I intend to take my well-travelled bike with me to Israel and Palestine.
I see that, unusually, bicycles are not allowed on trains. Is this because of security?
Are bikes easily carried on buses or shared taxis?
Will there be problems crossing borders or checkpoints? I'm on a UK passport.
Thanks in anticipation........
You are allowed to take your bike on the trains - this is true since August of this year.
1 - you should arrive 20 minutes before the train leaves
2 - you need to board a specially marked train car
3 - you will need to show a lock or a dock and actually lock or dock the bike in the designated train car
4 - you may have to wait for the next train if the train is packed with passengers and/or if there are already 5 bike riders in the compartment
5 - The permitted travel times are:
Sun-Thursday 9 am - 3 pm and again from 7 pm until end of service
Fridays - all day long
Saturday evenings you may not travel with your bike
I can't fathom how you could travel with your bike on a Sherut - they are minivans, and there would be no room. I've also never seen anyone travel with their bike on the bus. But hopefully the new train policy will be sufficient for you travel plans.
I don't think you'll have any problems at checkpoints.
Your main concern is the aggressive drivers in the region, who may show very little respect for bike riders, and the infrastructure which is rarely accommodating to bike riders - you need to take extreme caution. Every year there are reported accidents, and serious bikers in Israel will generally ride with an accompanying vehicle for safety.
Thanks very much Yarden. My info came from Israeli trains website.
I'll get good maps and try and stay off major roads.
Seems possible to take a bike on Egged buses.
Edited by: CottonCasual
From my experience, you can take a bike on inter city buses in the luggage compartment as long as there is sufficient room.
I live in an area that's popular with cyclists and I often see them loading their bikes into the luggage compartment of a bus.
Note that Egged isn't the only company operating intercity buses. Many parts of Israel are served by other companies. You can see timetables for all of them here:
http://bus.co.il/otobusim/Front2007/homepage.asp?Host=www.otobusim.com&Design=2007&LanguageID=20
I too have seen bikes loaded UNDER the buses into luggage compartments. Be aware though, if the bus is a route with loads of luggage, there is no guarantee that it won't get damaged from others pushing their luggage onto or into it. I also can not imagine someone biking through Israel on their own. In the warm months you need 1-3 liters of water just to walk around--biking!!!!!
A bike is perfect for crossing checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank. You can be processed as a vehicle user, not a pedestrian. Stay in the car lanes and wave you passport to the guards. That way you avoid queues, winding corridors, turnstiles, x-ray machines, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian travellers shouting at each other and all that nonsense.