The Negev · Getting there

Getting to the Negev

Every scheduled route into the central Negev funnels through one building: 34 buses left Beersheba central station for Mitzpe Ramon on Thursday 13 August 2026, 12 on the Friday, and on the Saturday the first one did not go until 19:00.

Avi Theret / Unsplash

Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon, buses a day

Departures from the intercity platforms at Beersheba central station on Thursday 13 August 2026, from 05:00 to 23:00, on Metropoline lines 60, 64, 65 and 160

Fastest run from Beersheba

1 hr 17 min

Line 65 leaving the intercity platforms at 07:00 reached the commercial centre stop in Mitzpe Ramon at 08:17 on Thursday 13 August 2026, calling at Sde Boker, Ein Avdat and Avdat on the way

Direct buses from Tel Aviv

1 a day

Metropoline line 660 left the level 6 platforms at Tel Aviv central bus station at 16:10 and reached Mitzpe Ramon at 18:31 on Thursday 13 August 2026; the return went at 06:05

Last bus into the desert on a Friday

16:00

The last Beersheba departure for Mitzpe Ramon on Friday 7 August 2026, twelve minutes before the last train of the week pulled into Be'er Sheva Center

There is no railway south of Beersheba on the Route 40 side of the country, and there is no airport within reach of the Negev highlands, so every way of getting here that does not involve your own car passes through the same concourse. Israel Railways runs into Be'er Sheva Center; the intercity bus platforms are 172 metres away across the plaza, by the coordinates the two operators publish for their own stops; and four Metropoline line numbers carry everything onward into the desert. Learn those four numbers and the rest of this page is detail.

The buses are better than their reputation. On Thursday 13 August 2026 the commercial centre stop in Mitzpe Ramon was called at 93 times, and line 65 does Beersheba to the crater rim town in 1 hour 17 minutes while stopping at Ben-Gurion's hut, the upper Ein Avdat car park and the gate of Avdat on the way. What the timetable cannot do is stretch a day. Two of the three great walks here run one way, uphill, with a gate that shuts on the clock rather than on the light: the Israel Nature and Parks Authority stops admitting anyone to the long trail at Ein Avdat at 14:30 in summer, and an hour earlier on Fridays.

Then there is the week, which in the Negev ends early and restarts late. Twelve buses left Beersheba for Mitzpe Ramon on Friday 7 August 2026, the last at 16:00, and the last train of the week reached Be'er Sheva Center at 16:12. On the Saturday, seven buses ran and the first left at 19:00. A weekend without a car in the central Negev means arriving by Friday lunchtime and staying put.

7 ways in

Every realistic way to reach The Negev

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

From	How	Time	Cost
Tel Aviv	Train and bus	About 3 hours 15 minutes on a good connection, plus ten minutes on foot at the far end: 1 hour 20 minutes on the train, a 172-metre walk across Beersheba central station, and 1 hour 26 minutes on the bus	₪28.50 for the train in the 75 to 120 kilometre band and ₪17 for the bus in the 40 to 75 band, or ₪44 for a combined bus and train daily pass in the 75 to 120 band
Tel Aviv	Intercity bus	2 hours 21 minutes on the bus, once a day, plus the walk from the town stop to the crater rim	₪28.50 for a single bus journey in the 120 to 225 kilometre band; the two central stations are 160.5 kilometres apart by air distance, which is what the fare is set on
Jerusalem	Intercity bus	About 4 hours door to door: 1 hour 36 minutes to Beersheba, up to an hour waiting, then 1 hour 26 minutes into the desert	₪17 for the Jerusalem to Beersheba leg, which is 72 kilometres by air distance and so in the 40 to 75 band, and ₪17 again for Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon at 70.1 kilometres; a daily bus pass in that band is ₪33.50 and pays for itself on the third ride
Ben Gurion Airport	Train and bus	About 3 hours 15 minutes with two changes: 11 minutes on the train to Tel Aviv HaHagana, 1 hour 30 minutes on to Be'er Sheva Center, then 1 hour 17 minutes on the bus	₪28.50 for the train, which is 84.5 kilometres by air distance and so in the 75 to 120 band, plus ₪17 for the bus
Be'er Sheva	Intercity bus	40 minutes to Sde Boker, 47 to Ein Avdat, 49 to Avdat and 1 hour 17 minutes to Mitzpe Ramon, all on the same bus	₪17 for a single journey anywhere on this run, since the whole of it falls in the 40 to 75 kilometre band; a daily bus pass in that band is ₪33.50
Eilat	Intercity bus	3 hours 7 minutes on the bus, straight up Route 40 and across the crater floor	₪17 for a single bus journey; Eilat central station to Mitzpe Ramon is 118.2 kilometres by air distance, and the published bus fare is the same ₪17 in the 40 to 75 and 75 to 120 bands
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Ben Gurion Airport	Car	About two and a half hours from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem to Mitzpe Ramon, of which the last 70 kilometres are a single road	n/a

Tel Aviv to The Negev
Train and busAbout 3 hours 15 minutes on a good connection, plus ten minutes on foot at the far end: 1 hour 20 minutes on the train, a 172-metre walk across Beersheba central station, and 1 hour 26 minutes on the bus
1. 1Take a Be'er Sheva train from Tel Aviv Savidor Center. The 05:42 called at Tel Aviv HaHagana at 05:50 and reached Be'er Sheva Center at 07:02 on Thursday 13 August 2026, the fastest of the day.
2. 2Stay on past Be'er Sheva North, which is the university station and nine minutes short of where you want to be. The Negev buses go from Be'er Sheva Center.
3. 3Walk across to the intercity platforms at Beersheba central bus station, which the two operators' published coordinates put 172 metres from the railway platforms.
4. 4Take Metropoline line 64 at 07:30 or line 65 at 08:00, both signed for Mitzpe Ramon; the line numbers are as published in the Ministry of Transport schedule feed. The 07:30 reached the commercial centre stop at 08:56.
5. 5For Sde Boker, Ein Avdat or Avdat, use the 65 or the 64 and get off short. For the crater rim, stay to the end of the line.
6. 6Coming back, the last bus out of Mitzpe Ramon on that Thursday was line 64 at 23:38 and the last train off Be'er Sheva Center was 23:12, so the last bus is not a connection.
The catch. The Friday arithmetic does not work. On Friday 7 August 2026 the last bus from Beersheba into the desert left at 16:00 and the last train of the week arrived at 16:12, so the last usable train that day was the 15:12. Nothing runs south again until Saturday evening, when the first Beersheba departure was 19:00.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →
Tel Aviv to The Negev
Intercity bus2 hours 21 minutes on the bus, once a day, plus the walk from the town stop to the crater rim
1. 1Go to Tel Aviv central bus station and up to the level 6 platforms, which is where Metropoline line 660 starts; the number is as published in the Ministry of Transport schedule feed.
2. 2Take the 16:10. On Thursday 13 August 2026 it was the only departure of the day and it reached Mitzpe Ramon at 18:31.
3. 3The route runs south to Negev Junction, turns off through Yeruham, rejoins Route 40 at Halukim Junction and calls at Kibbutz Sde Boker Junction and Ben-Gurion's Hut at 18:04.
4. 4It finishes at the commercial centre stop in Mitzpe Ramon at 18:31, which is the same stop the Beersheba buses use.
5. 5Going back, the 660 leaves from the library stop at 06:05 and reached the level 6 drop-off in Tel Aviv at 08:43.
The catch. One bus a day each way, and it arrives after every ticketed site in the Negev has shut: the parks authority closes Avdat, En Avdat and the Makhtesh Ramon visitor centre at 17:00 in summer. On Friday 7 August 2026 the 660 left Tel Aviv earlier, at 12:55, and came back out of Mitzpe Ramon at 07:00; on the Saturday it did not run.
Timetable and fares at metropoline.com →
Jerusalem to The Negev
Intercity busAbout 4 hours door to door: 1 hour 36 minutes to Beersheba, up to an hour waiting, then 1 hour 26 minutes into the desert
1. 1Go to Jerusalem central bus station on Jaffa Road and up to the intercity platforms on level 3. Egged line 470 is the Beersheba service and the number is as published in the Ministry of Transport schedule feed.
2. 2Take the 470. On Thursday 13 August 2026 it ran 46 times between 05:50 and 23:00; the 06:30 reached the drop-off bay at Beersheba central station at 08:06.
3. 3The route leaves Jerusalem by the Hemed interchange and Hativa Sheva Junction, runs down past Nahal Sorek, and comes into Beersheba by way of the Soroka hospital and Ben-Gurion University stops.
4. 4Cross to the intercity platforms and take Metropoline line 64 at 09:00, which reached Mitzpe Ramon at 10:26, or line 65 at 09:30 if you want the stops at Ein Avdat and Avdat.
5. 5There is no direct train from Jerusalem to Beersheba: every Yitzhak Navon train that day ran to Herzliya, Modi'in or Tel Aviv, so the bus is the sensible leg.
The catch. This is two changes and two clocks. Line 470 ran 26 times on Friday 7 August 2026 with the last departure at 16:15, by which time the last Beersheba bus into the desert had gone at 16:00; on the Saturday the first 470 was at 20:50. Leave Jerusalem before 13:00 on a Friday or do not leave at all.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →
Ben Gurion Airport to The Negev
Train and busAbout 3 hours 15 minutes with two changes: 11 minutes on the train to Tel Aviv HaHagana, 1 hour 30 minutes on to Be'er Sheva Center, then 1 hour 17 minutes on the bus
1. 1Before you leave the terminal, buy the card. The parks authority sells the Israel Pass and Ride, which carries both national park entries and public transport, at the Ministry of Transport booth in the arrivals hall on the ground floor of Terminal 3, open 24 hours a day six days a week.
2. 2Take a Nahariya-bound train from the airport station. The 06:05 reached Tel Aviv HaHagana at 06:16 on Thursday 13 August 2026; there is no direct train from the airport to Beersheba.
3. 3Change at HaHagana onto a Be'er Sheva train. The 06:20 arrived at Be'er Sheva Center at 07:50, and 56 trains made that journey from HaHagana over the day.
4. 4Four minutes is a tight change with luggage. The 06:35 from the airport into HaHagana at 06:46, then the 06:50 into Be'er Sheva Center at 08:03, is the safer version of the same morning.
5. 5Cross the 172 metres to the intercity platforms and take Metropoline line 65 at 08:00 or 09:30, or line 64 at 09:00, all signed for Mitzpe Ramon.
6. 6If you are hiring a car, the airport is the cheapest place to do it and the drive is Route 6 south, then Route 40 through Beersheba.
The catch. An afternoon landing does not produce a same-day arrival worth having. The last bus from Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon on a Thursday went at 23:00 and on the Friday at 16:00, and on Saturday 8 August 2026 nothing left Beersheba for the desert before 19:00, whatever the airport was doing.
Timetable and fares at en.parks.org.il →
Be'er Sheva to The Negev
Intercity bus40 minutes to Sde Boker, 47 to Ein Avdat, 49 to Avdat and 1 hour 17 minutes to Mitzpe Ramon, all on the same bus
1. 1Start at the intercity platforms at Beersheba central bus station, next to Be'er Sheva Center railway station. Metropoline lines 60, 64, 65 and 160 all serve Mitzpe Ramon and the numbers are as published in the Ministry of Transport schedule feed.
2. 2Take line 65, which is the only one that does the whole string of sites and the fastest of the four. The 07:00 on Thursday 13 August 2026 called at Ben-Gurion's Hut at 07:40 and Midreshet Ben-Gurion Junction at 07:42.
3. 3For Ein Avdat's upper gate, stay on to Upper Ein Avdat Junction at 07:47; the upper car park is about 85 metres from the stop.
4. 4For Avdat, get off at the next stop at 07:49, named for the antiquities, and climb the 600 metres or so up to the ruins.
5. 5For Mitzpe Ramon, stay to the end at 08:17. Line 64 does the same string 1 hour 26 minutes and runs latest, with the last Beersheba departure at 23:00.
6. 6Coming north, line 65 called at Avdat at 08:28, 09:08, 10:08, 11:08, 12:28, 13:28, 14:28, 15:28, 16:28, 17:28, 18:28 and 19:28, with line 64 filling most of the gaps.
The catch. Ein Avdat's long trail starts at the lower gate, which is roughly 2.5 kilometres from the nearest bus stop with no shade and no water, and the parks authority stops admitting walkers to it at 14:30 in summer and 13:30 on Fridays, with everyone out by 17:00. Aim at the 07:00 or accept the short trail from the top.
Timetable and fares at en.parks.org.il →
Eilat to The Negev
Intercity bus3 hours 7 minutes on the bus, straight up Route 40 and across the crater floor
1. 1Go to Eilat central bus station. Egged line 470 does not come here; the line for the Negev highlands is 392, and the number is as published in the Ministry of Transport schedule feed.
2. 2Take the 392 signed for Beersheba. On Sunday 9 August 2026 the 06:30 climbed Route 12 past the Red Canyon, joined Route 40 at Shizafon and reached the commercial centre stop in Mitzpe Ramon at 09:37.
3. 3It called at Mitzpe Ramon ten times that day, from 09:37 to 20:07, and carries on north past Avdat at 10:01 and Ben-Gurion's Hut at 10:10 to finish at Beersheba at 10:50.
4. 4Do not confuse it with line 397, the other Beersheba to Eilat service, which runs up the Arava on Route 90 and comes nowhere near the crater.
5. 5This is the only scheduled way to cross the makhtesh floor without a car, and it is worth the window seat.
The catch. The 392 is not on every day. The schedule feed shows ten calls at Mitzpe Ramon on Sunday 9 August 2026 and seven each on the Monday and Tuesday, but none at all on the Wednesday or the Thursday of the same week. Confirm the day before you plan around it.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →
Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Ben Gurion Airport to The Negev
CarAbout two and a half hours from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem to Mitzpe Ramon, of which the last 70 kilometres are a single road
1. 1Get yourself to Beersheba, by Route 6 and Route 40 from the centre and the airport, or by Route 60 from Jerusalem. Everything after that is one highway.
2. 2Head south on Route 40. The parks authority describes Avdat, En Avdat and Ben-Gurion's Tomb by exactly this road, calling it the Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon road and giving a Waze search term instead of a street address.
3. 3Ben-Gurion's Tomb National Park is signed off Route 40 at Midreshet Ben-Gurion, with its own car park, toilets and paths.
4. 4En Avdat has two gates and they are not interchangeable: the parks authority puts the lower one near the Ben-Gurion family grave and the upper one some five kilometres south. The through-route runs one way, so a car parked at one end has to be collected from the other.
5. 5Avdat is a further few kilometres south on the same road, on the hill above it.
6. 6In Mitzpe Ramon, follow the signs at the entrance to the town for the visitor centre at 1 Ma'ale Ben Tor. Parking there is charged; the parks authority points drivers instead at the free car park by Hai Ramon.
The catch. The one-way canyon at En Avdat is the trap. Two drivers with one car between them can walk it through and shuttle back; one driver alone is looking at an out-and-back from whichever gate the car is at, and the parks authority shuts the long trail to new entries at 14:30 in summer regardless. Hai Ramon, whose car park is the free option at the crater rim, is listed by the parks authority as closed to visitors.
Timetable and fares at en.parks.org.il →

The car

What a car buys here is the second site of the day

For one destination, a car is hard to justify. If the plan is the crater rim, the visitor centre and a night under the sky, the bus does it: line 65 or 64 out of Beersheba, one fare, and a stop 570 metres from the door of the Ilan Ramon visitor centre by the published stop coordinates and the mapped position of the building. Parking at the visitor centre is charged, which the parks authority says on its own page while pointing drivers at the free car park by Hai Ramon.

The car earns its money the moment a day has two sites in it. The Negev's set pieces are strung along 70 kilometres of Route 40 with nothing between them, and the parks authority's own directions to three of them consist of the road number and a Waze search term. Avdat, Ein Avdat and Ben-Gurion's grave are within nine minutes of each other by bus but the buses are up to an hour apart, and a missed connection at an unshaded junction on a desert highway is not a small mistake.

It also solves a problem the timetable created. Ein Avdat has two entrances and the parks authority puts the upper one some five kilometres south of the lower one, with the through-route running one way up the canyon on fixed ladders. A driver who parks at the lower gate and walks through has to get back to the car; a bus passenger simply gets off at one gate and on at the other, which is the rare case where the desert is easier without a vehicle.

The last argument is Shabbat, and it is the strongest one. From roughly Friday lunchtime to Saturday evening the scheduled network here thins to almost nothing, and the two days a week most visitors have free are exactly the two days it stops. A hire car is the only thing that makes a Friday afternoon in the makhtesh and a Saturday at Shivta possible at all.

The system

One card, five distance bands and a very short Friday

Israeli buses and trains are paid for with a Rav-Kav, which Egged describes as a reloadable, reusable, personal and non-transferable card issued in personal, anonymous and semi-anonymous versions. Egged began accepting bank cards and phone wallets at the validators on 11 January 2026 in Eilat and on 18 January 2026 in Jerusalem and Haifa, but that is a pilot in named places and the Negev is not one of them. Arrive with a card.

There is a version of it aimed squarely at visitors. The parks authority sells an Israel Pass and Ride, which combines entry to national parks with public transport on the same piece of plastic and can be loaded at the purchase booth or at load stations at central bus and railway stations. It is sold at the Ministry of Transport booth in the Terminal 3 arrivals hall at Ben Gurion Airport, open 24 hours a day six days a week, and at the Abraham Hostels on Hanevi'im Street in Jerusalem and Levontin Street in Tel Aviv.

Fares stopped depending on the route in August 2022. Under the Derekh Shava reform they are set by air travel distance and mode, in bands of 15, 40, 75, 120 and 225 kilometres. Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon is 70.1 kilometres in a straight line, which puts it in the 40 to 75 band at ₪17 for a single bus journey and ₪33.50 for a daily bus pass. Tel Aviv to Mitzpe Ramon is 160.5 kilometres, in the 120 to 225 band at ₪28.50. The train from Tel Aviv Savidor to Be'er Sheva Center is 93.5 kilometres, in the 75 to 120 band at ₪28.50, with a combined bus and train daily pass in that band at ₪44.

The week is the part that catches people. Trains called at Be'er Sheva Center 128 times on Thursday 13 August 2026 and 42 times on the Friday, when the last arrival was 16:12 and the last departure 16:03. On Saturday 8 August there were eight calls in the whole day and the first departure was at 21:51. The buses south do the same thing an hour earlier, which is why the Friday arithmetic on this page is unforgiving: the last train of the week arrives at Beersheba twelve minutes after the last bus into the desert has already gone.

The lines

Four Metropoline numbers do nearly all the work

Line 65 is the one to want, and the numbers here are as published in the Ministry of Transport schedule feed for August 2026. It left the intercity platforms at Beersheba central station at 07:00 on Thursday 13 August 2026, called at Ben-Gurion's Hut at 07:40, Midreshet Ben-Gurion Junction at 07:42, Upper Ein Avdat Junction at 07:47 and Avdat at 07:49, and reached the commercial centre in Mitzpe Ramon at 08:17. It ran fourteen times each way that day.

Line 64 is the workhorse and the late one. It made the run in 1 hour 26 minutes, called at Avdat and at both Ein Avdat junctions like the 65, and was the only number still moving at the ends of the day: the last departure from Beersheba went at 23:00 and the last bus out of Mitzpe Ramon at 23:38. It is also the only line that runs at all on a Saturday.

Lines 60 and 160 take longer because they do not go the same way. Both detour to Nafcha prison and enter Midreshet Ben-Gurion itself rather than stopping on Route 40, so the 60 took 1 hour 49 minutes from Beersheba against the 65's 1 hour 17, and neither stops at Ein Avdat or Avdat. The 60 is the better choice for Ben-Gurion's grave, which sits about 429 metres from the campus stop; the 65 is the better choice for everything else.

Two more numbers matter. Line 660 is the only direct service from Tel Aviv, once a day each way, running out through Yeruham and calling at Sde Boker before it drops into Mitzpe Ramon. Line 55 links Mitzpe Ramon to Dimona and is the way to reach Mamshit and the eastern Negev without going back through Beersheba.

On arrival

What each of these bus stops is actually next to

Mitzpe Ramon has no bus station, only stops. The one to use is called Merkaz Mishari, the commercial centre, which is where the intercity lines terminate and where the Tel Aviv bus finishes its run. From there the Ilan Ramon visitor centre, which the parks authority addresses as 1 Ma'ale Ben Tor, is about 570 metres downhill by the published stop coordinates and the mapped footprint of the building. Buses back to Beersheba start one stop earlier, at the stop called HaSifriya, the library.

Avdat is a stop on Route 40 named for the ruins, and the ruins are on the ridge above it: roughly 600 metres from the stop and a climb. Southbound buses use one side, northbound buses the other, and both sit beside a roadside refreshment stop rather than a shelter worth waiting in for an hour.

Ein Avdat is where the choice of gate decides the day. The Upper Ein Avdat Junction stops are about 85 metres from the upper car park, which is as close as public transport gets to any national park in this part of the country. The lower gate, the one the long trail starts from, is a different matter: it is roughly 2.5 kilometres from the Route 40 junction stop at Midreshet Ben-Gurion and about 2.2 kilometres from the stop inside the campus, downhill on the way in and uphill on the way out, in a place with no water and no shade.

Sde Boker is the easy one. The stop is called Ben-Gurion's Hut, it is named for the house, and it is at the kibbutz gate. Lines 60, 64, 65, 55 and the Tel Aviv 660 all call there, which on that Thursday amounted to a bus roughly every half hour in each direction through the middle of the day.

Practical

What to know before you go

Stay on the train past Be'er Sheva North. That is the university station; the buses into the desert leave from beside Be'er Sheva Center, one stop and nine minutes further on.
Take line 65 rather than 60 or 160 if the times suit. It does Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon in 1 hour 17 minutes against the 60's 1 hour 49, and it is the only one of the four that stops at Ein Avdat and Avdat.
Carry a Rav-Kav. Egged's bank card and phone wallet pilot started on 11 January 2026 in Eilat and 18 January 2026 in Jerusalem and Haifa, and the Negev is not in it.
Buy a daily pass if the day has three rides in it. A single bus journey in the 40 to 75 kilometre band is ₪17 and the daily bus pass is ₪33.50.
Pick up the Israel Pass and Ride at the airport if you are coming straight off a plane. The parks authority sells it at the Ministry of Transport booth in the Terminal 3 arrivals hall, and it works as both a park ticket and a travel card.
Treat Friday lunchtime as the end of the week. The last Beersheba bus for Mitzpe Ramon on Friday 7 August 2026 left at 16:00, and the last train of the week reached Beersheba at 16:12.
Work backwards from Ein Avdat, not from the bus. Last entry to the long trail is 14:30 in summer and 13:30 on Fridays, everyone is out by 17:00, and the lower gate is a 2.5 kilometre walk from the nearest stop.
Get off at the right side of the road at Avdat and Ein Avdat. Northbound and southbound services use separate stops on Route 40, and there is no shelter worth an hour at either.

Avi Theret / 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
Buses from Beersheba central station to Mitzpe Ramon	34 on a Thursday, 12 on a Friday, 7 on a Saturday	2026-08	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Calls at the Mitzpe Ramon commercial centre stop, all lines, both directions	93 on Thursday 13 August 2026	2026-08-13	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon, Metropoline line 65	1 hour 17 minutes	2026-08-13	bus.gov.il
Tel Aviv Savidor Center to Be'er Sheva Center by train	1 hour 20 minutes, 65 departures on a Thursday	2026-08-13	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Last train into Be'er Sheva Center on a Friday	16:12	2026-08-07	open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Single bus fare, 40 to 75 and 75 to 120 kilometre bands	₪17	2024-07	ravkavonline.co.il
Adult entry, En Avdat and Avdat National Parks	₪31	2026-08	en.parks.org.il
Last entry to the long trail at En Avdat, summer	14:30, and 13:30 on Fridays	2026-08	en.parks.org.il

The rest of the The Negev guide

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

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.

OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.il
En Avdat National Park
The operator's own directions (Road 40, the lower entrance near the Ben-Gurion family grave, the upper entrance some 5 km south), the summer and winter hours, the rule that entry closes an hour and a half before the gate does, the 14:30 and 15:30 last entries to the long and short trails with Fridays an hour earlier, and the ₪31 adult and ₪16 child fees
OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.il
Avdat National Park
Summer hours of 08:00 to 17:00 Sunday to Thursday and Saturday and 08:00 to 16:00 on Fridays, entry closing half an hour before, the same ₪31 and ₪16 entrance fees, the statement that trails are not accessible for people with mobility impairments, and the Road 40 directions
OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.il
Makhtesh Ramon Visitors Center
The address at 1 Ma'ale Ben Tor and the instruction to follow the signs at the entrance to Mitzpe Ramon off Road 40, entry by reservation only with the museum closing an hour before the site, the summer and winter hours, the ₪31 adult fee, and the note that parking is charged with free parking at Hai Ramon
OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.il
Ben-Gurion's Tomb National Park
The directions, given as off the Be'er Sheva to Mitzpe Ramon road number 40 near Midreshet Ben-Gurion with a Waze search term, and the list of what is there: parking, restroom, trails and the tomb square
OfficialIsrael Nature and Parks Authorityen.parks.org.il
Israel Pass
The Israel Pass and Ride, the version that carries public transport as well as park entries, how it is loaded at the purchase booth or at load stations in central bus and railway stations, and the three places selling it: the Ministry of Transport booth in the Terminal 3 arrivals hall at Ben Gurion Airport, open 24 hours six days a week, and the Abraham Hostels in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
OfficialMinistry of Transport and Road Safetybus.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
OfficialMetropolinemetropoline.com
Southern and central lines
The operator's own index of its southern and central network, which is the company running lines 55, 60, 64, 65, 160 and 660 through the Negev highlands
OfficialRav-Kav Onlineravkavonline.co.il
Public transport fare update, July 2024
The fare table by distance band: ₪17 for a single bus journey in both the 40 to 75 and 75 to 120 km bands and ₪28.50 in the 120 to 225 band, ₪25 and ₪28.50 for the train in the 40 to 75 and 75 to 120 bands, ₪33.50 for the daily bus pass and ₪44 for the combined bus and train daily pass in the 75 to 120 band
OfficialRav-Kav Onlineravkavonline.co.il
Derekh Shava reform in public transport
How the August 2022 reform replaced route pricing with air travel distance, in bands of 15, 40, 75, 120 and 225 kilometres
OfficialEggedegged.co.il
Rav-Kav and payment apps
The Rav-Kav described as reloadable, reusable, personal and non-transferable, its personal, anonymous and semi-anonymous versions, and the bank card and digital wallet pilot from 11 January 2026 in Eilat and 18 January 2026 in Jerusalem and the Haifa metropolitan area
DataThe Public Knowledge Workshopopen-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il
Open Bus Stride API
The Ministry of Transport schedule feed, queried stop by stop for every departure time, journey time, line number and daily count quoted here, for Thursday 13 August, Friday 7 August, Saturday 8 August and Sunday 9 August 2026, and for the stop coordinates behind the 172-metre, 570-metre, 85-metre, 429-metre and 2.5-kilometre figures
DataOpenStreetMapopenstreetmap.org
Ilan Ramon Visitors' Center, Mitzpe Ramon
The mapped footprint of the visitor centre building, used with the schedule feed's published stop coordinates to give the 570-metre walk from the commercial centre stop; the Ein Avdat lower car park and the Avdat archaeological site were measured the same way

Getting to the Negev: common questions

Can you visit the Negev without a car?+

Yes, for one or two places a day, and the buses are better than most visitors expect. Metropoline lines 60, 64, 65 and 160 ran 34 times from Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon on Thursday 13 August 2026, and line 65 calls at Ben-Gurion's Hut, both Ein Avdat junctions and Avdat on the way. What you cannot do without a car is three sites in a day, or anything at all between Friday afternoon and Saturday evening.

Is it worth hiring a car?+

It depends entirely on how many stops the day has. For the crater rim, the visitor centre and a night under the sky, the bus does the job and drops you 570 metres from the visitor centre door. For Sde Boker plus Ein Avdat plus Avdat, or for a Friday afternoon and a Saturday, the car is the only thing that works.

How do you get from Tel Aviv to Mitzpe Ramon?+

Train to Be'er Sheva Center, then a bus, about three and a quarter hours in all. The 05:42 from Tel Aviv Savidor reached Beersheba at 07:02 on Thursday 13 August 2026, the intercity bus platforms are 172 metres from the railway platforms, and Metropoline line 64 at 07:30 was in Mitzpe Ramon by 08:56. There is also one direct bus, line 660, leaving the level 6 platforms at Tel Aviv central bus station at 16:10 and arriving at 18:31.

Is there a train to Mitzpe Ramon?+

No. The railway stops at Be'er Sheva Center, and everything south and west of there is by road. Israel Railways also serves Dimona, on the eastern side of the Negev, but there is no line into the highlands and none planned that would reach the crater.

What runs on Shabbat?+

Almost nothing, and it stops earlier here than most visitors plan for. On Friday 7 August 2026 the last bus from Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon left at 16:00 and the last train of the week reached Beersheba at 16:12. On Saturday 8 August eleven buses called at the Mitzpe Ramon town stop, all on lines 64 and 60, and the first arrival from Beersheba was at 20:26.

How do you reach Ein Avdat on a bus?+

Take line 65 or 64 from Beersheba and choose your gate before you board. The Upper Ein Avdat Junction stops are about 85 metres from the upper car park, which is the easy option; the lower gate, where the long one-way trail through the canyon starts, is roughly 2.5 kilometres from the Route 40 stop at Midreshet Ben-Gurion. The parks authority stops admitting anyone to the long trail at 14:30 in summer and 13:30 on Fridays.

Which bus stops at Ben-Gurion's hut and grave?+

Different ones, and this trips people up. The stop called Ben-Gurion's Hut, at the gate of Kibbutz Sde Boker where the Desert Home is, is served by lines 55, 60, 64, 65 and the Tel Aviv 660. The grave is at Midreshet Ben-Gurion, several kilometres further south, and the useful stop is the one inside the campus, about 429 metres from the tomb, which lines 60, 64 and 55 use but the 65 does not.

How far is the Mitzpe Ramon bus stop from the crater?+

About 570 metres, downhill. The intercity lines terminate at the commercial centre stop, and the Ilan Ramon visitor centre, which the parks authority addresses as 1 Ma'ale Ben Tor, sits on the rim below it. Buses back to Beersheba start one stop earlier, at the library, so allow for that when you time the return.

What does it cost, and do I need a Rav-Kav?+

₪17 for the bus from Beersheba and ₪28.50 for the train from Tel Aviv, and yes, bring a Rav-Kav. Fares have been set by air travel distance since the Derekh Shava reform of August 2022, in bands of 15, 40, 75, 120 and 225 kilometres, and Beersheba to Mitzpe Ramon at 70.1 kilometres falls in the 40 to 75 band. Egged's bank card pilot covers Eilat, Jerusalem and Haifa, not the Negev.

Is there a bus from Eilat?+

Egged line 392 runs up Route 40 and across the crater floor, but not every day. The schedule feed shows it calling at Mitzpe Ramon ten times on Sunday 9 August 2026, the 06:30 out of Eilat arriving at 09:37, and seven times each on the Monday and Tuesday, but no calls at all on the Wednesday or Thursday of that week. Line 397, the other Eilat to Beersheba service, runs up the Arava on Route 90 and does not come near.