Border crossing from Jordan to Israel is done through Allenby Bridge/King Hussein Bridge
Contents
Summary
Border crossing from Jordan to Israel is bit complicated but easily doable.After having a wonderful breakfast in W Amman, we arranged a taxi with the hotel to take us to the Jordan border. We left at 11 am from W Amman and the drive was 1 hour from the hotel and it was pleasant drive with our gentle driver telling us lots of stories about Jordan and he wanted us to feel free take photos while driving and he suggested he can stop if we wanted to take pictures as well. We saw Jordan had lush vegetation on the way to the border, but nothing compared to Israel’s rich vegetation. You will see what I am talking about in the upcoming articles.
Before I go in to the details of border crossing by road, let me tell you why we took the road journey instead of an air journey.
Why not fly from Amman to Tel Aviv?
- Odd flight timing: First of all, the timing was quite odd for a flight journey: We arrived at Amman airport (we reached at Amman Airport at 12:30 am, past midnight and the immigration took almost 1.5 hours with computers not having power supply and we (along with other visitors) were stranded longer than usual. Anyways, there was no flight in the night connecting Amman and Tel Aviv. So we decided to stay overnight in Amman.
- Only 1 Airline flies directly between Amman and Tel Aviv and that is ‘Royal Jordanian’
- Only 3 non-stop flights every day with very odd departure times: 11:00 pm, 5:00 pm and 7:00 am. 5:00 pm sounded an option, but then we would have reached Jerusalem by 5:00 by road.
- Expensive: For a 45 minute flight, the prices were around $400/person. For 4 of us, it would be $1600. Sorry.
- Road Journey options: Our friends and family who traveled from Amman to Israel pretty much traveled by road but as a part of package tours, where the tour organizer pre-arrange everything including the visa and entry. Plus, I checked few blog, where individuals have entered Israel from Amman.
Crossing from Jordan to Israel (Amman to Jerusalem)
Tip 1: Allow entire day, just in case for crossing the bridge. Be prepared to wait and make sure you have some goodies to munch on the way, as there are no restaurants on the way.
Tip 2: Make sure you are crossing the border on the days when the border terminal is open. Here is the information on when the border terminal is closed: Israel borders.
In summary, The Allenby Bridge opening hours are as follows:
Sunday to Thursday: 08:00 – 22.00
Friday & Saturday: 08.00 to 11.00
Jewish Holidays & eve of Jewish Holidays: 08.00 – 11.00
At the Jordan Border Crossing
Get to the King Hussain Crossing/Allenby Bridge
Our driver dropped us the King Hussain Crossing where we saw numerous tourist buses. Few local guys approached us and our driver was talking in Arabic and these guys took our luggage and went off without communicating as they didn’t know English and put our luggage right in front of a half full bus and showed us the way to get inside the office. We weren’t so happy that our luggage was lying outside while we had to go inside without it. As normal as it sounds, there was a long line and the process was bit slow. We gave our passports via one window and waited. They called us after like 20 minutes and asked few questions and gave the passport back to us. We thought that was pretty quick.
The long wait inside the Bus
The real wait was actually inside the bus. You pay inside the bus (for number of passengers and for the bags) and until the last seat was taken, they don’t start the bus. For us, the last person to get in took a while and finally after 30 minutes we left the terminal towards the border.
Bus journey from terminal to border crossing
The journey time from one terminal to Israel entrance is itself less than ~ 15 minutes, but then the waiting time varies and depends on number of other tourist buses, and other vehicles crossing the bridge at that particular time. For us it took may be around 40-45 minutes.
At the Israel Border Crossing
We are on Israel side
As the bus slowly moved, we crossed from Jordan side and entered the Israel side. As we got down from the bus, we entered entry point of Israel, where I read that we will be asked lots of questions. We were asked about the purpose of our trip, which was tourism and duration, which was 8 days in Israel.
No stamping on the passport
Make sure you have visa to enter Israel. Some countries are issued visa upon entry and for others you need visa before you enter Israel. Israelis don’t stamp on the passport anymore, instead they give you a sheet of paper that you need to keep it inside the passport for the actual number of days you will be visiting/staying.
From the Border to Jerusalem (or to other cities)
Coming to the other side of the entry office, you will find lots of sheruts. Sheruts are shared taxis which run across Israel. Generally 9 or 10 seater mini-buses, they run both between cities and within cities, and are a popular means of transport especially between the airport and major cities as they can deliver you direct to your destination. You pay for the tickets to the driver before you enter. (Tip: Other options available are taxis and buses. US Dollars are widely accepted and we had cash in dollars to pay for border crossing and sherut)
On our way to Jerusalem
Journey from the border to Jerusalem was super exciting and it went fast. Meanwhile, I had Israel sim card that I needed to change so I could communicate with my Airbnb host that we are arriving and also to our guide, who was waiting to welcome us. Overall, a great experience crossing the border and throughout we felt both countries were friendly welcoming us.
Getting down at the Old City, Jerusalem entrance
Unfortunately, sherut doesn’t take you all the way to Jaffa Gate, which is the most busier gate among the nine gates of Jerusalem old city. Sherut dropped us off 15 minutes before Jaffa Gate, where we took a taxi to the Avis car rental
Entire Holy Land Trip Index
Trip to Israel as family was amazing. Getting to see the Holy Land which we have read and heard about since our childhood Bible story days is truly special indeed. We have put forth 50 detailed post on our DIY trip to Israel & Jordan.
Check out our entire 10 Day Trip Index of Holy Land. We would love to hear your feedback.
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