Trip to Israel

First, is it true to say that during our stay in Israel, there won't be any major jewish holidays ? We'll have to consider only shabbat in the planning of our bus trips ?

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Absolutely correct.

Second, is it possible to visit Rosh HaNikra as a day trip from Haifa ?

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Yes. Rosh Hanikra is less than an hour from Haifa - not during rush hour! :)
The thing is I'm not sure if there is public transport to Rosh Hanikra. I always go there with my car and I don't remember seeing any evidence of a bus there. Our resident bus expert Shuffaluff could probably elaborate.

Third, we want to visit Masada and the Dead Sea. We have to decide between taking a tour (one day) or doing it on our own. Is it easy to visit these two places by public transportation in the same day?

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From Jerusalem (on your own), it is possible but not that easy to do in one day. Depends on the public transport schedule. Shuffaluff? No problem in 2 days with Ein Gedi included as well.

It is hard to do Ein Gedi and Massada in one day on your own. Ein Gedi is a good place to swim in the Dead Sea and the nature reserve hikes are a must:
:http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/company_card.php3?CNumber=853330

You can check out the bus schedules at:
http://www.egged.co.il/Eng/

I recommend staying overnight at the youth hostel in Ein Gedi or Massada:
http://www.iyha.org.il/eng/

The standard at the youth hostels in Israel is very high.

I think you can do the whole dead sea trip in one day from Jerusalem, and definitely if you're willing to hitch-hike (which is very easy around the dead sea) . Start early, get to Masada on the early bus (which leaves at 7 or 7.30 from Jlem I think - check the egged site), look around, from there you can either bus it to Ein Gedi (there are buses at 11.15ish and 11.45ish, and then some more in the afternoon starting from 2ish) or hitch, have a float in the dead sea and chill out, have some lunch there, then hitch to the Ein Gedi national park, or take the bus (I think there's one at 2.30ish - check all this out though), walk in the park for a couple of hours (it's very easy hiking and the main trail is only about 30 mins long), swim in the waterfalls, then catch the bus back to Jerusalem (I think the last one is 8pm ish).

But it would be a long day, and you might be a bit rushed for time. If you're relying on hitching, there's less pressure. And I agree with the poster above, the hostel standard is very high (not super cheap, but very clean).

just wanted to add that hitching is not always the smartest idea, and doesn't always make things easier--you can end up waiting for a ride for a long time, or end up in a sketchy/dangerous situation. if you want to be more flexible time wise, i'd say renting a car is a better option

Shuffaluff is currently on her travels... I am in a public access internet so can't help you with specific timetables now, but will be home long before you need the info. There is no public transport to Rosh Hanikra.

I want to recommend about a great site with all information about flights, car-rental and hotels: www.israelhotels.org</a>

Edited by: tomercohen

Shuffaluff is home!

You can take a train from Haifa to Nahariya (the most northerly station in the country) which takes about 35-40 minutes. From there it is about 10 km to Nahariya, and a taxi won't cost much.

Note that there are no buses or trains on Shabbat. Mid-October/early November buses will stop at around 3:30 p.m. and resume on Saturday October 17 at about 6 p.m.
Buses in the Dead Sea area are not very frequent, and they don't seem to stick strictly to timetables (I've spent an hour and a half after its scheduled time waiting for a bus back from the Dead Sea to Jerusalem and this isn't uncommon). That being the case, it definitely makes sense to stay over. There is no bathing beach anywhere near Masada.

If renting a car is an option, as travelchik suggests, it will give you a lot more flexibility and you won't be caught out by Shabbat. The national parks are open on Shabbat.

to find out jewish holidays, google it. but just know that early afternoon to sunset on saturday (shabbat), most public transport stops in israel proper. however, you can travel in west bank as the muslim holy day is friday. in muslim areas, watch out for fridays, jewish areas, watch out for shabbat, christian areas watch out for sunday. but shabbat is probably the worst in terms of transport; most everything stops.
for masada and dead sea, take a bus from central bus station in west jerusalem; leave 8 or 9am. ask for bus schedule at info. booth in bus station to help you plan. go to masada first, then dead sea at ein gedi bus stop.

do not know about rosh nahikra. but the baha'i temple and gardens on mt. carmel in haifa are great. maybe that would be better than rosh nahikra. but you must make an appt. to visit the temple and gardens.
the rest of your time, jerusalem, at least 2 or 3 days, old city and mt. of olives and mt. zion and city of david. preferably 3 days in jerusalem.

no more than one day in tel aviv, and if so, visit jaffa too that day.
i recommend west bank travel to see what the palestinians endure under the israeli military occupation. at the very minimum, one day in bethlehem and hebron. go to bethlehem in the morning, hebron in afternoon, taking shared minivan from outside damascus gate of old city; watch out for shabbat or you will get stuck, as i did in 2004; do not go on shabbat. in hebron, visit old city and tomb of abraham.
akka is cool for the old city and crusader castle; one day from tel aviv or jerusalem. bus from jerusalem or bus or train from tel aviv.
take "united tour" for one day tour to sea of galilee and biblical sites and history; around $70 US dollars; book online; google it. u can leave from tel aviv or jerusalem.
if you go on your own, from tiberias, must take private taxi to churches are public transport is very infrequent.
- julie