all.
You can independently rent a room, apartment or house on the popular private housing service Airbnb.ru: for example, an apartment by the beach in Tel Aviv will cost from $ 60 per day, a simple studio in Eilat - from $ 45-50 per day. This option is especially suitable for travelers with children or a group of friends, because when calculating per person, the amount is small, and more comfort than in a hotel.
As for hotels, they are also expensive: in Tel Aviv, prices for a standard double room start at $ 58. In three-star hotels, if you book a hotel in advance, you can find rooms from $ 70, but on average - from $ 100. We recommend choosing and booking a hotel on the Roomguru service, which finds the best deals among many booking systems.
Remember that during the holidays, prices can jump in half.
Did you knowthat sometimes a ticket is cheaper than a flight and can be purchased instead of a ticket for a regular flight? At the same time, the price of the tour includes flight, accommodation, transfer, insurance and meals of your choice. Last Minute Tours You can search for the best prices on the Travelata and Level.Travel services - they compare the offers of 120 tour operators and therefore are able to find the best option. You can buy a ticket online, which is very convenient.
Transport in Israel
If you decide to go to Israel on your own, you will need information on how and on what you can move around the country while traveling. You can travel between the cities of Israel by plane, bus and train.
In addition to international, Israel also has domestic airports: in Eilat and Haifa, the Sde Dov airport near Tel Aviv is also used. A flight, for example, from Tel Aviv to Eilat costs from 2 thousand rubles one way.
Bus service well developed, mainly Egged (intercity and intracity flights) and Dan (intracity flights to Tel Aviv and its suburbs) carry out transportation, but there are also smaller carriers (Kavim, Connex, Metropolin " and etc.). Travel around the city costs about 7 shekels, check the cost of travel between cities on the official websites. You can also get directions on this site.
Trains - a more convenient and comfortable way to travel in Israel, but a little more expensive than a bus, and has a number of disadvantages: the railway lines do not reach the extreme south and north of the country, trains make fewer stops and stations are far from the city center. You can find out the schedule and tariffs, as well as buy tickets here.
Remember that buses and trains do not work on Shabbat, you can only move on minibuses ("monitor sherut") and a taxi ("monitor"). Minibuses usually duplicate bus routes, but not completely.
IN Taxi ask to turn on the meter or negotiate a price when boarding. There are fixed prices for taxi rides between cities - ask the driver. In addition, a taxi can always be ordered online (including a transfer from / to the airport) on the KiwiTaxi website - for example, to Jerusalem or another city.
According to tourists, although public transport in Israel is developed (and not too expensive), it is still better to rent a car - so you can see much more than from the bus / train window. You can rent a car on the Rentalcars.com service - cars cost from $ 30 per day. Find out all the nuances of car rental abroad.
The roads in the country are excellent. Parking in the center is paid (for example, in Tel Aviv), there is a sorely lack of parking spaces.
Food prices in Israel
When organizing a trip to Israel on your own, it is important to think about food - here you will not have boarding houses and an all-inclusive system. Eating in street establishments for locals can be quite cheap: falafel costs from $ 1.5 to $ 5, shwarma - about $ 5. But in establishments aimed at tourists or restaurants of European and other cuisines, the price tag will go off scale. In an inexpensive restaurant, a dish costs an average of $ 10-15, business lunches cost the same. A cup of coffee - from $ 2. Read more about prices in Israel here - in the same place you will find out where you can eat cheaply and how much a trip for two will cost.
Find out also what are the prices for food in Israel.
Resorts and cities
Israel has access to three seas at once: the Mediterranean, the Red and the Dead. There are not very many resorts in the country, and almost all of them are expensive. The cheapest places to relax are in Netanya, Bat Yam and Eilat, and Herzliya is considered one of the most expensive and prestigious, where there are entirely five-star hotels. For cultural recreation they go to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, for treatment - to the resorts of the Dead Sea.
Travel safety and rules
Due to the terrorist threat and tense relations with neighboring countries, border guards are suspicious of tourists, thoroughly check things and may interrogate with prejudice when crossing the border. Also, at the entrance to shops, shopping centers and other institutions, your belongings will be examined and checked with a metal detector (like in the Philippines, only more seriously).
Israelis do not like it when they photograph or film important strategic objects (train stations, airport, etc.) - this can be regarded as espionage, followed by interrogation and search. In addition, the police can check your documents and belongings, even if you are not doing anything suspicious - this is a rarity, but, according to tourists, it happens.
In general, you can visit Israel on your own without fear - it is a very safe country, here the crime rate is very low. Tourists only recommend refraining from travel to areas bordering Palestine and the Gaza Strip. Better to relax in the southern resorts of the country.
You should swim with caution in the Dead Sea: you need to enter and exit carefully, in special shoes, and also make sure that water does not get on the mucous membranes. You can swim for 20 minutes twice a day, you cannot dive. After swimming, you need to take a shower (available on the shore).
Look for interesting excursions on the Sputnik and Tripster websites. Individual and group, no crowds of tourists and in Russian.
ATMs and fees
ATMs in Israel usually charge a commission, but not all (according to tourists' reviews, about 4% of the amount, usually this is written on the ATM screen), plus the issuing bank (which issued the card) also takes its commission - check with your bank about it. It is best to withdraw dollars from a dollar account and then exchange them.
There are always exchangers in the city center, the rates are about the same. Rubles are not worth carrying, it is better to change dollars or euros.In many shops and restaurants, you can easily pay with a card - according to reviews, it is more profitable than withdrawing cash.
Remember that exchangers and banks are closed on Shabbat.
Travel tips and reviews
When going on a trip to Israel on your own, you need to remember some things:
- Sockets in Israel are mainly of type C (European) and H (three-pin, you need an adapter).
- When visiting temples, mosques, synagogues, and other religious sites, dress appropriately with your shoulders and knees covered.
- You cannot drink in public places, alcohol is not sold at night (except in bars and restaurants).
- Gratuities - 10%, sometimes they are included in the bill. Taxi drivers love it when the amount is rounded up.
- According to the reviews of tourists, when going somewhere, be sure to have water, a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen with you - the Middle Eastern sun does not spare anyone.
- It is not necessary to have insurance when entering Israel, but for your own safety it is better to get it. Travel insurance →
- Collect a first aid kit with a basic kit of medicines.
