Looking to go from Israel to Egypt to Jordan or vice versa

So here's my dilemma. I'm going on a birthright Israel trip, and will be extending to visit Petra, Jordan and Cairo, Alexandria and Luxor, Egypt. How do I get from Israel to Jordan, and then Jordan to Egypt...or Israel to Egypt to Jordan...all which would have to come back to Israel to leave from Tel Aviv. Please help, I am leaving in less than 3 weeks!

You don't say where you're coming from, but basically you want to try and do two things to maximize your time and minimize your cost; one, move in the same general direction as much as possible to avoid backtracking and, two, try to avoid crossing country boundries as much as you can since each time you do that you have to pay either exit fees, entry fees or both.

That being the case I suggest you start in Luxor. You'd most likely have to fly to Cairo and catch a domestic connection to Luxor (easy and cheap as there are a dozen or more flights per day for as low as USD$30).

From Luxor you can take the train to Cairo and then Alex. From Alex you can catch a shared taxi to the Taba border crossing with Eilat. From there I'd travel across Eilat to Aqaba, Jordan and see Petra (Wadi Rum also if you have the time). You can then go back to Eilat and catch the bus north to either TA or Jerusalem.

If your flights are already set and you fly both in and out of TA (you were not clear on that subject), then I'd land in TA and immediately fly to Luxor and do as suggested above.

Good luck.

I am starting in Israel and I have to return to Israel, as my flights are scheduled out of there. Also, as price is a concern (not extraordinarily so, but enough that i don't want to spend $700 on a flight to Luxor from TA) I would like to do train, car, or bus.

Edited by: jamieSAYSwhatt

OK - Then see my last paragraph in #1.

You edited your response as I responded.

You have to factor in the costs, both in time and money, of backtracking from Luxor to TA. Considering that will take anywhere from two to three days and include crossing two countries, you'll spend several hundred dollars doing that as well.

Good luck.

Edited by: laketraveller

I am not set on Luxor. My focus is to see the pyramids and a few museums, ideally I would only want to spend 2-3 days in Egypt, 1 in Petra, and 1-2 in Israel. Thanks for your advice!

Ok my thoughts would be when you end birthright make you way to Eilat, take a tour or do it on your own to Petra, from Petra take a taxi or bus to Amman, fly from Amman to Cairo do Cairo fly back to Tel aviv

I did a random search in mid may and saw that for the flight Amman - Cairo and Cairo - Tel Aviv is 470 USD, but I used a random site like fly.com so not to sure how valid the pricing is.

If you spend only one day in Jordan (not overnight), the entrance fee to Petra is JD 90 (that's a whopping 127 USD).

There is no way you can do all this without spending huge amounts of money. Nobody can tell you whether it's worth it since it's your (or your parents') money, but it's something to think about.

I'm actually going on birthright in a few weeks too and looking to do the same thing.

what dates are you going to be in israel air?

Dear Jamie
i prefer to start your trip in israel ,egypt ,and jordan

and back to israel from Jordan

regards

I think you're being completely irrealistic. With "two-three days in Egypt and one day in Jordan" there is no way you can see "Petra, Alexandria, Cairo, Luxor".... especially if you want to travel by bus.

It's a bit as if you were going to a birthright trip in New York City and told us you wanted to visit Mexico and its pyramids in one day.

Traveling from Jerusalem to Petra takes one day. Traveling from Jerusalem to Cairo takes one day as well.

It may look tiny on a map but in reality, the Middle-East is huge.

Error.

I think the same as catw. You might want to choose between the two destinations.

I agree with the above especially as you don't want to spend too much (and even if you could) your itinerary is unrealistic. One night in Petra is not enough to really see Petra and you need more time for Egypt. As you're on a birthright trip anyway why don't you say focus on Jordan and see all the religious sites there as well as Petra - eg Mount Nebo. You can relax more and actually enjoy yourself, it also won't break the bank. Remember the Pyramids have stood for thousands of years so I'm sure they'll be there in a few more when you have time and money to do a full Egypt trip.