We are considering going directly from Jerusalem to Eliat to cross the border for 2-3 nights in Aqaba. we will be staying at the Doubletree and plan to join a guided tour of Petra and Wadi Rum. After Aqaba , we will be heading north to Tel Aviv for another 3 nights. Hubby doesnt want to drive a rental car so we are planning to take the bus from Jerusalem to Eilat.
1. Is it practical to take the bus from Jerusalem to Eilat? How many hours of travel is it? Our other option is to go to TLV to fly into Eilat, which is better?
2. If we take the bus or fly into Eilat, can and do we need a guide to help us with the border crossing ? Is the process something we can do on our own? Once we’ve crossed the border, we plan to take a taxi to Doubletree Aqaba. Sign up for guided tour of Petra from our hotel.
3. We will be going from Jerusalem to Eilat with our luggage because we want to go straight to TLV from Eilat so we dont want to leave our luggage with our hotel in Jerusalem. We will be staying at the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem and Hilton In Tel Aviv. Since both belong to same hotel family, it might be possible for WA to forward our luggage to Hilton Tel Aviv although I havent inquired from the hotel about this. Do buses from Jerusalem to Eilat allow suitcases on board?
4. We will be leaving Jerusalem on a Friday, are there any buses that run that day to Eilat?
We will be taking this trip from May 6-18. Not much flexibility on the inbound date but have a little bit more on the outbound. I was able to book a room at the WA for 5 nights on Hhonors points for only 90k/nt - same room and date now costs 170K points/nt. Hilton TLV has good availability in May for 70K points/nt.
Thanks in advance for all your suggestions.