Jaffa · Getting there

Getting to Jaffa

Jaffa lost its own railway station in 1948, and since August 2023 the nearest thing to a station has been the Red Line's Shalma stop, about 430 metres east of the clock tower.

Shai Pal / Unsplash

Nearest working railway station

2.8 km

Tel Aviv HaHagana to the Jaffa clock tower in a straight line. Jaffa's own station closed on 15 August 1948

Light rail to the clock tower

430 m

The Red Line's Shalma station, signed in Hebrew as Shlomo, which took 333 tram calls on Tuesday 11 August 2026

Bus calls at the clock tower and flea market

1,552

Across the four stops named for them on Tuesday 11 August 2026, against 785 on Friday 7 August and 173 on Saturday 8 August

Municipal car park at Beit HaEtzel

₪36

Single entry valid 24 hours, 260 spaces, open around the clock, as published by Ahuzot HaHof and read on 13 August 2026

Jaffa has not had a railway station since 1948. The one it did have opened on 24 May 1891 as the coastal terminus of the Jaffa to Jerusalem line and closed on 15 August 1948; the buildings were restored between 2005 and 2009 and now trade as HaTachana, just over the boundary on the Tel Aviv side. Every arrival in Jaffa today therefore finishes on a tram, a bus, a bicycle or a pair of feet.

What changed the arithmetic was the Red Line light rail, which opened on 18 August 2023 and runs 24 kilometres from Petah Tikva to Bat Yam by way of Jaffa. Its Shalma station, signed in Hebrew as Shlomo, sits about 430 metres east of the clock tower in a straight line, and the tram from Allenby was scheduled at seven minutes on Tuesday 11 August 2026. The nearest working railway station, Tel Aviv HaHagana, is about 2.8 kilometres from the clock tower, which is a bus rather than a walk.

The third thing to settle before booking anything is the weekend, because it is the part of Israeli travel that most reliably ruins a plan. Intercity public transport largely stops from Friday afternoon until Saturday night. Jaffa is luckier than most places in the country, because Tel Aviv-Yafo funds a free weekend bus network and three of its published routes come here, but the windows are narrow and the stop signs do not show them.

7 ways in

Every realistic way to reach Jaffa

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

From	How	Time	Cost
Central Tel Aviv	Train and bus	About 25 to 35 minutes door to door from the Rothschild or Carmel Market end of town: 7 minutes on the tram from Allenby to Shalma, plus the walk at both ends	₪8 buys 90 minutes of travel inside Tel Aviv-Yafo on the municipality's figure, and Jaffa is inside the city
Tel Aviv on Shabbat	Intercity bus	Not published as a journey time. The municipality's free weekend buses run roughly half-hourly inside their windows, which is the binding constraint rather than the distance	Free. The municipality states that the weekend service is offered free of charge and that passengers may move between the lines at no cost
Ben Gurion Airport	Train and bus	About an hour door to door: 9 to 12 minutes on the train to Tel Aviv HaHagana, 9 to 13 on the bus, plus the walk down to the platforms, the change on the street outside, and the wait at each end	₪11.50 for a single Tel Aviv-Yafo to Ben Gurion Airport journey including the train, or ₪23 for a daily pass, as published on Rav-Kav Online's visitor page on 13 August 2026
Jerusalem	Train and bus	About 1 hour 15 minutes door to door: 30 to 35 minutes on the train to Tel Aviv HaHagana and 9 on the bus, plus the long descent to the platforms at Navon	₪27 for a single Tel Aviv-Yafo to Jerusalem journey including the train, or ₪42 for a daily pass, as published on Rav-Kav Online's visitor page on 13 August 2026
Jerusalem	Intercity bus	About 1 hour 25 minutes door to door: 49 minutes scheduled to Arlozorov, plus the security queue at the Jerusalem end and 23 minutes on Dan 18	n/a
Haifa	Train and bus	About 1 hour 45 minutes door to door: 74 to 79 minutes on the train to Tel Aviv HaHagana and 9 on the bus, plus the walk to Haifa Merkaz HaShmona at the start	₪30.50 for a single Tel Aviv-Yafo to Haifa journey including the train, or ₪47 for a daily pass, as published on Rav-Kav Online's visitor page on 13 August 2026
By road, from anywhere	Car	About 15 minutes from central Tel Aviv outside the peak and about 25 to 30 from Ben Gurion Airport, plus however long it takes to put the car somewhere legal	₪36 for a single entry valid 24 hours at the municipal Beit HaEtzel car park, as published by Ahuzot HaHof and read on 13 August 2026, with the first 15 minutes free

Central Tel Aviv to Jaffa
Train and busAbout 25 to 35 minutes door to door from the Rothschild or Carmel Market end of town: 7 minutes on the tram from Allenby to Shalma, plus the walk at both ends
1. 1Walk to a Red Line stop. Allenby, at the southern end of the underground section, is the usual one for the centre of town.
2. 2Take a southbound tram towards HaKomemiyut in Bat Yam. Line 1 is the only Red Line service; 164 southbound trams called at Shalma on Tuesday 11 August 2026, the first at 00:38 and the last at 23:51.
3. 3Get off at Shalma, signed in Hebrew as Shlomo. Allenby to Shalma was scheduled at 7 minutes and Arlozorov to Shalma at 14, in the Ministry of Transport timetable feed for that date.
4. 4Walk west about 430 metres in a straight line to the clock tower, which is where the flea market and the old town both start.
5. 5For the harbour rather than the old town, stay on one stop further to Bloomfield Stadium and walk about 760 metres down to the quay.
The catch. Nothing on rails gets closer than this, and the last 700 metres to Kedumim Square is the climb up the headland on cobbles and steps. The Friday cut-off is early: the last tram called at Shalma at 17:48 on Friday 7 August 2026, and the first one on the Saturday not until 21:51.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →
Tel Aviv on Shabbat to Jaffa
Intercity busNot published as a journey time. The municipality's free weekend buses run roughly half-hourly inside their windows, which is the binding constraint rather than the distance
1. 1Check the clock first. The free network runs on Fridays between 17:00 and 02:00 and on Saturdays between 09:30 and 18:00. Outside those hours there is neither a free bus nor a train.
2. 2Pick one of the three lines whose published route reaches Jaffa: 705 from Givatayim, 706 from Kiryat Shaul, 707 from Sokolov in Ramat HaSharon. The numbers are as published on the municipality's own list of weekend routes.
3. 3For the old town and the flea market, ride 705 or 706 and get off at the Flea Market stop. Both run in by way of HaTachana.
4. 4For the harbour, ride 706 or 707 to Yehuda Marguza and Jaffa Port, which is where both of those routes end their Jaffa section.
5. 5After 18:00 on Saturday, wait for the ordinary network to restart: the first Dan 18 called at the flea market stop at 18:37 on Saturday 8 August 2026 and the first tram at Shalma at 21:51.
The catch. The electronic signs at the stops do not show the weekend service's times, so an app is the only live source. The Saturday window closes at 18:00, and on 8 August 2026 the gap before the first ordinary bus was a little over half an hour and before the first tram nearly four hours. Those restart times track sunset and are earlier in winter.
Timetable and fares at tel-aviv.gov.il →
Ben Gurion Airport to Jaffa
Train and busAbout an hour door to door: 9 to 12 minutes on the train to Tel Aviv HaHagana, 9 to 13 on the bus, plus the walk down to the platforms, the change on the street outside, and the wait at each end
1. 1Follow the signs down to the railway station, which is on the lower level of Terminal 3 rather than a shuttle ride away, and buy or load a Rav-Kav at the machines before the barrier.
2. 2Take a northbound train to Tel Aviv HaHagana. 71 direct services ran on Tuesday 11 August 2026, the first at 05:38 and the last at 23:23, scheduled at 9 to 12 minutes.
3. 3Leave the station on the street side. HaHagana is the closest working railway station to Jaffa and it is still about 2.8 kilometres from the clock tower, so this is a bus and not a walk.
4. 4Take Dan 54 towards the Carmelit terminal, scheduled at 9 minutes to the clock tower stop, with 74 departures that Tuesday between 05:55 and 23:33.
5. 5Or take Dan 46 towards Bat Yam, scheduled at 13 minutes to Yehuda Margoza on Yefet Street, about 450 metres from the clock tower, with 71 departures between 00:29 and 23:44. Both numbers are as published in the Ministry of Transport feed for that date.
The catch. Between midnight and about 05:00 the airport trains keep running but they call in Tel Aviv only at Savidor Center, which is 5.2 kilometres from Jaffa, so a late landing is a taxi rather than a change. No train serves the airport at all during Shabbat. The airport's own page lists route 445 as the Tel Aviv bus; in the timetable feed it is run by Metropoline and it terminates at the Reading terminal in north Tel Aviv, which is the wrong end of the city for Jaffa.
Timetable and fares at iaa.gov.il →
Jerusalem to Jaffa
Train and busAbout 1 hour 15 minutes door to door: 30 to 35 minutes on the train to Tel Aviv HaHagana and 9 on the bus, plus the long descent to the platforms at Navon
1. 1Go to Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon station beside the International Convention Centre and allow time for the lifts, because the platforms are deep underground.
2. 2Take a westbound train through to Tel Aviv HaHagana. 37 ran that way on Tuesday 11 August 2026, the first at 05:35 and the last at 23:02, scheduled at 30 to 35 minutes and calling at Ben Gurion Airport on the way.
3. 3At HaHagana, walk out to the bus stops on the road, about 130 metres from the platforms.
4. 4Take Dan 54 towards the Carmelit terminal for the clock tower stop, 9 minutes, or Dan 46 towards Bat Yam for Yehuda Margoza on Yefet Street, 13 minutes.
5. 5If you would rather do it in one bus, stay on the train to Tel Aviv Merkaz (Savidor Center), 35 to 46 minutes, and take Dan 18 south from the station forecourt.
The catch. Friday closes at both ends and the second one is the trap. The last train to call at Tel Aviv Merkaz on Friday 7 August 2026 was at 17:03, but the last southbound Dan 18 had already reached the Jaffa flea market at 17:22, so a late train leaves a traveller in Tel Aviv rather than in Jaffa. The first train back after Shabbat was 21:39 on the Saturday evening.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →
Jerusalem to Jaffa
Intercity busAbout 1 hour 25 minutes door to door: 49 minutes scheduled to Arlozorov, plus the security queue at the Jerusalem end and 23 minutes on Dan 18
1. 1Go to the third-floor platforms at Jerusalem Central Bus Station on Jaffa Road and find Egged line 480, signed for Tel Aviv. The number is as published in the Ministry of Transport timetable feed for 11 August 2026.
2. 236 departures ran that Tuesday, the first at 05:45 and the last at 22:55, each scheduled at 49 minutes end to end.
3. 3Get off at the terminus beside Tel Aviv Savidor Center railway station, which is the 2000 Terminal at Arlozorov.
4. 4Cross to platform C outside the railway station and take Dan 18 south. It was scheduled at 23 minutes to the flea market stop, with 118 departures that day between 00:32 and 23:47, and it runs down past Jerusalem Beach and Banana Beach on the way.
5. 5Or walk south past the bus terminal to the Red Line's Arlozorov station and take a southbound tram to Shalma, 14 minutes, then walk 430 metres west.
The catch. Rav-Kav Online publishes ₪27 for Tel Aviv-Yafo to Jerusalem including the train and no separate bus-only price, so check what the reader shows rather than assuming. The 480 outlasts the railway on a Friday, still leaving Jerusalem at 17:00 on 7 August 2026 and restarting at 20:50 on the Saturday, but that does not help at the Jaffa end: the last Dan 18 had gone by 17:22, and the substitute is one of the free municipal weekend buses.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →
Haifa to Jaffa
Train and busAbout 1 hour 45 minutes door to door: 74 to 79 minutes on the train to Tel Aviv HaHagana and 9 on the bus, plus the walk to Haifa Merkaz HaShmona at the start
1. 1Board a southbound train at Haifa Merkaz HaShmona, beside the port. 52 ran through to Tel Aviv HaHagana on Tuesday 11 August 2026, the first at 04:54 and the last at 22:25.
2. 2The run was scheduled at 74 to 79 minutes, coming down the coast through Hof HaCarmel, Binyamina, Netanya and Herzliya depending on the service.
3. 3Stay on past Tel Aviv University, Savidor Center and HaShalom. HaHagana is the fourth and southernmost of the city's stations and the only one worth using for Jaffa.
4. 4Change on the street outside, about 130 metres from the platforms, to Dan 54 for the clock tower stop (9 minutes) or Dan 46 for Yehuda Margoza on Yefet Street (13 minutes).
5. 5Coming back the same day, work backwards from the last train rather than the last bus, and allow the full change at HaHagana.
The catch. A Saturday day trip from Haifa to Jaffa is a car or nothing. The last train to call at Tel Aviv Merkaz on Friday 7 August 2026 was at 17:03 and the first afterwards at 21:39 the following evening, and the last southbound Dan 18 into Jaffa that Friday left the flea market stop at 17:22.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →
By road, from anywhere to Jaffa
CarAbout 15 minutes from central Tel Aviv outside the peak and about 25 to 30 from Ben Gurion Airport, plus however long it takes to put the car somewhere legal
1. 1Do not set the destination to Kedumim Square. The old town is a hill of stepped and cobbled lanes and there is nothing at the top to leave a car on.
2. 2Set it instead to the municipal Beit HaEtzel car park at Nachum Goldman 2, which Ahuzot HaHof publishes as 260 spaces, open 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
3. 3Pay by card or phone. Ahuzot HaHof states that this car park takes credit cards and digital mobile payment and does not take cash, and that the first 15 minutes are free.
4. 4Walk in from there. Nachum Goldman runs north-east from the clock tower, and the clock tower is where the flea market and the old town both begin.
5. 5If it is full, do not fall back on the kerb. Non-residents may park on blue and white kerbs only between 09:00 and 17:00, and the municipality warns that rental car companies will not pay the fine for you.
The catch. The evening is the pinch, because the blue and white kerbs close to non-residents at 17:00, which is precisely when Jaffa fills up for dinner. Municipal car park prices went up 20 per cent on 1 August 2026, so any figure quoted in an older guide is now low. And a car does nothing for the last part of the journey: Old Jaffa is walked, whatever the map suggests.
Timetable and fares at ahuzot.co.il →

The car

The lanes above the harbour were not built for one

Old Jaffa is a hill of stepped, cobbled lanes rising from the harbour to the HaPisga garden, and nothing usefully drives up it. A car brings a visitor to the edge of Jaffa and no further, and then has to stand somewhere for the rest of the day. That standing is the whole problem.

The municipal answer is the car park. Ahuzot HaHof, the parking company wholly owned by the municipality, lists ten car parks in Jaffa. The one nearest the old town is Beit HaEtzel at Nachum Goldman 2: 260 spaces, open 24 hours a day and seven days a week, cards and mobile payment but no cash, the first 15 minutes free, and a single entry at ₪36 valid for 24 hours from the moment the car goes in. Residents of Tel Aviv-Yafo take 75 per cent off that figure. Visitors do not.

The kerb is worse than it looks. Non-residents may park on blue and white kerbs, paying, only between 09:00 and 17:00; between 17:00 and 09:00 parking there is prohibited unless a sign says otherwise, and red and white kerbs are never available. Street payment is by Easypark, Cellopark or Pango, none designed around a foreign phone number. The municipality's advice to anyone unfamiliar with the zone system is to use car parks rather than the street, and it adds, in as many words, that rental car companies will not pay the parking fine for you.

Prices have moved recently and in one direction: the municipality raised charges at its own car parks by 20 per cent on 1 August 2026, taking the non-resident hourly price from ₪20 to ₪24 and the one-time and evening price from ₪30 to ₪36. Where a car earns its keep is everything the trains do not reach: Caesarea, the Galilee, the Negev, and any Saturday itinerary at all. For a day in Jaffa it is a liability.

The system

One card, eight shekels, ninety minutes

Everything except a taxi runs on the Rav-Kav, the national smart card, and for fare purposes Jaffa is simply part of Tel Aviv-Yafo. The municipality states that visitors generally use the anonymous card, which needs no personal details and costs a one-time ₪5. Buses and trams also take a credit card or Apple Pay tapped directly, which is the shortest route to a first journey for anyone landing without a card.

The city fare is the one worth memorising. The municipality's figure is that ₪8 buys as many buses as you like inside Tel Aviv within a 90-minute window. Rav-Kav Online, the licensed card service, publishes the same ₪8 for a ride inside the city, ₪17.50 for a day pass without the train and ₪23 for one with it, and states that children under five travel free. Those were the figures on the page when this guide was checked on 13 August 2026; it carries no date of its own, which is a reason to look before you load rather than after.

Longer journeys are priced between places rather than by leg. Rav-Kav Online lists the three that matter here as Tel Aviv-Yafo to Ben Gurion Airport at ₪11.50 single and ₪23 for a daily pass, Tel Aviv-Yafo to Jerusalem at ₪27 and ₪42, and Tel Aviv-Yafo to Haifa at ₪30.50 and ₪47, each including the train. Jaffa being part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, the same ticket should carry the last bus or tram as well, but the reader on the vehicle is the authority on that and this page is not.

Neither big operator publishes a price list a visitor can use. Dan's own fares page sets out the pass types and the concessions (free travel from 67, half fare from 62, half fare for children and youth on the national pass) and then sends readers to the Ministry of Transport's fare calculator for the number. That is why every figure quoted above carries the date it was read.

The weekend

What stops on Friday afternoon, and the three free buses that do not

The Ministry of Transport timetable feed shows what the Shabbat shutdown meant in Jaffa on the weekend of 7 and 8 August 2026. Across the four bus stops named for the clock tower and the flea market there were 1,552 calls on the Tuesday, 785 on the Friday and 173 on the Saturday. The Red Line called at Shalma 333 times, then 158, then 27.

The edges matter more than the totals. The last southbound Dan 18 reached the flea market stop at 17:22 on Friday 7 August 2026, and the last tram called at Shalma at 17:48. On the Saturday the first Dan 18 came through at 18:37 and the first tram at 21:51. Restart times move with sunset, so treat those as a shape rather than a schedule.

Tel Aviv-Yafo is the one large Israeli city that funds an alternative, and unusually for a Shabbat service it reaches Jaffa. The municipality runs free buses on Fridays between 17:00 and 02:00 and on Saturdays between 09:30 and 18:00, and three of the published routes come here: line 705 from Givatayim by way of the beaches, HaTachana and the flea market to Yefet; line 706 from Kiryat Shaul by way of Rabin Square, Dizengoff Center, Rothschild Boulevard and the flea market to Yehuda Marguza and Jaffa Port; and line 707 from Sokolov in Ramat HaSharon by way of Florentin and Bloomfield Stadium to Yehuda Marguza and Jaffa Port. Transfers between the free lines cost nothing. The numbers and routes are as published by the municipality and were read on 13 August 2026.

The catch is information rather than money. The electronic signs at the stops do not show the weekend service's times, so an app is the only live source, and both windows have hard edges, at 02:00 on Friday night and at 18:00 on Saturday. Jaffa's restaurants trade through Shabbat even when the shops do not, which is why the last bus question comes up here more often than elsewhere. After that it is a metered taxi, which the municipality puts at 25 per cent above normal on Saturdays.

On arrival

The clock tower is the hinge, and the rest is downhill

Aim at the clock tower and the rest sorts itself out. It is the stop name on half the routes that come here, the flea market begins beside it, and Kedumim Square at the centre of the old town is about 280 metres away. From the Red Line, Shalma is the station for both: about 430 metres to the clock tower and about 700 to Kedumim Square, the last stretch of which is the climb onto the headland. Bloomfield Stadium, one stop south, is about 760 metres from the harbour quay; Elifelet, one stop north, stands in the grounds of the old Jaffa railway station.

The buses that call at the clock tower or the flea market on a weekday, as published in the Ministry of Transport feed for Tuesday 11 August 2026, are Dan 10, 14, 18, 41, 44 and 54, Egged 88 and Metropoline 236. Dan 18 is the one a visitor wants: it runs from Tel Aviv Savidor Center by way of Rabin Square, Dizengoff Square, Trumpeldor Street, Jerusalem Beach and Banana Beach, and was scheduled at 23 minutes to the flea market stop, with 118 departures that day. Bus numbers are revised; these are as published on that date.

Coming from a train, Tel Aviv HaHagana is the station to use and the only one of the four that is close. Its bus stops are on the road outside, about 130 metres from the platforms, and from there Dan 54 was scheduled at nine minutes to the clock tower stop and Dan 46 at thirteen minutes to Yehuda Margoza on Yefet Street. Savidor Center, by contrast, is about 5.2 kilometres out.

The two shared taxi routes the municipality names, sherut 4 and sherut 5, do not come to Jaffa, so there is no cheap Shabbat shortcut of that kind. What there is instead is the promenade, which runs unbroken from the Tel Aviv marina, about 3.6 kilometres north of the harbour in a straight line, and is flat the whole way until the climb up to the old town. On a Saturday afternoon, with the trams stopped and the buses thin, walking or cycling in is not a consolation prize but the best version of the arrival.

Old Jaffa on its headland at dusk, with the Tel Aviv towers behind it

Practical

What to know before you go

Aim at the clock tower rather than at Old Jaffa. It is the stop name on most of the bus routes that come here, the flea market starts beside it, and Kedumim Square is about 280 metres further on.
On the Red Line, Shalma is the stop, signed in Hebrew as Shlomo. Bloomfield Stadium is the one for the harbour, about 760 metres from the quay.
Buy the anonymous Rav-Kav on arrival for a one-time ₪5, or simply tap a credit card or Apple Pay on the bus. Inside Tel Aviv-Yafo the municipality's figure is ₪8 for 90 minutes of travel, transfers included.
Of the buses that reach the clock tower, Dan 18 is the useful one: it comes down from Savidor Center past Rabin Square, Dizengoff Square and the beaches in 23 scheduled minutes.
Coming off a train, get out at Tel Aviv HaHagana and not at Savidor Center. HaHagana is about 2.8 kilometres from the clock tower against Savidor's 5.2, and Dan 54 covers it in nine minutes.
Work Friday and Saturday out before booking anything. On the weekend of 7 and 8 August 2026 the last tram called at Shalma at 17:48 on the Friday and the first one back at 21:51 on the Saturday.
For Shabbat, the free municipal weekend buses 705, 706 and 707 all serve the flea market or Jaffa Port, on Fridays 17:00 to 02:00 and Saturdays 09:30 to 18:00. The stop signs do not show their times, so use an app.
If you drive, book the day around the car park rather than the other way round: Beit HaEtzel at Nachum Goldman 2 is open around the clock and takes cards and phones but no cash.

Shai Pal / 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
Bus calls at the clock tower and flea market stops, weekday	1,552 across four stops	2026-08-11	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Bus calls at the same four stops on a Saturday	173, none before 18:31	2026-08-08	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Red Line calls at Shalma station	333 on a weekday, 158 on a Friday, 27 on a Saturday	2026-08-11	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Dan line 18, Tel Aviv Savidor Center to the Jaffa flea market	118 departures, 23 minutes scheduled	2026-08-11	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Dan line 54, Tel Aviv HaHagana station to the clock tower	74 departures, 9 minutes scheduled	2026-08-11	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Direct trains, Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv HaHagana	71, scheduled at 9 to 12 minutes	2026-08-11	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Single fare, Tel Aviv-Yafo to Jerusalem, train included	₪27, or ₪42 for a daily pass	2026-08-13	ravkavonline.co.il
Single entry, Beit HaEtzel car park, Jaffa	₪36, valid 24 hours, 260 spaces	2026-08-13	ahuzot.co.il

The rest of the Jaffa guide

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

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.

OfficialTel Aviv-Yafo Municipalitytel-aviv.gov.il
Public Transportation
The anonymous Rav-Kav at a one-time ₪5, ₪8 for 90 minutes of buses inside the city, payment by credit card or Apple Pay, the free weekend network on Fridays 17:00 to 02:00 and Saturdays 09:30 to 18:00 with the routes of lines 705, 706, 707 and 717 including their calls at the Tel Aviv-Yafo beaches, HaTachana, the flea market, Yehuda Marguza and Jaffa Port, the sherut 4 and 5 routes, taxi fares 25 per cent higher at night and on Saturdays, and the statement that train service stops on Friday afternoons and resumes after sunset on Saturday
OfficialTel Aviv-Yafo Municipalitytel-aviv.gov.il
Parking Regulations
Blue and white kerbs open to paying non-residents only between 09:00 and 17:00 and prohibited between 17:00 and 09:00 unless signed otherwise, red and white kerbs closed entirely, and the resident zone sticker system that governs the overnight hours
OfficialTel Aviv-Yafo Municipalitytel-aviv.gov.il
Parking Payment Options
The Easypark, Cellopark and Pango apps for street parking, the resident discount of 50 to 75 per cent in municipal car parks, the advice that people unfamiliar with the zone system should use car parks, and the warning that rental car companies will not pay the parking fine
OfficialAhuzot HaHofahuzot.co.il
Beit HaEtzel car park, Nachum Goldman 2
260 spaces, open 24 hours a day seven days a week, single entry at ₪36 valid for 24 hours from entry, a 75 per cent discount for Tel Aviv-Yafo residents, the first 15 minutes free, and payment by credit card or digital mobile only with no cash accepted. Read on 13 August 2026
OfficialAhuzot HaHofahuzot.co.il
Car parks in Jaffa
The company's own list of its ten Jaffa car parks with addresses, including Beit HaEtzel at Nachum Goldman 2, Gali Tzahal on Yehuda HaYamit, the two Gan HaKovshim car parks and HaTachana at HaMered
OfficialRav-Kav Onlineravkavonline.co.il
What you need to know about Public Transport
The visitor fare table read on 13 August 2026: ₪8 for a ride inside the city with 90 minutes of free transfers, daily passes of ₪17.50 without the train and ₪23 with it, singles of ₪11.50 to Ben Gurion Airport, ₪27 to Jerusalem and ₪30.50 to Haifa with daily passes of ₪23, ₪42 and ₪47, and free travel for children under five. The page carries no date of its own
OfficialDan Public Transportationdan.co.il
Ticket fares
The operator's own fares page: validation required for every passenger over five, the daily, monthly and national pass types, free travel from 67, a 50 per cent discount from 62 and for children and youth, and the referral to the Ministry of Transport fare calculator for actual prices
OfficialNational Public Transport Authority, Ministry of Transportbus.gov.il
Journey planner and line search
The state journey planner, cited as the operator-side timetable for every train, tram and bus route named on this page
OfficialIsrael Airports Authorityiaa.gov.il
Ben Gurion Airport: Train
The railway station on the lower level of Terminal 3 and the airport's own account of rail access
OfficialIsrael Airports Authorityiaa.gov.il
Ben Gurion Airport: Buses
The airport's list of bus services, giving route 445 to Tel Aviv and route 485 to Jerusalem from Terminal 3, Level 2, Exit 21, and attributing the 445 to Kavim where the timetable feed shows it operated by Metropoline
ReportingThe Jerusalem Postjpost.com
Tel Aviv municipal parking fees to rise 20% starting August 1
The 20 per cent increase at Ahuzot HaHof car parks from 1 August 2026, taking the non-resident hourly price from ₪20 to ₪24 and the one-time and evening price from ₪30 to ₪36, with the municipality's stated reasons
DataThe Public Knowledge Workshopopen-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Open Bus Stride API
The Ministry of Transport GTFS feed, queried stop by stop for every departure time, journey duration and service count quoted here, for Tuesday 11 August, Friday 7 August and Saturday 8 August 2026, at the Jaffa clock tower and flea market stops, the Shalma light rail station and the Tel Aviv railway stations
ReferenceWikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Jaffa railway station
The station opened on 24 May 1891 as the terminus of the Jaffa to Jerusalem railway built by the Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem after acquiring Joseph Navon's franchise, closed on 15 August 1948, restored between 2005 and 2009 as the HaTachana complex, with the Red Line's Elifelet station now inside the old station grounds
ReferenceWikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Red Line (Tel Aviv Light Rail)
The line opened on 18 August 2023, 24 kilometres long with 34 stations of which 10 are underground, operated by Tevel, the station order through Jaffa from Allenby by way of Elifelet, Shalma (Salame), Bloomfield Stadium and Ehrlich, and the absence of daylight service on Saturdays

Getting to Jaffa: common questions

How do you get to Jaffa from central Tel Aviv?+

By the Red Line light rail to Shalma, which is about 430 metres east of the clock tower, or by Dan bus 18. The tram from Allenby was scheduled at seven minutes on Tuesday 11 August 2026, and 164 southbound services called at Shalma that day. Dan 18 takes longer but comes down past the beaches and stops at the flea market itself, 23 minutes from Savidor Center. Inside the city the municipality's fare is ₪8 for 90 minutes.

Is there a train to Jaffa?+

No. Jaffa's own station opened on 24 May 1891 as the terminus of the Jaffa to Jerusalem line and closed on 15 August 1948; the buildings are now the HaTachana complex. The nearest working station is Tel Aviv HaHagana, about 2.8 kilometres from the clock tower in a straight line, from which Dan 54 was scheduled at nine minutes to the clock tower stop.

Which light rail stop is Jaffa?+

Shalma, signed in Hebrew as Shlomo, for the clock tower, the flea market and the old town. Bloomfield Stadium, one stop further south, is the one for the harbour, about 760 metres from the quay. Elifelet, one stop north, stands in the grounds of the old Jaffa railway station and is about 900 metres from the clock tower.

How do I get to Jaffa from Ben Gurion Airport?+

Train from the station under Terminal 3 to Tel Aviv HaHagana, then Dan 54 or Dan 46. On Tuesday 11 August 2026, 71 direct trains ran to HaHagana in 9 to 12 minutes, the first at 05:38 and the last at 23:23. Rav-Kav Online publishes ₪11.50 for a single Tel Aviv-Yafo to Ben Gurion Airport journey including the train. No train serves the airport during Shabbat.

Can you get to Jaffa on Shabbat?+

Yes, and more easily than to most Israeli destinations, because the free municipal weekend buses come here. Lines 705, 706 and 707 serve the flea market or Jaffa Port and run on Fridays between 17:00 and 02:00 and on Saturdays between 09:30 and 18:00, free of charge and with free transfers between them. Outside those windows it is a taxi, at 25 per cent above the normal fare.

What is the last bus out of Jaffa on a Friday?+

Earlier than most visitors expect. On Friday 7 August 2026 the last southbound Dan 18 called at the flea market stop at 17:22 and the last tram at Shalma at 17:48; the free municipal buses then took over from 17:00. On the Saturday the first ordinary Dan 18 came through at 18:37 and the first tram at 21:51. These times shift with sunset, so check the day you travel.

Can you walk to Jaffa from Tel Aviv?+

Yes, and it is the best approach. The seafront promenade runs unbroken from the Tel Aviv marina, which is about 3.6 kilometres north of Jaffa harbour in a straight line, and the path is flat until the climb up to the old town. Allow the best part of an hour each way from the marina, and rather more from the north of the city.

Is it worth hiring a car for Jaffa?+

No, and it is usually a liability. Old Jaffa is a hill of stepped and cobbled lanes that a car cannot use, non-residents may park on blue and white kerbs only between 09:00 and 17:00, and the municipality states plainly that rental car companies will not pay the parking fine. Hire a car for the days you leave the conurbation, not the day you spend in Jaffa.

Where do you park in Jaffa?+

In a car park rather than on the street. Ahuzot HaHof, the municipality's parking company, lists ten car parks in Jaffa, of which Beit HaEtzel at Nachum Goldman 2 is the nearest large one to the old town: 260 spaces, open 24 hours a day and seven days a week, a single entry at ₪36 valid for 24 hours, first 15 minutes free, cards and mobile payment only. Municipal car park prices rose 20 per cent on 1 August 2026.

Do the shared taxis go to Jaffa?+

Not on the routes the municipality names. The two it lists, sherut 4 and sherut 5, both run north from the Central Bus Station along Allenby, Ben Yehuda, Rothschild and Dizengoff, and neither turns south into Jaffa. The Shabbat fallback here is a free municipal weekend bus, a metered taxi or the promenade.