Israel Train Travel Tips

T he Israeli railroads             are unique to Israel.              infrastructure has been                                            upgraded significantly in       •Try to avoid taking the train  the past 10 years. While until        on Sunday – while most of the  1996 most of trains & railroads       Israeli soldiers are using the     were bizarre collections of           trains as their preferred (and     British "leftovers" from the          free) means of transportation,     mandatory occupation that lasted      and are using them to return from  until 1948, nowadays Israeli          their vacations you will find it   trains can take you almost            literally impossible to find a     anywhere in Israel and (almost)       free seat on the Sunday trains.    right on time.                        Some of them are so packed that                                          they do remind of third world      Most of the train stations have       country trains (by the way – in    been rebuilt, and the train cars      some aspects Israel is a third     themselves are made by                world country..) . Whatever you    top-of-the-line European              do try not to use Israeli trains   train-car manufacturers. The ride     on Sunday and if so – do it after  itself is usually very smooth and     rush hours and not before 15:00.   comfortable and most on the                                              trains do make it right on time       •Bring your own food &          (which is very rare, generally        drink – While there are no     speaking in the middle east and       restaurant train cars on any of    Israel).                              the lines, there are attendees                                           who carry small trolleys with hot  While prices and service are only     drinks, soft drinks, sandwiches    fair, there are some important        and snacks. The only problem is    tips to remember when traveling       that prices are extremely high,    Israel by train: some are trivial     you might find yourself paying     for every train rider while some      way too much for food and drink    which you can buy at the train        more sunlight.                     station for literally half the                                           price.                                •Don't miss the ride to                                               Jerusalem by train! – it is    •Hotspot wireless internet     slow, not efficient, has very low  - is available only in the main       frequency, and the central train   stations in Tel-Aviv, and the         station in Jerusalem is next to    service is highly priced (by the      "Malcha Mall" in the far end of    hour or per day). If you want to      the city, but after saying that:   catch up with your email –            this is the most interesting       download them before boarding to      train line in Israel which was     the train, there is no wireless       re-opened only last year (2005).   connection on the trains              If you want to see Israel diverse  themselves.                           landscape – don't miss this ride.                                                                           •Double deck trains – some     To sum things up – Israel train    of the trains have tow levels, it     is lots of fun, especially if you  is very easy to recognize them –      are a tourist and not in a hurry   they are all painted in red. If       to anywhere, you will find this    you see one of these (they are        means of transportation as         fairly popular on the busy            comfortable and efficient. Don't   Tel-Aviv – Haifa lines) – try to      hesitate to use it whenever you    get to the penthouse ? the view       can, especially if you are on a    is much better and there is much      budget.                            About the Author: Michal Moreno is a former flight attendant for El-Al Israeli airlines and the content editor for http://www.israel-travel-tips.com - a travel guide all written by a native Israeli from the insider's point of view. Published At: www.Isnare.com