We are completing a cruise on a Friday morning this summer and then planning on heading into Jerusalem for the next week. What are the best options for getting from the port in Haifa to the Old City on a Friday as Shabbat is about to begin? Our hotel is near the Damascus gate and our reservation starts Friday evening.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6969 posts
When do you arrive? It is an easy train ride from Haifa to Jerusalem if you can do it before lunch. Read more: https://www.seat61.com/Israel.htm
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
4656 posts
Are you on CruiseCritic? I think there is a port of call board there you may want to double check on. I was due to be in Haifa in 2020 and I recall trying to get to Jerusalem over Shabbat. I think it was a 2 day port call, but travel is restricted, and I couldn't make it in time. However, that being said, if it is an early morning ship debarkation, it won't take so long as to impede travel Friday night.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15777 posts
If you choose to go by train - this is the map of the train lines/stations. I don't know which station is closest to the cruise terminal. You want to take one of the lines that goes to/through Tel Aviv, then transfer to one of the lines that goes to Jerusalem Navon. From the train station you can get the light rail that goes to the Old City. BTW it looks like one of the options Tom mentioned - Malha - is no longer operational. It would have been a bad idea anyway since there's no good option from there to the Old City.
Tomorrow (Friday) the last train from Haifa leaves around 1.00 pm. The last train from T-A to J-m leaves around 2.30 pm. Shabbat begins at about 5 pm. In July Shabbat begins around 7 pm. So you should have plenty of time to get the train. You may want to take a taxi from the train station in Jerusalem, rather than the light rail so you get right to the door of your hotel. Friday afternoon is a busy time around Damascus Gate and it will be easier to get out of a taxi in front of your hotel than wander on foot with luggage looking for it. (even if you end up sitting in traffic in the taxi for a while with the meter running)
Another possibility is to take the train as far as the airport and then take a Nesher shared taxi. It will be cheaper than taking a regular taxi in Jerusalem, but it will take a lot longer. It works like this: The van holds 7-8 passengers leaves when it's full, so you may be the first or the last to board and may have some waiting time till it fills up. When it gets to J-m it drops passengers at their addresses in geographical order, so you may be among the first or the last to get off. Also the train goes about twice as fast as a car can from the airport to Jerusalem.