The Dead Sea · Getting there

Getting to the Dead Sea

Egged line 486 left Jerusalem's central bus station 24 times on Wednesday 12 August 2026, four times on the Friday, and not once on the Saturday.

artem belinsky / Unsplash

Jerusalem to the Ein Gedi gate

1 hr 10 min

Line 486 out of Jerusalem Central Bus Station at 05:00 reached the stop named Ein Gedi Reserve at 06:10 on Wednesday 12 August 2026

Weekday buses down from Jerusalem

24 runs of line 486 to Neve Zohar plus five of line 444 to Eilat, all calling at Ein Bokek, on Wednesday 12 August 2026

Last bus off the shore on a Friday

13:39

Line 444 northbound at the Ein Bokek stop on Friday 7 August 2026; line 486 had already finished for the week at 10:43

First bus onto the shore on a Saturday

19:18

Line 444 out of Jerusalem at 17:50 on Saturday 8 August 2026; nothing at all reached Ein Bokek before it

One road serves the Israeli shore, and almost everything about arriving here is a question about the buses that run along it. Route 90 threads the Kalia beaches, Qumran, Ein Gedi, Masada and the Ein Bokek hotel strip onto a single line, and Egged line 486 from Jerusalem calls at all of them: Kalia Beach 34 minutes out of the central bus station, the Qumran junction at 42, the Ein Gedi Reserve gate at 1 hour 10, Masada at 1 hour 32 and Ein Bokek at 1 hour 47, on the timetable published for Wednesday 12 August 2026. Nothing else in the country strings that many headline sites onto one fare.

The Tamar Regional Council, which runs the tourism side of the shore, publishes the shortlist itself: Egged 444 and 486 from Jerusalem, 421 from Tel Aviv, 384 from Beer Sheva and 444 again from Eilat. That list is accurate and it is incomplete. Metropoline line 400 also runs from Lehavim-Rahat railway station through Arad to the Ein Bokek hotels, which turns the shore into a train journey from anywhere on the coastal line, and the council's page does not mention it.

The thing that ruins the day is the week's shape. On Friday 7 August 2026 the last bus out of Ein Bokek in any direction went at 13:39. On the Saturday nothing arrived from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv until the evening, though a handful of services ran the other way from mid-afternoon. Ein Gedi, Masada and Qumran were all open both days, from eight in the morning, exactly as the Israel Nature and Parks Authority publishes. Without a car or a tour seat, Saturday is the one day the shore is easier to leave than to reach.

7 ways in

Every realistic way to reach The Dead Sea

Door to door, in the order you actually do it, with the catch stated rather than buried.

From	How	Time	Cost
Jerusalem	Intercity bus	About 2 hours 15 minutes door to door to Ein Bokek, of which 1 hour 47 minutes is on the bus; 1 hour 10 minutes if you are getting off at Ein Gedi	₪17 for a single, the published bus fare in the 40 to 75 kilometre band, or ₪33.50 for a daily bus pass in the same band
Jerusalem	Car	About half an hour to the northern end of the shore, as the Tamar Regional Council publishes it, and appreciably longer to Ein Bokek at the southern end	n/a
Tel Aviv	Intercity bus	2 hours to the Ein Bokek stop and 2 hours 12 minutes to Masada, plus the walk to the hotel at the far end	₪17 for a single: the bus fare is the same in the 40 to 75 and the 75 to 120 kilometre bands, so the longer ride from Tel Aviv costs no more than the one from Jerusalem
Tel Aviv	Train and bus	About 2 hours 45 minutes: roughly 80 minutes on the train, a 14 minute connection, and 1 hour 15 minutes on the bus	₪17 for the bus leg, plus the train, which is ₪25 in the 40 to 75 kilometre band and ₪28.50 in the 75 to 120 band
Ben Gurion Airport	Train and bus	About 3 hours if the connections fall right: 26 minutes on the train, the lifts and the walk at the far end, then 1 hour 47 minutes on the bus	₪19 or ₪25 for the train depending on which distance band it falls in, plus ₪17 for the bus down
Beer Sheva	Intercity bus	1 hour 25 minutes to Ein Bokek and 2 hours 6 minutes to the Ein Gedi field school, from the central bus station	₪17 for a single in the 40 to 75 kilometre band
Tel Aviv or Jerusalem	Organised tour	About nine and a half hours from Jerusalem, 07:30 to 17:00, and twelve from Tel Aviv, 06:30 to 18:30	From ₪320 a person out of Jerusalem and from ₪350 out of Tel Aviv, with Ein Gedi entry at ₪31 and Masada entry with the cable car both ways at ₪91 charged separately

Jerusalem to The Dead Sea
Intercity busAbout 2 hours 15 minutes door to door to Ein Bokek, of which 1 hour 47 minutes is on the bus; 1 hour 10 minutes if you are getting off at Ein Gedi
1. 1Go to Jerusalem Central Bus Station on Jaffa Road and up to the intercity platforms on level 3. The Tamar Regional Council names Egged lines 444 and 486 as the services from Jerusalem, as published on its own site.
2. 2Take line 486, signed for Neve Zohar. It left 24 times on Wednesday 12 August 2026, between 05:00 and 13:45, and the number is as published in the Ministry of Transport schedule data.
3. 3For the northern shore, get off at Kalia Beach after about 34 minutes or at Kalia Kibbutz Junction after about 42, and walk west and signposted for Qumran National Park.
4. 4For Ein Gedi, stay on to the stop called Ein Gedi Reserve, 1 hour 10 minutes out, on Route 90 about a kilometre north of the kibbutz.
5. 5For Masada, stay on to the stop called Masada, which leaves Route 90 for the eastern visitor centre and the cable car, 1 hour 32 minutes out.
6. 6For the hotels, stay on to Ein Bokek, 1 hour 47 minutes out, and get off at your own hotel's stop rather than at the one named Ein Bokek.
7. 7Line 444 to Eilat covers the same stops five times a day and is the way to fill the afternoon gap in line 486.
The catch. Line 486 runs out of the day early. Every one of its 24 southbound departures on Wednesday 12 August 2026 left Jerusalem before 14:00, and the last northbound run passed Ein Bokek at 16:58. On Friday 7 August 2026 there were four runs each way, the last down at 10:00 and the last back at 10:30, and on the Saturday none at all.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →
Jerusalem to The Dead Sea
CarAbout half an hour to the northern end of the shore, as the Tamar Regional Council publishes it, and appreciably longer to Ein Bokek at the southern end
1. 1Leave Jerusalem eastwards on Route 1 and drop through the Judaean Desert to the Almog and Beit HaArava junctions, where the road meets Route 90.
2. 2Turn south on Route 90, which runs the length of the Israeli shore and is the address the parks authority gives for Ein Gedi.
3. 3For Qumran, turn west at Kibbutz Kalia and follow the signs, which is the parks authority's own instruction.
4. 4For Ein Gedi, carry on to about a kilometre north of the kibbutz and navigate to En Gedi Nature Reserve by name rather than to the village.
5. 5For Masada, continue some 18 kilometres south of Ein Gedi to the eastern visitor centre, or another 12 kilometres beyond it to Ein Bokek.
6. 6At Ein Bokek, expect the beach car park to be regulated blue-and-white paid parking billed through Pango, and head for the upper Palms or upper Conference car parks when it is full.
The catch. The council warns on its own beach page that demand often makes a space at the central beach hard to find, and weekends and holidays are when it says the crowd arrives. Park above the strip and walk down rather than circling.
Timetable and fares at deadsea.co.il →
Tel Aviv to The Dead Sea
Intercity bus2 hours to the Ein Bokek stop and 2 hours 12 minutes to Masada, plus the walk to the hotel at the far end
1. 1Get to the bus terminal beside Tel Aviv Savidor Center railway station, on the eastern side of the station complex.
2. 2Take Egged line 421, which the Tamar Regional Council names as the service from Tel Aviv and the centre. The number is as published on the council's own page.
3. 3There were two departures on Wednesday 12 August 2026, at 06:00 and 09:00. The 06:00 ran via Arad and reached Neve Zohar at 07:56.
4. 4Get off at your hotel's stop in Ein Bokek at about 08:00, or stay on the last 12 minutes to the terminus at Masada.
5. 5Coming back, the 421 left Masada at 10:30 and 13:00 that day, calling at Ein Bokek 14 minutes later.
The catch. Two buses a day, both in the morning, and the last return leaves Masada in the early afternoon. Miss the 13:00 back and the alternatives are a 444 up to Jerusalem or the train connection at Lehavim-Rahat, neither of which ends in Tel Aviv.
Timetable and fares at deadsea.co.il →
Tel Aviv to The Dead Sea
Train and busAbout 2 hours 45 minutes: roughly 80 minutes on the train, a 14 minute connection, and 1 hour 15 minutes on the bus
1. 1Take a southbound train towards Beer Sheva from Tel Aviv Savidor Center, HaShalom or HaHagana. The 04:10 from Savidor Center called at Lehavim-Rahat at 05:31 on Wednesday 12 August 2026.
2. 2Get off at Lehavim-Rahat, the stop before Beer Sheva North. Southbound trains called there at about half past most hours that day, from 04:31 to 20:34.
3. 3Leave the platform for the bus stop at the station and take Metropoline line 400, signed for Tamar. The line number is as published on Metropoline's own page for the route.
4. 4The 400 left Lehavim-Rahat at 05:45 and at quarter to most hours until 16:45, running via the Lakiya, Hura and Kseife junctions to Arad central bus station.
5. 5Stay on past Arad down to Neve Zohar and along the hotel strip; the 05:45 reached the Ein Bokek stop at 07:00 and terminated at the Hod Hamidbar.
The catch. Metropoline 400 did not run at all on Friday 7 August 2026, and its last northbound run left the hotels at 14:25 even on a weekday. The connection is tight rather than generous: trains at :31, bus at :45, and nothing for an hour if you miss it.
Timetable and fares at metropoline.com →
Ben Gurion Airport to The Dead Sea
Train and busAbout 3 hours if the connections fall right: 26 minutes on the train, the lifts and the walk at the far end, then 1 hour 47 minutes on the bus
1. 1From Terminal 3, follow signs down to the railway station and take a train towards Jerusalem. The 09:26 from the airport reached Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon at 09:52 on Wednesday 12 August 2026.
2. 2Allow real time to get out at Navon. The platforms sit 80 metres below street level, which makes it the deepest heavy-rail passenger station in the world, and the lifts are the only way up.
3. 3Walk across to Jerusalem Central Bus Station, which is adjacent to the station above ground, and go up to the intercity platforms on level 3.
4. 4Take Egged line 486 to Neve Zohar or line 444 to Eilat, and get off at Ein Gedi, Masada or your hotel stop in Ein Bokek.
5. 5If the last 486 has gone, line 444 leaves later in the afternoon, and on a Saturday it is the only thing that runs at all.
The catch. The bus, not the train, sets the deadline. The last 486 left Jerusalem at 13:45 on that Wednesday, so an afternoon landing means a night in Jerusalem or a hire car. The council gives about an hour and a half for the drive from the airport to Ein Bokek.
Timetable and fares at deadsea.co.il →
Beer Sheva to The Dead Sea
Intercity bus1 hour 25 minutes to Ein Bokek and 2 hours 6 minutes to the Ein Gedi field school, from the central bus station
1. 1Start at Beer Sheva central bus station, at the intercity platforms beside the railway station.
2. 2Take Egged line 384, which the Tamar Regional Council names as the service from Beer Sheva. The number is as published on the council's page.
3. 3It ran five times on Wednesday 12 August 2026, at 03:20, 05:20, 06:20, 09:20 and 12:35, calling at Arad central bus station on the way.
4. 4The 05:20 reached Arad at 06:10, the Ein Bokek stop at 06:45, Masada at 07:00 and the Ein Gedi field school at 07:26.
5. 5Returning, the 384 left the field school at 06:15, 08:15, 09:15, 12:15 and 15:30 that day, so the last bus back to Beer Sheva goes in the middle of the afternoon.
The catch. Three runs each way on Friday 7 August 2026 and nothing on the Saturday. The 15:30 return is the whole afternoon: after it, the only northbound options are the Jerusalem lines, which do not go to Beer Sheva.
Timetable and fares at deadsea.co.il →
Tel Aviv or Jerusalem to The Dead Sea
Organised tourAbout nine and a half hours from Jerusalem, 07:30 to 17:00, and twelve from Tel Aviv, 06:30 to 18:30
1. 1Book the Masada, Ein Gedi and Dead Sea day tour with Abraham Tours, choosing the Jerusalem or the Tel Aviv departure.
2. 2From Jerusalem, the pickup is at the Abraham hostel lobby on Davidka Square at 07:30; from Tel Aviv it is at Abraham Tel Aviv at 06:30.
3. 3The itinerary reaches Masada at about 09:00 and goes up by cable car, so the climb is not part of this version.
4. 4Ein Gedi follows at about 11:00, cut short to the first waterfall when the reserve is partly closed, with Qumran substituted if the wadi is flooded.
5. 5The Dead Sea float is at about 13:00, and the coach is back in Jerusalem by 17:00 or Tel Aviv by 18:30.
6. 6The operator describes it as self-guided, meaning transport and entry logistics without a guide, and says prices move with demand.
The catch. The entry fees are not in the headline price: Ein Gedi and Masada with the cable car are charged on top, and the operator states plainly that the tour price itself is dynamic. It is also the only one of these options that works reliably on a Saturday.
Timetable and fares at abrahamtours.com →

The car

A car buys the northern shore and the hour before the crowds

The buses are good enough that a car is not the obvious answer here, which is unusual for an Israeli desert destination. Line 486 stops at the gate of every ticketed site on the route and inside the hotel strip, and it runs often enough on a weekday that a missed bus costs twenty minutes rather than two hours. If the plan is Ein Bokek for two nights, or Ein Gedi and back, the car is a cost with no matching benefit.

It earns its keep in three places. The first is time of day: Masada's Snake Path opens for the ascent about an hour before sunrise and the parks authority closes it as early as seven in the morning in extreme heat, well before the first bus of the day gets there. The second is Friday and Saturday, when a car is the only thing that behaves normally. The third is anything off Route 90.

Distances along Route 90 are short and the parks authority publishes them: Masada is some 18 kilometres south of Ein Gedi and 12 kilometres from Ein Bokek to the cable car on the Dead Sea side. Qumran is reached by turning west at Kibbutz Kalia and following the signs; Ein Gedi is on Route 90 about a kilometre north of the kibbutz, and the authority asks drivers to navigate to the reserve by name rather than to the village.

Parking is the one place the car bites back. The council's own page for the Ein Bokek central beach says the beach car park is regulated blue-and-white paid parking billed through the Pango app, and warns in the same breath that demand often makes a space hard to find, pointing instead at the upper Palms car park and the upper Conference car park a short walk above the strip. On a Saturday or a holiday, plan on using them.

The system

One card, six distance bands, and a weekend that stops at lunchtime

Israeli buses and trains are paid for with a Rav-Kav, a reloadable card that replaced paper tickets. Egged describes the personal version as embossed with the holder's name and photograph and non-transferable; anonymous and semi-anonymous cards exist for visitors who do not want to register one. Since the start of 2026 there has also been a credit card option: Egged began accepting contactless cards and phone wallets at the validators on 11 January 2026 in Eilat and from 18 January 2026 in Jerusalem and the Haifa metropolitan area, as a pilot rather than a nationwide switch.

Fares stopped depending on the route in August 2022. Under the Derekh Shava reform they are set by the straight-line distance travelled and the mode, in bands of 15, 40, 75, 120 and 225 kilometres. The table published with the 2024 update prices a single bus journey at ₪17 in both the 40 to 75 and the 75 to 120 kilometre band, which is the useful accident here: the ride down from Jerusalem and the much longer one from Tel Aviv cost the same. A daily bus pass in those bands is ₪33.50, so it pays for itself on the third validation of the day, and the combined bus and train daily pass is ₪39 or ₪44 depending on the band.

Then there is Shabbat. Intercity buses largely stop from Friday afternoon until Saturday night, and on this road the shutdown is early and near total. Line 486 ran four times each way on Friday 7 August 2026, the last departure from Jerusalem at 10:00 and the last from Neve Zohar at 10:30. Line 444, which continues to Eilat and therefore keeps a Saturday service, carried on a little later: its final Friday calls at Ein Bokek were 13:33 southbound and 13:39 northbound.

Saturday is stranger than a simple closure. Nothing at all called at the Ein Bokek stops on 8 August 2026 until 14:44, when the line 421 back to Tel Aviv came through from Masada. Line 444 from Eilat then passed northbound hourly from 15:09, and a single 486 went up to Jerusalem at 17:48. In the other direction the first southbound service, a 444 that left Jerusalem at 17:50, did not reach Ein Bokek until 19:18. A traveller already on the shore can get home on a Saturday afternoon. A traveller in Jerusalem cannot get down.

The road

Route 90 is the timetable, and the stop names are not the site names

Because every service uses the same road, the practical skill is knowing which stop belongs to which site, and the names do not always help. Qumran is served by a stop called Kalia Kibbutz Junction on Route 90, from which the national park is signposted west. Ein Gedi has a stop called Ein Gedi Reserve for southbound buses, but the northbound stop on the other side of the road is named Nahal David Field School, so asking for the reserve on the way home gets a blank look. Masada has its own stop, off the highway at the eastern visitor centre, along with two junction stops on Route 90 that are not it.

Frequency is not evenly spread along the day, and this is the detail that catches people out. On Wednesday 12 August 2026 line 486 made 24 southbound runs, but they all left Jerusalem between 05:00 and 13:45. The 21 northbound runs were the mirror image, the last leaving Neve Zohar at 16:45 and passing the Ein Bokek stop at 16:58. Line 444 fills a little of the afternoon gap in each direction, and line 487 adds a single evening run down to Kibbutz Ein Gedi.

The northern beaches are the easiest thing to reach and the least often attempted. Kalia Beach has a stop of its own, and on that Wednesday the 486 called there 24 times southbound and 21 times northbound, the last northbound call at the Qumran junction at 18:03.

Line 421 from Tel Aviv is a different animal: two departures, both in the morning, from the bus terminal beside Savidor Center railway station, running via Arad to Ein Bokek and terminating at Masada. On 12 August 2026 it left at 06:00 and 09:00 and came back from Masada at 10:30 and 13:00. If both have gone, the answer is the train.

On arrival

Inside Ein Bokek you walk, and outside it you wait

Ein Bokek is compact and the buses treat it as a string of hotel doors rather than a town. The 486, 384 and 400 all call at the Leonardo Club, Leonardo Plaza, Herods, Neve Zohar, Oasis, Lot and Hod Hamidbar stops in turn, with the commercial centre in the middle, so it is worth naming the hotel to the driver instead of getting off at the stop called Ein Bokek. On foot the whole strip is a promenade walk, and the council's central beach sits in the middle of it with free chairs, umbrellas, showers, changing rooms and toilets.

Between sites, the same buses are the local service. Ein Bokek to Masada took 12 to 15 minutes on the 486 and the 384, and Ein Bokek to the Ein Gedi gate a little over half an hour. That makes a hotel in the strip a workable base for the whole shore on a Sunday to Thursday itinerary, so long as the return is planned around the afternoon runs rather than assumed.

Two bookings should be made before you leave. The parks authority requires separate reservations for the Wadi David and Wadi Arugot trails at Ein Gedi, and it has been running the reserve with parts closed after flood damage, so its information line on *3639 is worth a call before the bus. Masada's museum is entry by reservation only, and the last cable car up goes an hour before the park closes.

For anything off the bus route, or for a Friday afternoon, a taxi is the fallback. The council's own tourism site lists a single driver, based at Kibbutz Ein Gedi, under its public transport heading.

Salt crystals crusting the turquoise shallows of the Dead Sea

Practical

What to know before you go

Work backwards from the last bus north. On Wednesday 12 August 2026 line 486 passed the Ein Bokek stop for Jerusalem at 16:58 and line 444 at 16:54, and after those the shore is a taxi or a hotel room.
Ask for the field school, not the reserve, on the way home from Ein Gedi. The northbound stop across Route 90 is called Nahal David Field School, and the name Ein Gedi Reserve belongs only to the southbound side.
Buy the daily pass rather than singles the moment you plan more than two rides. In the 40 to 75 kilometre band a single bus journey is ₪17 and the day pass is ₪33.50.
Reserve Ein Gedi's Wadi David and Wadi Arugot trails before you get on the bus, and ring the parks authority on *3639 first: flood damage has closed parts of the reserve for long stretches.
Name your hotel to the driver at Ein Bokek. The 486, 384 and 400 stop at each one along the strip, so getting off at the stop called Ein Bokek can mean a walk with a suitcase in the heat.
From Tel Aviv, treat line 421 as a morning-only option. If both departures have gone, the train to Lehavim-Rahat and Metropoline 400 keeps running all day from Sunday to Thursday.
Park above the strip at Ein Bokek rather than at the beach. The regional council itself points visitors at the upper Palms and upper Conference car parks because the blue-and-white bays below fill up.
Carry a Rav-Kav even if your card works. Egged's contactless card and phone-wallet validation is a pilot that began on 11 January 2026 in Eilat and 18 January 2026 in Jerusalem and Haifa, not a nationwide rollout.

artem belinsky / Unsplash

The figures

Numbers behind this page

Each figure carries the year it belongs to and links the source it came from.

Measure	Figure	As of	Source
Line 486 departures from Jerusalem Central Bus Station	24 on a Wednesday, 4 on a Friday, none on a Saturday	2026-08	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Jerusalem Central Bus Station to the Ein Gedi Reserve stop, line 486	1 hour 10 minutes	2026-08-12	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Tel Aviv Savidor Center to Ein Bokek, line 421	2 hours, twice a day	2026-08-12	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Lehavim-Rahat railway station to Ein Bokek, Metropoline line 400	1 hour 15 minutes	2026-08-12	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Last bus out of Ein Bokek on a Friday	13:39	2026-08-07	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
First bus into Ein Bokek on a Saturday	19:18	2026-08-08	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Single bus fare, 40 to 120 kilometre bands	₪17	2024-07	ravkavonline.co.il
Ein Bokek to the Masada cable car	12 km	2026-08	en.parks.org.il

The rest of the The Dead Sea guide

Things to do in The Dead Sea →Where to eat in The Dead Sea →Where to stay in The Dead Sea →The best time to visit The Dead Sea →

Sources and further reading

Every link below was opened and checked when this page was written. Official statements are marked as such: they are the subject's own account, not an independent one.

OfficialDead Sea Land, Tamar Regional Councildeadsea.co.il
On the Map
The site operator's own transport page, naming Egged lines 444 and 486 from Jerusalem, 421 from Tel Aviv and the centre, 384 from Beer Sheva and 444 from Eilat, with driving times of about half an hour from Jerusalem to the northern shore and about an hour and a half from Ben Gurion Airport to Ein Bokek
OfficialDead Sea Land, Tamar Regional Councildeadsea.co.il
Ein Bokek Central Beach
Free chairs, umbrellas, showers, changing rooms and toilets provided by the council, and the parking position: regulated blue-and-white bays paid through Pango, with the upper Palms and upper Conference car parks as the overflow
OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.il
En Gedi Nature Reserve
The reserve's own directions, along Road 90 about a kilometre north of Kibbutz En Gedi, the 08:00 opening, the separate reservations required for Wadi David and Wadi Arugot, the flood closures and the *3639 information line
OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.il
Masada National Park
Some 18 km south of Ein Gedi and 12 km from Ein Bokek to the cable car, the last cable car an hour before closing, and the Snake Path ascent times in hot weather
OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.il
Qumran National Park
The instruction to drive Road 90 and turn west at Kibbutz Kalya following the signs, and the 08:00 opening on Saturdays as well as weekdays
OfficialMinistry of Transportbus.gov.il
National Public Transport Authority
The state journey planner, cited as the operator-side timetable for every bus line and train service named on this page
OfficialRav-Kav Onlineravkavonline.co.il
2024 public transportation fares update
The fare table by distance band: ₪17 for a single bus journey in both the 40 to 75 and 75 to 120 km bands, ₪33.50 for the daily bus pass, and ₪39 and ₪44 for the combined bus and train daily pass
OfficialRav-Kav Onlineravkavonline.co.il
Derekh Shava reform in public transport
How the August 2022 reform replaced route pricing with straight-line distance bands of 15, 40, 75, 120 and 225 km
OfficialEggedegged.co.il
Rav-Kav and payment apps
What the Rav-Kav is, the personal, anonymous and semi-anonymous versions, and the credit card validation pilot starting 11 January 2026 in Eilat and 18 January 2026 in Jerusalem and the Haifa metropolitan area
OfficialMetropolinemetropoline.com
Line 400, Lehavim to Tamar
The operator's own page for the line, confirming that it starts at Lehavim-Rahat railway station and runs via the Lakiya, Hura and Kseife junctions and Arad to the Dead Sea hotels
OfficialAbraham Toursabrahamtours.com
Masada, Ein Gedi and Dead Sea Tour from Jerusalem
From ₪320 a person, 07:30 pickup at Davidka Square, back at 17:00, self-guided, with Ein Gedi entry at ₪31 and Masada with the cable car both ways at ₪91 excluded
OfficialAbraham Toursabrahamtours.com
Masada, Ein Gedi and Dead Sea Tour from Tel Aviv
From ₪350 a person, 06:30 pickup in Tel Aviv, Masada at about 09:00, Ein Gedi at about 11:00, the Dead Sea at about 13:00 and back at 18:30
DataThe Public Knowledge Workshopopen-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Open Bus Stride API
The Ministry of Transport schedule feed, queried at stop level for every departure time, journey time and departure count quoted here for Wednesday 12 August, Friday 7 August and Saturday 8 August 2026
ReferenceWikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Jerusalem-Yitzhak Navon railway station
Platforms 80 metres below street level, the deepest heavy-rail passenger station in the world, and its position adjacent to Jerusalem Central Bus Station and the light rail

Getting to the Dead Sea: common questions

How do you get from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea?+

Egged line 486 from Jerusalem Central Bus Station, which the Tamar Regional Council names along with line 444. It calls at Kalia Beach, the Qumran junction, Ein Gedi, Masada and every hotel in Ein Bokek, taking 1 hour 10 minutes to the Ein Gedi gate and 1 hour 47 minutes to Ein Bokek on the timetable for Wednesday 12 August 2026. Line 444 to Eilat covers the same stops five times a day.

Can you reach the Dead Sea from Tel Aviv without a car?+

Yes, in two ways, and the direct one is thin. Egged line 421 runs from the terminal beside Tel Aviv Savidor Center station to Ein Bokek and Masada, but there were only two departures on Wednesday 12 August 2026, at 06:00 and 09:00. The alternative is a train south to Lehavim-Rahat and Metropoline line 400 through Arad, which runs about hourly from Sunday to Thursday and takes 1 hour 15 minutes from the station to Ein Bokek.

Is there a train to the Dead Sea?+

No, but the train gets you close. There is no railway on the Dead Sea shore at all; the nearest useful station is Lehavim-Rahat, north of Beer Sheva, where Metropoline line 400 connects through Arad to the Ein Bokek hotels. Southbound trains called at Lehavim-Rahat at about half past most hours on Wednesday 12 August 2026, and the bus left at quarter to.

Can you get to the Dead Sea on Shabbat?+

Not from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv by bus, though you can get back. On Saturday 8 August 2026 nothing called at the Ein Bokek stops until 14:44, and the first southbound service from Jerusalem, a line 444 that left at 17:50, did not arrive until 19:18. Northbound there were six 444 runs from Eilat between 15:09 and 20:39 plus one 486 at 17:48, so a visitor already on the shore had a way home from mid-afternoon.

What is the last bus back from the Dead Sea?+

On a weekday, late afternoon; on a Friday, lunchtime. Line 486 passed the Ein Bokek stop northbound for the last time at 16:58 on Wednesday 12 August 2026, with line 444 at 16:54. On Friday 7 August 2026 the last bus off the shore in any direction was the 444 at 13:39, and line 486 had already stopped for the week at 10:43.

Do you need a car at the Dead Sea?+

No, if you are staying at Ein Bokek or visiting Ein Gedi, Masada or Qumran on a weekday. Every one of those has a bus stop on Route 90 or on the road into it, and lines 486, 444 and 384 serve them repeatedly through the morning. A car earns its keep for a pre-dawn start on Masada, for the northern beaches away from the bus route, and for anything on a Friday afternoon or a Saturday.

Which bus stops at Ein Gedi and Masada?+

Lines 486, 444 and 384 all call at both, and line 421 from Tel Aviv terminates at Masada. Southbound at Ein Gedi the stop is called Ein Gedi Reserve; northbound the stop on the other side of Route 90 is called Nahal David Field School, which is the commonest way to end up waiting in the wrong place. Masada has a stop of its own at the eastern visitor centre, plus two junction stops on Route 90 that are not it.

How much does the bus cost?+

₪17 for a single, in the 40 to 75 and 75 to 120 kilometre bands alike, so the ride from Jerusalem and the longer one from Tel Aviv are priced the same. A daily bus pass in those bands is ₪33.50 and a combined bus and train daily pass is ₪39 or ₪44. Fares have been set by straight-line distance rather than by route since the Derekh Shava reform of August 2022.

Can you do the Dead Sea as a day trip from Tel Aviv?+

Yes, but only on the 06:00 bus or with a tour. Line 421 leaves Tel Aviv Savidor Center at 06:00, reaches Ein Bokek at 08:00 and Masada at 08:12, and the last return leaves Masada at 13:00. An organised day tour stretches the day considerably: Abraham Tours picks up in Tel Aviv at 06:30 and is back at 18:30, from ₪350 a person with site entry charged separately.

Where do you park at Ein Bokek?+

In the regulated blue-and-white bays at the central beach, paid through the Pango app, or in the overflow car parks above the strip. The Tamar Regional Council's own page for the beach warns that demand often makes a space hard to find and points visitors to the upper Palms car park, which it locates in Waze opposite the Taj Mahal restaurant, and the upper Conference car park beside it.