How To Cross From Israel Into Egypt – Sinai/Taba Border
Hey guys! As many of you know by following my Instagram account @hofitkimcohen, I just got back from a 3.5 weeks trip to Israel, Egypt and Paris. Egypt was definitely NOT in the plan, in fact, for all I knew, I didn’t even think it was safe to visit, let alone for Israelis and especially not as simple as from the border of Eliat and Sinai.
Spontaneous Trip To Sinai, Eygpt (Safety/Cost)
I originally came to Israel on the hopes that I could finally visit Petra, Jordan but heard many rumors that it wasn’t safe for Israelis. However, if you’re not Israeli, I’m sure it’s pretty safe.
I was still toying around with the idea of going, however, that all changed on a beautiful Saturday morning when my mom had invited my favorite childhood family to visit us. My mom’s best friends asked me why don’t I go to Sinai in Egypt. She had just gotten back from an amazing trip out there and it was her 3rd trip over the last few months.
I thought she was crazy for going because from what I remember Israelis/people (but mainly Israelis) used to visit Sinai about 30-40 years ago and it was the happening spot but due to terrorist attack and such, they’ve all stopped going.
She was explaining to be that it’s super cheap, she said you can get a beach hut also known as a “Husha” for 60 Shekels, I said to her, “$60? You mean?”, she said no, “60 Shekels!”, I thought that was crazy. That’s about $16! She began telling me what an amazing place it was, how cheap it was and by the time she left, she had basically sold me on it. I started asking my mom to find out how safe it really is, she showed me photos of many Israeli celebrities there and her friends visiting there with their babies, so I figured if people are bringing their babies, IT’S SAFE!
Where I Stayed
So I booked a 3-night stay at the Sofitel Taba Heights, a luxury 5-star resort because I figured if a 60 shekel stay on the beach was a thing, which is a 2-3 star expierence, I wondered what a 5-star hotel would cost, turns out it starts at $58 a night! At a beautiful huge resort on the beach. SOLD!
Crossing The Border From Israel to Eygpt (Eilat to Taba)
My mom’s friend briefly explained to me the process of walking across the border, YES, you have to physically walk across the border. But I’ll be honest with you, I was still nervous and confused about it, especially because I was traveling solo as a female and as an Israeli.
So here are the steps into going to Sinai, Eygpt and physically crossing the border.
BY CAR:
Not many do this because it’s honestly a waste of money, but if you want, you can rent a car and drive to Eilat which will take you 5hrs. However, you can’t drive your car into Sinai, you’d have to leave it in Eilat, Israel until you get back, so for cost purposes, it’s personally pointless and a waste of money, but can be done. I’m just not sure where you would park your car all those days without it getting towed…which is why 90% of people take the bus.
BY BUS:
First things first, you will need to purchase a bus ticket to Eilat that will leave from Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. This should definitely be done online because space is limited. I would book a ticket 2 days before if you want to get a decent time.
Weekends sell out faster.
- One-Way is 70 shekels / Round-Trip 112 shekels
There are buses that leave the Tel Aviv central bus station to Eilat almost every hour, however, also take into consideration that it takes 5-6hrs to get to Eilat by bus. The bus does make 2 main stops for bathroom use and grabbing some food, each stop is about 15mins, plus in many cases, it also picks up other people on the way and drops them off.
You also need to take into consideration that once you get to the central bus station in Eilat it will probably take you 40-60mins to grab a taxi and drive over to the border and then go through the border which may have a long line or not and then get transportation to your hotel, so ideally, you want to leave Tel Aviv early!
Most people including myself, normally leave Tel Aviv central station between 6am-9am.
I took the 8am bus and got there at 1:30pm, took another hour to get to the border because taxis were hard to find and then finished the border immigration at 3:30pm and got to my hotel room at around 4:30pm which was during sunset time (Sept time).
Once you’ve purchased your ticket online, you will get a confirmation number by email which will be very important for picking up your ticket.
Once you get to the Tel Aviv central bus station, you’re gonna wanna go all the way to the top floor and print out your ticket through the machines next to the ticket booth using your order #.
***As a safety precaution, please don’t wonder too much in the central station unless you’re at the top floor where you see alot of people. The central station isn’t located in the best area, but don’t worry, you’ll be safe. Just go where everyone else goes and you’ll be fine.
Once you have your ticket printed, you will find your bus seat number and also the gate that the bus will be leaving from.
Then you’re on your way to Eilat. Enjoy the view 🙂
Arriving To Eilat
When you arrive to Eilat’s finally stop which is the Eilat Central Station, you will try to grab a taxi and tell them you want to go to the Eygpt/Sinai border.
I believe my cab ride cost about 55 shekels but there was traffic. He originally said it would cost 70 shekels.
Like I mentioned earlier this is about a 30min drive (give or take).
Arriving To Sinai Border
Once you get to the border, there are a few steps/buildings you will have to go through.
The first is a security checkpoint from Israel.
Right after that, you will have to pay taxes of 100 shekels I believe for tax purposes.
Then you will follow the sign that says Egypt ——->
Then you will have to go through another security checkpoint which would be the Eygpt security point.
This kinda got confusing to me because there isn’t really a person telling you where to go or when you’re actually officially finished but just keep walking…there are about 3-4 buildings you have to go through and in between, you’re actually walking outdoors.
Then you will walk through the Egyptian immigration/ customs building, that says Eygpt, where you will have to fill out a custom paper (have a pen on you).
Now before you go through and actually line up to get your passport stamped, there is a side window where you can exchange money which you will need if you didn’t do it back in Israel. This window doesn’t say “Exchange” or anything lol, so you’re just gonna have to go and ask if its the actual window where they exchange the money.
I made the mistake of walking through, getting my passport stamped and then getting all confused on where the currency exchange actually happens and had to go back to it lol. It’s kinda odd because like I said earlier, no one really tells you where to go or if you’re going the right way. Many things don’t have signs and you keep thinking you’re done and you’re not….that’s the middle east for ya lol.
Ok, so now that you’ve passed all those levels, again, you get a bit confused, as to what now, you’re in a place that looks like a parking lot but keep going straight, which is the last stop where they check your passport stamp to make sure you did it all right and once you did that you will see that, YOU ARE OFFICIALLY IN EYGPT!
***As a side note, this doesn’t give you an official visa to visit all of Eygpt, this allows you to visit Sinai. There is a different place you have to go to get a Cario VISA which is after you’ve crossed all these levels.
Arriving To Sinai & Transportation
Now it’s time to grab a taxi to your hotel, resort or “Husha”.
There are 2 ways around this, a private taxi which is considered pricey AF in Egyptian land, but not too bad for the average person. On the way back to Israel I ordered one of them and it cost me 450 Egyptian pound AKA Lira, which is about $25 from Taba. However, the more popular way of doing it is by a shared taxi which takes a few travelers and drops them off on the way. The only downfall to this is that they want the whole taxi van to be full, so they might wait until more travelers come but this is by far the most popular and cheapest way. You might also have to use your bargaining skills.
To my hotel, it cost 40 Egyptian pounds! Which is only $2 and it was a 30-40min drive. I later found out that some people even paid as low as 20 Egyptian pound which is a $1.
This shared taxi/bus makes different stops all over Sinai, it drops people off at Taba, Nueva & Dahab, which does change the price, but again not by much. I think Dahab which was the furthest was only 60 Egyptian pounds.
NOW WAIT!
Before you think it’s over which for a moment, I almost thought it was. After you pay the taxi driver and he collects all the money. He will ask everyone to fill out a piece of paper that has your information, name, passport number, etc.
There is also another security stop on the way that currently cost 400 Egyptian pounds (Sept.2018). Without paying it, you can’t enter Egypt. I heard that a few months back it was only 100 Egyptian pounds, so this may change.
THEN YOU ARE OFFICIALLY DONE!
Enjoy your time in Sinai!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them below <3
