Jerusalem Good value
Hummus that people argue about by the shop, and the Machane Yehuda market, which is a food market by day and a bar street at night. Friday afternoon everything shuts; plan the meal before it.
Budget travel in Israel
What a visitor's money does in Israel: every guide rated from very cheap to very expensive, cheapest first, then the things that cost travellers money without buying anything — the ATM, the taxi, the SIM.
Mid-range average across 4 guides · 5 is very cheap
Money
Israeli new shekel (ILS) · 1 EUR = 3.5 ILS · 1 USD = 3.0 ILS
Cards everywhere. Change money at a licensed change shop rather than a bank or a hotel — the rate is visibly better and they take no commission.
ATMs
Avoid: the standalone machines in the Old City, which charge heavily
Use: Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Discount Bank
Everything stops for Shabbat from Friday afternoon — draw before it. The Old City souk is cash and haggled.
Getting around
A short ride in Jerusalem: ₪25–50 across town — middling
Level with the meter, which drivers will offer to turn off in exchange for a worse price.
City by city, cheapest first
Eilat & the Red Sea Good value
Hotel buffets, and the marina restaurants that price for them. The best eating is the Yemenite and Moroccan places in the old commercial centre, away from the water.
Galilee & the Sea of Galilee Mid-range
St Peter's fish grilled whole on the lake shore, and the Druze villages on Mount Carmel and in the Golan cook the best food in the north. Golan wine is taken seriously.
Tel Aviv Very expensive
One of the best eating cities anywhere for its size. Hummus is a meal, not a dip — eat it at breakfast where the queue is longest and it will be gone by two. Sabich, a pita of fried aubergine and egg, is the street food to learn. The Levinsky market for spices and the Carmel for everything else.
The cost rating is this site's own, for a visitor, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in. The general rules — the conversion prompt, shoulder season, the airport taxi — are in budget travel tips.
The guides in Israel
JerusalemIsraelFour quarters inside a wall, holy to three religions, and none of it neutral
Tel AvivIsraelBauhaus streets, a beach along the whole city, and an appetite that runs all night
Eilat & the Red SeaIsraelCoral reef at the top of the Red Sea, with desert mountains behind the hotels and three borders in sight
Galilee & the Sea of GalileeIsraelGreen hills, a freshwater lake below sea level, and the places the Gospels are set in