Haifa Port - Jerusalem independently

[Ramizraja]

Hey all,

 

We are heading on our first cruise around the eastern Med and this is one of our ports of call, I was wondering if you can get to Jerusalem on your own or if its easier with the cruise company? I haven't got much information on Israel and was hoping for any suggestions, ideas or websites that have information? There is only 2 of us so not sure if it is worth hiring a taxi or anything.

 

Thanks :D

[motib]

Hey all,

 

We are heading on our first cruise around the eastern Med and this is one of our ports of call, I was wondering if you can get to Jerusalem on your own or if its easier with the cruise company? I haven't got much information on Israel and was hoping for any suggestions, ideas or websites that have information? There is only 2 of us so not sure if it is worth hiring a taxi or anything.

 

Thanks :D

 

Taking taxi by your own back and forth from haifa will cost you 575NIS for one way only (155$!!!!). Renting a car will cost you less!

Try to find partners on that cruise and hire a private guide with a car. For 4 people it will cost you 150$ pp and you have a private tour in a cost of the cruise company tour.

Having only one day for jerusalem I don't sugest to do it without a guide.

BTW if your ship is calling Ashdod too it is better to do the Jerusalem tour from there.

[floridatravelersforlife]

Hey all,

 

We are heading on our first cruise around the eastern Med and this is one of our ports of call, I was wondering if you can get to Jerusalem on your own or if its easier with the cruise company? I haven't got much information on Israel and was hoping for any suggestions, ideas or websites that have information? There is only 2 of us so not sure if it is worth hiring a taxi or anything.

 

Thanks :D

 

If you are comfortable driving in a foreign country and you have a GPS unit, you can do it on your own if your ship's timing is right. If you can pickup and return a car within business hours that fits your itinerary then it is practical. There are parking garages outside of the old city that now make parking a lot easier than when I frequently traveled to Israeil on business.

 

Just be aware of the business hours since there are many downtime hours at the rental outlets due to religious observances. I would have rented a car during our overnight in Israel, but there was no way to return a car.

 

If you do it on your own be prepared for rush hour traffic, congestion, and general hassles. Your call if its worth it.

[motib]

If you are comfortable driving in a foreign country and you have a GPS unit, you can do it on your own if your ship's timing is right. If you can pickup and return a car within business hours that fits your itinerary then it is practical. There are parking garages outside of the old city that now make parking a lot easier than when I frequently traveled to Israeil on business.

 

Just be aware of the business hours since there are many downtime hours at the rental outlets due to religious observances. I would have rented a car during our overnight in Israel, but there was no way to return a car.

 

If you do it on your own be prepared for rush hour traffic, congestion, and general hassles. Your call if its worth it.

 

If you have only 1 day I wouldn't recommend to rent a car. The car rental offices in Haifa are in the Check Post Idustrial Area that means they'll have to go all the way to there to pick a car. The ofifices open at 08:00 and close at 19:00 and that is going to be a tight tour!

If you really insist on doing that by your own, and I don't recommend it (and that doesn't have to do to the fact that I am a tour guide), use the public trasportation. Now' the quickest way to do it is to take a bus just out side the port to Merkazit Hamifratz CBS (that is the southern CBS of Haifa) where you take bus no 940 that will take you directly to Jerusalem in 2hr. According to my experience you can reacj the CBS before 08:00 and take the bus leaving at 08:00 and be in Jerusalem at 10:00. Now if you plann to do Jerusalem by your own you'll have to do some research because on a such a short visit you don't want to waist time on "getting lost" arround.

[motib]

ooops my mistake!!

Take the bus to Merkazit Hof Hacarmel and not to Merkazit Hamifratz!

Sorry for that. couldn't edit the original post....:mad:

[Ramizraja]

Thanks for that Information! We are still deciding how we are going to go about it, may be easier paying a little more and going with the cruise company as there is only 2 of us and we are only in port for the day.

[purpleamy13]

Hi,

We are thinking of the same thing for our port stop in Haifa. Can I ask you what you ended up doing ?

[chrispb]

Are there others on your roll call who may want to share a trip with you?

We went with others from our roll call, with Guided Tours Israel - can recommend them.

[mikewrit]

Right. Don't make another decision until you've joined your roll call. We did and found a terrific private tour company that did us twice as well for less than half the price of the package offered by the ship.

[aqua]

We recently returned from 4 days in Haifa. There is no doubt that it will be easier to tour with the cruise excursions. There is a lot to be said for the convenience they provide. I heard mixed reviews from passengers who took them. I know one person who was very unhappy about being rushed through the Holocaust Museum, but enjoyed a different ship's tour in Israel. My father went on a ship's excursion on another cruise and was left behind on the Via Dolorosa. The tour escort who was supposed to be at the end of the line of tourists was too busy sightseeing to notice the crush of crowds that prevented my father from staying with the group. (Of course, that is an isolated incident and has not prevented him from going on excursions since then.)

 

We decided to hire a private guide for our family of 5 people. We were happy with the experience, although we feel like we missed quite a bit in Jerusalem. There is so much to see that one day is not enough. I agree that you should check for a small group on your roll call.

 

If you decide to travel on your own, be aware that it takes at least 2 hours to reach Jerusalem by car. In addition, you may have to add an extra 20-30 minutes to get out of the port, depending on your docking location. Traffic in Jerusalem was terrible, as were the roads leading into and out of the city. The bus sounds like the best option for self touring.

 

Good luck and have fun. Israel is AMAZING!

[purpleamy13]

Thank-you... only 2 people have joined the roll call that I started :( Wish there were more

[purpleamy13]

Than-you so much for your advise... We will probably go with the ship tour since the private tours are too expensive for just 2 people. What we may do is take the bus to either Tel Aviz or Jerusulam, then do a tour from there? Those prices were more reasonable than if we did it from Haifa. The big decision it whether or nor to say over nite in Jerusulam.. hummm