We drove a total of around 950 kilometers in Israel. The country is quite small, so you can get from A to B quickly. From Tel Aviv, it’s only about 2 hours to the Dead Sea. In the end, we spent 70 on fuel, which is about 10 € per day if you spread it out over the week. Here and there, we also had to pay for parking. That came to around 34 (of which 25 € in Tel Aviv alone was for the parking garage by the beach for 2 full days).

Food & Drink

You definitely won’t starve in Israel! You can find practically everything your heart desires here. In Israel, there are gas station shops, kiosks, small supermarkets, and large supermarkets. At a kiosk, you’ll pay around €2 for a 1.5-liter bottle of water, while at a supermarket, it’s just under €0.50. It’s advisable to shop at a supermarket (Supersol, Supermarket) to save money. However, there isn’t usually one around the corner.

In the supermarkets, you can buy almost everything you can buy in Germany. Whether it’s hygiene products, sweets, drinks, bread, fruit, vegetables, sausage, cheese, fish, or convenience foods. Imported products are, of course, more expensive than usual. You can feast on really cheap food at the Arab markets, such as those in Haifa, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Acre, Bethlehem, and Hebron. In the Muslim Quarter in Jerusalem, for example, you’ll find plenty of fruit and vegetables at the markets, as well as delicious baked goods (€1 to €2).

Since the country is home to immigrants from more than 70 countries, the cuisine is also very international. Hummus and falafel are particularly popular – we’ve never eaten so much of them before. Eating at food stalls is often the cheapest option. Here you can get falafel, shawarma, doner kebabs, dumplings, and much more. You’ll usually pay €4 to €5 for a simple meal. In simple restaurants, expect to pay around €10 per meal, and in more upscale establishments, up to €20 per person.

We spent an average of around €27 per day just on food and drinks. We barely had time to cook for ourselves. So we always had to eat on the go, sometimes three times a day. If you have the opportunity and time to cook your own meals, you can certainly save a few euros.

Sightseeing Costs

We’re always super frugal with this because we’re always lucky, and our activities are often free. Actually, we only spent 50 shekels (€12) in tipping for the free walking tour in Jerusalem. Entrance to En Gedi Park at the Dead Sea cost us a total of 54 shekels (€12.95). Since we didn’t have much time this time to visit museums, galleries, or other tourist attractions, the costs in this category are very low.

If you have more time and want to visit several parks, for example, be sure to check out the Money Saving Tickets. For example, with the Blue Card, you can visit three parks within two weeks for 78 shekels (€18.70). The Green Ticket costs 110 shekels (€26.40) and allows you entry to six parks. With the Orange Ticket for 150 shekels (€36), you can visit parks as often as you like for two weeks.

Miscellaneous Expenses

We didn’t spend much money in this category. In Tel Aviv, we rented bikes for one day, which ultimately cost us €16.93. You can find these bike stations on virtually every corner, and registering is a breeze with a credit card. The daily fee is around €3.50, and the first 30 minutes of riding are free.

So, if you’re a “true German penny pincher,” always return your bike before the end of the 30 minutes and then get a new one. However, as you can see from our expenses, this didn’t work so well for us. At the Dead Sea, we bought two souvenirs for €5.80 each. In the end, our expenses in this category totaled only €22.73.

Excluding: Arrival and departure

These costs vary from person to person, so we are not including them in the total. We will, of course, tell you what we paid. We flew from Berlin-Schönefeld to Ovda. Since we were only traveling with hand luggage, we were also able to avoid the high costs for checked baggage.

In the end, we paid only €45 per person for the round-trip flight. Since only Ryanair and Wizzair fly to southern Israel, the choice of airline wasn’t very wide. However, you can also fly to Tel Aviv and start your tour from there. It’s all up to your own taste and budget.

Since we now live in Rostock, it’s a bit further to the nearest airport. In addition to the flight costs, we also had to pay €42 for arrival and departure. We traveled to Berlin and back to Rostock in a relaxed and comfortable coach.

Israel Costs – Total Expenses

If we add up all the costs (excluding arrival and departure), we arrive at €770.16 for two people for our Israel tour. So, per person, we spent only €385.08 for this exciting and wonderful tour. Considering that these costs include everything on site, this is a very reasonable price for a tour of Israel. Add to that a mere €66 for the plane tickets and bus tickets – crazy, right?

It’s certainly cheaper if you’re not traveling to the country on vacation and staying in huge shared rooms. You can also travel through the country more cheaply by bus if you have more time. You’ll definitely save €100 compared to renting a car!

In general, we were very careful with our expenses and spent most of our money on food, drink, sleeping, and transportation. Israel isn’t Indonesia, Vietnam, or Thailand. Expect around €50-60 per person per day for everything (accommodation, food, drink, sightseeing, transportation, other things, rental car) if you’re traveling on a budget like us. We hope this overview has been helpful. If you’re also traveling to Israel, we would be delighted to receive feedback about your trip in the comments.