Taking a sherut in Israel is a fast and efficient way of getting around, but can be slightly daunting if you’ve never traveled on one before. A sherut (in Hebrew ‘monit sherut’ – service taxi) is a shared taxi, typically a eight to ten seat minivan, which runs on one of three routes – from city to city, within a city (usually along a bus route), and from the airport to Jerusalem and Haifa. The airport sheruts run either to Central Bus Stations or a destination of your choice, whilst the other sheruts in Israel follow a fixed route but can be stopped anywhere along their route (unlike a bus which only stops at designated stops).

Taxis are very common and popular forms of transport in Israel. Cheap by European standards, cabs in Israel are widely available and are generally safe and modern cars, with helpful drivers. Within cities, drivers must use the meter (moneh) unless they agree a fixed fare with the passenger, whilst inter-city, taxis have fixed fares.

Whilst, Israeli drivers dont have a great reputation, but renting a car and driving in Israel is a convenient and generally easy way to get around in Israel. Israel has a great, modern road network which spans the width and breadth of the country which are signed in English as well as in Hebrew and Arabic making navigation easier for visitors. Parking in Israel is generally simple, however it can be harder parking in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem – here try to find a car park.

Renting a car in Israel is a popular and convenient way of getting around and seeing the country at your own pace and on your own time-scale. Car rental companies can be found across the country, ranging in size, from the major international car rental firms including Avis, Budget, Hertz, and Sixt, as well as a large number of local firms including the largest, Eldan. All of these companies offer car rental at Ben Gurion Airport, as well as in major towns and cities across Israel.

Rail travel in Israel has been modernized and developed extensively over the past ten years or so, meaning that Israel Railways, the national train operator, offers a great option for getting around, particularly within the Coastal Plain. Trains in Israel are clean, generally modern, and air-conditioned, and are reliable and relatively frequent. The stations are also relatively new, and particularly useful routes for visitors to Israel include the train from Ben Gurion Airport from Tel Aviv, Haifa, and many intermediate cities, as well as the trains to Tel Aviv from its suburbs.

Tel Aviv has joined the revolution sweeping all the world’s greatest cities – bike rentals in Tel Aviv have landed. The Tel Aviv bicycle rental scheme is called Tel-O-Fun which is run by the city’s municipality. Designed for residents, the bike scheme is great for tourists alike who can collect a bike from a point in one part of the city, and drop it off on the other side of town.

Israel has a huge network of buses both within and between towns and cities. As the country’s most popular form of transport, it offers a cheap yet comfortable and convenient way of getting around.

The Sherut or Shared Taxi is a form of transport fairly unique to the Western World. It offers good value service with the convenience of a taxi and is a popular and useful way of getting around, especially between the airport and major cities.

Flights from Tel Aviv to Eilat are by far the quickest and easiest way to get from the center of Israel to the resort on the Red Sea. There are three options for flying to Eilat – domestic airlines Arkia and Israir, and international airline EL AL. The majority of Arkia and Israir flights depart from Tel Aviv’s domestic airport, Sde Dov, although some do depart from Ben Gurion. All of EL AL’s flight to Eilat leave from Tel Aviv.