Travelling on public transportation is always a good way to get to know a place. It's cheaper than most of the other alternatives (bar walking), and you don't need to do any driving, encountering foreign place names and unfamiliar traffic rules. You simply sit back and watch the view and the other passengers. Israel is a very diverse country in both those aspects, so a bus ride could be quite an interesting experience for a tourist.

However, there are two major disadvantages you should bear in mind:

• It’s a little dangerous: There have been many suicide bombings on buses, especially urban buses where it's harder to have security people checking the passengers. As a general rule, in times that seem more tense you might like to stay away from all crowded places; but this means staying away from pretty much everywhere, so maybe it's better to take the risk and get on a bus. There is no recommendation here - make your own decision.
  
  Also, there have been some events of shooting on buses driving in the occupied territories. There have also been shootings on private cars. There is actually quite a lot of shooting going on in the occupied territories, and it's highly recommended to stay well out of there. There isn't that much to see, anyway – find a safer piece of desert to travel in.

• It's a little expensive: Bus prices are continuously mounting. Right now, a ride in an urban bus (in any city) is 5.40 Shekels, which is about 1.20 $US. There are various discounts, though; for instance, senior citizens (over 65) get half-price for all rides or passes, and youth (under 18) get discounts on multi-ride passes and round-trip tickets, so if you look young enough (or old enough) and you don't mind lying, you might give it a try - they usually don't ask for an ID. There are other discounts, but they depend on the bus line and all sorts of other things, so the best thing you could do is check at the central station if you qualify for any discounts.
  
  On urban busses you can now get a "pass ticket" (Kartis Ma'avar), which is a ticket for two rides within an hour. It costs just a little more than a regular ticket (6.20 Shekels right now), so it's a good idea if you know you need two busses to get somewhere, or are just planning to ride more than one bus in a short period of time (they usually let you get away with a bit over an hour, some drivers don't even look at the time so you can stretch it to about an hour and a half or so).
  
  Multi-ride passes (Kartissiya) are available on urban buses. They have 10 rides (54 Shekels right now), or 20 rides for the price of 10 for youth and senior citizens. Monthly passes are also available, but they are good only for a specific month (e.g. January, February etc.), so make sure you don't buy one at the end of the month. They're quite expensive, too, so usually it's not a good idea to buy one unless you are planning on riding the bus a lot in a short period of time. On few inter-city lines you can get a round-trip ticket which is considerably cheaper, but these are sometimes only available at the central stations, so you need to come ahead of time and get them at the ticketing office.

Another thing you should remember is that due to the religious nature of Israel there is no public transportation on Saturday (except the urban buses in the city of Haifa). Bus and train service stops on Friday afternoon, and usually resumes on Saturday night. Some bus lines do not work on Saturday night, though, so you better check the time-table to make sure.

Train

The main railway terminal is in Tel Aviv, and from there trains go north along the coast to Naharia (via Haifa), south along the coast to Ashdod, south to Be'er Sheva, and also east to other places around Gush Dan (the city cluster of the the Tel Aviv area). The prices are very similar to the bus prices, and the rides are faster and more comfortable than the bus, so this is a pretty good alternative. The Israel Railways website is very good, and available in English and Russian as well as Hebrew - check it out to find schedules, fares etc.

Annoyingly, at present there is no train going to Jerusalem. The railroad to Jerusalem was the first one in the middle east (opened 1892), and it has been running for about a century before the train broke down in 1993¹. Due to the Israeli government's fixation on building highways rather than railroads, it hasn't been fixed since, but the construction of the new train is supposed to end at December 2004.

Taxis and Service Taxis

Israeli taxis don't have a specific colour, but for some reason most of them are white. You can recognize them by the yellow sign on the top on the car. Apart from that, there isn't much to say about taxis in Israel. Like pretty much everywhere else, taxis are the more comfortable yet more expensive means of travel (and taxi drivers seem to be the same breed all over the world).

Service taxis, however, are a very nice concept. These are large 10-passenger vans, that provide some sort of a shuttle service - they mainly operate between the big cities, and also to and from the airport. The ride costs about 30-40 Shekels (less than 10 $US), depending on the distance. If you need to get from the airport to one of the big cities, especially at night or on a weekend when there's no buses, a service taxi is a very good option.

Bus

Egged² is the national bus company, and it is pretty much a monopoly. Lately there are other companies operating on some of the lines between the big cities, but the whole thing is controlled by the state, so there isn't a real competition. However, a monopoly isn't always a bad thing - since Egged is not a strictly commercial company they provide transportation to many small god-forsaken places that would otherwise be deserted for bringing no profit.

Another bus company that shold be mentioned is Dan³, which operates in Gush Dan (hence its name) for a long time now. Again, the state makes sure that there is no real competition, and the prices are usually the same, or almost the same.
The Egged website is pretty good, but for some reason available only in Hebrew; The Dan website is available in English and Russian as well.

Inter-city Buses

There are three types of inter-city buses: direct, express and collecting. A direct bus makes the fewest stops between the point of departure and the destination, an express bus makes a few more stops, and a collecting bus stops everywhere - in every little Kibutz along the way. The latter type might be annoying when you just want to get from one city to another, but is quite valuable for hikers, as it enables you to get from one nowhere to another.

Remember that buses to smaller places don't leave very often, so it's a good idea to get a time table at the central station. Also, if you're traveling in the Tel Aviv area, you should check the train schedule too.

Prices vary according to the distance and the destination - obviously long rides will be more expensive. On collecting buses you need to know exactly where you are going, so that the driver will know how much to charge you; also, remember that round-trip tickets, if available, are much cheaper.

An important note must be made on the subject of queuing: Israel is a Mediterranean country, and as such it isn't really familiar with the concept of queues. Pushing your way in might be necessary, especially in the collecting buses in the peripheral areas which only come once every few hours. As uncomfortable as you may feel about shoving in front of old grandmothers (or armed soldiers that just want to get home for the weekend), remember - the alternative is being left behind to wait for the next bus.

Urban Buses

As mentioned before, Egged is almost the only company operating buses in most places. The Egged website does not provide information on urban buses, but you can usually get all the information you need at the central stations.

Two good tips on urban buses are:

1. Always ring the bell before your stop - if nobody rings the bell, the driver might not stop (unless there's somebody waiting at the bus-stop, of course). If you're not sure what your stop is, ask the driver, or any of the passengers, and they will tell you where you should get off.
   
   In some of the newer buses the bells don't work - in that case, stand by the door and make sure you're noticed. If the bus didn't stop, of if it stopped but the driver didn't open the door, don't hesitate to shout out to the driver. A loud "Nahhag!" (that's Hebrew for "driver") usually get's their attention - and if it wasn't loud enough, the other passengers are likely to help you out and join the shouting.

2. Some urban lines have two versions of the route; in such cases, the second route is marked by adding the Hebrew letter Aleph (which looks like a crooked X) to the bus number. Notice what number you are taking, as sometimes the two routes are quite different!

Some more information on urban buses, by city:

• Jerusalem

  Jerusalem is supposed to be the biggest city in Israel, but nothing in Israel is really very big, so basically you can get almost everywhere in Jerusalem with maximum two buses (or two buses and a bit of walking). When catching a bus, ignore the misleading maps that Egged put in the bus stations - it's much better to simply ask people on the street. Soon enough you'll find someone that will tell you exactly what buses get to the place you need, what buses get to the near vicinity, how often every bus comes, how long the ride is, and whether you should take a bus at all or just take a short walk. Other people will probably barge into the conversation, providing even more information, contradicting the first speaker, and eventually starting a separate debate about the the urban bus system, bus drivers, and the city in general. Walk away quietly, and catch your bus.

  Some useful bus lines to know:

  • 9 - The route is a bit long, but it passes city centre, Rehavia, the Knesset, the Israel Museum, central station and both university campuses.

  • 18 - A nice line that passes through central station, Jaffa Street, the German Colony, and eventually the Malha shopping mall (though if for some reason you want to get to the mall it's probably faster to catch a number 31 or 32 from city centre).

  • 1, 2 and 38 - These are lines that get to the old city; 1 and 2 get only to the gate for the Western Wall, but 38 runs inside the Jewish quarter. It is recognizable because it's smaller than a regular bus - otherwise it wouldn't be able to go through the alleys of the old city.

  • 26 - Worth mentioning because it is the only line that gets to the Jerusalem zoo.⁴