Signs directing you to buy tickets at the ticket window can be safely ignored except for highly traveled, long distance routes; otherwise, buy the ticket from the driver. Buses between cities visually leave from the central bus station (tahana merkazit). You can usually buy a round-trip ticket at a 10% discount. Some popular routes- especially to and from Eilat-take reservations and give assigned seating; these guaranteed seats can take a load off your mind.

Many tourists prefer to travel on Egged tour buses. Egged offers over 100 excursions to various regions in Israel; their tours into the Sinai Desert and along the Red Sea are particularly popular. They’re cheaper than the tours run by the Society for the Protection of Nature, though not nearly as good. For more information check with the Egged tour office in the U.S. by calling (800) 682-3333; you can also write to their head office at 15 Frischmann St., Tel Aviv (tel. (03) 527 1223).