The Sea of Galilee · Getting there
Getting to the Sea of Galilee
There is no railway station anywhere on the Sea of Galilee: the nearest platform is at Afula, 45 minutes from Tiberias on Egged's 442, and that gap is most of the argument about hiring a car here.
Tel Aviv to Tiberias
2 hr 07
Egged 836 from level 7 of the central bus station, 37 northbound departures on Thursday 13 August 2026
Jerusalem to Tiberias
2 hr 05
Egged 962 from level 3 of the central bus station; the 961 covers the same pair in 2 hr 26 by the Jordan valley
Tiberias to Capernaum junction
12 min
Superbus 450, 62 departures each way on a weekday, then roughly 2.7 km on foot to the gate
Nearest railway station
Afula
Jezreel Valley line, reopened 16 October 2016, then 45 minutes on Egged's 442 into Tiberias
The Kinneret is the easiest part of the Galilee to reach and one of the hardest to arrive at precisely. Tiberias is a two-hour coach ride from Tel Aviv, an hour from Haifa bay and two from Jerusalem, and coaches run to it all day. But no train has served the lake since the old Valley Railway closed, and the sites people come for sit on the shoulders of two roads: Route 90 up the western and northern shore, Route 92 down the eastern one. Buses run those roads. They stop at junctions rather than at gates.
That produces a trip with one good bus in it and several walks. Superbus line 450 between Tiberias and Safed is the Gospel-shore service, calling at Migdal junction, Ginosar, Hukok beach, the Capernaum junction and the Mount of Beatitudes, 62 times in each direction on a weekday. The Golan Regional Council's line 51 does the same job round the eastern and southern shore, past Kursi, Ein Gev, Ma'agan, Tzemach and the Degania gates. Between them almost every lakeside site is within a kilometre or three of a stop, which is better than most of the Galilee manages and still not the same as arriving.
Everything below was built from the Ministry of Transport's published schedule for 6 to 13 August 2026 and from the operators' own line lists, fare pages and tariffs. Israeli line numbers move, so each route says where its number came from. Check it again in the week you travel.
7 ways in
Every realistic way to reach The Sea of Galilee
Door to door, in the order you actually do it, with the catch stated rather than buried.
| From | How | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Gurion Airport | Train and bus | About 3 hours 15 from the arrivals hall to Tiberias central bus station, of which 1 hour 57 is on the coach | 17 shekels for the coach in the 40 to 120 km band, plus the train fare, under the tariff published from 1 July 2024 |
| Tel Aviv | Intercity bus | 2 hours 7 minutes scheduled, so about 2 hours 40 from a central Tel Aviv hotel to the Tiberias promenade | 17 shekels in the 40 to 120 km band, under the tariff published from 1 July 2024 |
| Jerusalem | Intercity bus | 2 hours 5 minutes scheduled on the 962; 2 hours 26 on the 961, which takes the Jordan valley road | 17 shekels in the 40 to 120 km band, under the tariff published from 1 July 2024 |
| Haifa | Intercity bus | 59 minutes scheduled from Merkazit HaMifratz to Tiberias central bus station | 17 shekels in the 40 to 120 km band, under the tariff published from 1 July 2024 |
| Afula or Beit She'an, the nearest railway stations | Train and bus | 45 minutes by bus from Afula, 33 from Beit She'an, on top of whatever the train took | n/a |
| Tel Aviv, by hire car | Car | About 2 hours 15 in free traffic, and appreciably more if you leave the city between 07:00 and 09:00 | 41.95 shekels of toll for a car up to 4 tonnes at the casual rate, using five sections or more of Route 6 plus section 18 |
| Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, on a day tour | Organised tour | About 11 hours from Tel Aviv, about 13 from Jerusalem | From 360 shekels a person out of Tel Aviv, from 390 out of Jerusalem |
Ben Gurion Airport to The Sea of Galilee
Train and busAbout 3 hours 15 from the arrivals hall to Tiberias central bus station, of which 1 hour 57 is on the coach- 1Clear arrivals in Terminal 3 and follow the signs down to the railway station beneath the terminal. From Terminal 1 the free inter-terminal shuttle runs every 15 minutes, around the clock.
- 2Buy a Rav-Kav or set up a payment app before you reach the platform. Egged's credit card validation pilot, which opened on 11 January 2026, covers Eilat, Jerusalem and the Haifa area and not the Galilee.
- 3Take a northbound train to Tel Aviv Center, the Savidor station. The Modi'in to Nahariya service is scheduled at 21 minutes from the airport.
- 4Leave the station on the Namir Road side. Egged's 836 to Tiberias calls at the stop outside about ten minutes after leaving the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station.
- 5Ride 1 hour 57 up Route 2, off at the Elyakim interchange, past Yokneam, east on Route 77 from the Ishai interchange, over the Golani interchange and down past Poriya junction into Tiberias.
- 6The alternative is the train all the way to Merkazit HaMifratz in Haifa bay, 1 hour 33 from the airport, then Egged's 430 from the intercity terminal beside the platforms, another 59 minutes.
The catch. Boarding an intercity coach at a roadside stop rather than at the terminal is a gamble with luggage on a full bus; the certain space is at the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station on level 7. A Friday afternoon landing is not a travel day at all: the last 836 out of Tel Aviv on Friday 7 August 2026 left at 16:10, and the trains had already stopped.
Timetable and fares at iaa.gov.il →Tel Aviv to The Sea of Galilee
Intercity bus2 hours 7 minutes scheduled, so about 2 hours 40 from a central Tel Aviv hotel to the Tiberias promenade- 1Get to the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station and go up to level 7, where the intercity platforms are. Finding them in that building takes longer than it should.
- 2Take Egged 836. The ministry's schedule for Thursday 13 August 2026 carried 37 northbound departures, the first at 06:00 and the last at 23:00.
- 3The coach calls at the Azrieli stop on Begin Road and at Tel Aviv Savidor railway station within ten minutes of leaving, then runs Route 2 up the coast past the Netanya interchange, Olga junction and Or Akiva.
- 4It leaves the coast at the Elyakim interchange, crosses to Route 70 past Yokneam, and turns east onto Route 77 at the Ishai interchange.
- 5Over the Golani interchange, past Givat Avni and Poriya junction, it drops down Menachem Begin Boulevard into Tiberias and terminates at the central bus station above the lake.
The catch. The second half is a single-carriageway road through the Lower Galilee and the timetable does not survive a bad Thursday evening. Departures across both directions fell from 73 on Thursday 6 August 2026 to 37 on the Friday and 25 on the Saturday, though this is the one corridor with a Saturday service at all.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →Jerusalem to The Sea of Galilee
Intercity bus2 hours 5 minutes scheduled on the 962; 2 hours 26 on the 961, which takes the Jordan valley road- 1Use the Jerusalem Central Bus Station and go up to the level 3 platforms, which is where both Tiberias lines leave from.
- 2Take Egged 962, the express. It ran 20 times towards Tiberias on Thursday 13 August 2026.
- 3The 962 stops once after Jerusalem, at the Hemed interchange on Route 1, and then not again for an hour and a quarter until the Ishai interchange on Route 77.
- 4From there it follows the same road as the Tel Aviv coach: the HaMovil interchange, Beit Rimon junction, the Tur'an and Golani interchanges, Poriya junction, Tiberias.
- 5Egged's 961 covers the same pair of cities in 2 hours 26 with 69 stops, by way of Beit She'an and the Jordan valley. Take it only if you want what is on that road.
The catch. The 961 ran 42 times on Thursday 6 August 2026, 18 on the Friday and not once on the Saturday; the 962 kept 17 on the Saturday. Check which line you are booked on before you count on a weekend return.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →Haifa to The Sea of Galilee
Intercity bus59 minutes scheduled from Merkazit HaMifratz to Tiberias central bus station- 1Get to Merkazit HaMifratz at the north end of Haifa bay, where the coastal railway station and the intercity bus terminal stand together.
- 2Take Egged 430 from the intercity platforms. It ran 28 times towards Tiberias on Thursday 13 August 2026, scheduled at 59 minutes.
- 3The road is the Yagur interchange, Kfar Hasidim, Zvulun junction, Shefar'am and Route 79 past Bir al-Maksur to the HaMovil interchange.
- 4From HaMovil it is Route 77: Hoshaya, Beit Rimon junction, the Tur'an and Golani interchanges, Givat Avni, Poriya junction and down into Tiberias.
- 5Egged's 434 covers the same pair more slowly, 69 minutes with 17 departures that day, and is worth taking only if it is the one already at the platform.
The catch. The 430 fell from 59 departures across both directions on Thursday 6 August 2026 to 25 on the Friday and 12 on the Saturday, and the 434 ran nothing at all on the Saturday. There is no shade worth the name on the Tiberias platform in August.
Timetable and fares at bus.gov.il →Afula or Beit She'an, the nearest railway stations to The Sea of Galilee
Train and bus45 minutes by bus from Afula, 33 from Beit She'an, on top of whatever the train took- 1Accept first that no train reaches the lake. The nearest platforms are on the Jezreel Valley line, which reopened for passengers on 16 October 2016 and runs from Atlit to Beit She'an by way of Haifa and Afula.
- 2Join it at Atlit, Hof HaCarmel, Bat Galim, Haifa Center or Merkazit HaMifratz. Haifa Center to Afula is scheduled at 34 minutes and Merkazit HaMifratz to Afula at 27.
- 3At Afula, cross to the central bus station and take Egged's 442 to Tiberias: 45 minutes, with 29 departures towards the lake on Thursday 13 August 2026.
- 4From Beit She'an, Superbus 28 runs up Route 90 through the Jordan valley to Tiberias in 33 minutes.
- 5Both put you at Tiberias central bus station, where the 450 for the northern shore and the 51 for the eastern shore start.
The catch. This is the long way round from Tel Aviv and only makes sense if Afula, Beit She'an or the Jezreel Valley was on your list anyway. Trains stop from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening: on Saturday 8 August 2026 the earliest departure in the national schedule was after 21:00.
Timetable and fares at open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il →Tel Aviv, by hire car to The Sea of Galilee
CarAbout 2 hours 15 in free traffic, and appreciably more if you leave the city between 07:00 and 09:00- 1Leave Tel Aviv on Route 2 up the coast or on Route 6, the toll road, which clears the Gush Dan traffic sooner.
- 2Route 6 is billed by number plate rather than at a booth. A non-subscriber in a car up to 4 tonnes pays 24.20 shekels for up to three sections and 34.21 for five or more, with section 18 between the Iron interchange and Ein Tut charged at 16.93 on top, for journeys from 1 April 2026.
- 3Come off at the Elyakim interchange onto Route 70, run north past Yokneam and take Route 77 east from the Ishai interchange.
- 4Stay on Route 77 over the Golani interchange and past Poriya junction, then drop into Tiberias on Menachem Begin Boulevard.
- 5For the circuit, Route 90 runs the western and southern shore through Migdal, Ginosar and the Capernaum junction, and Route 92 runs the eastern shore past Kursi and Ein Gev.
- 6Park before the water rather than after it. Pedestrian entry to the guarded beaches run by the local authorities is free, but most of them charge for the car park.
The catch. The toll is billed to the vehicle's registered owner, so a hire car means the rental company charges it on afterwards with a fee of its own. In July and August the lakeside car parks fill from the morning, which is the whole reason the free summer beach shuttle exists.
Timetable and fares at kvish6.co.il →Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, on a day tour to The Sea of Galilee
Organised tourAbout 11 hours from Tel Aviv, about 13 from Jerusalem- 1Book ahead. Abraham Tours runs its Galilee day tour every Monday and Thursday from both cities.
- 2The Tel Aviv departure leaves at 07:15 and is back about 18:00. The Jerusalem one leaves at 06:00 and returns about 19:00.
- 3The morning is Nazareth: the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of St Joseph, roughly 08:45 to 11:00.
- 4The lake gets 12:00 to 13:15 at Capernaum and Tabgha, then 15:00 to 16:15 at the Yardenit baptismal site on the Jordan.
- 5Transport, a licensed guide and entrance fees are included. Food and drink are not.
The catch. Two days a week, and about two and a half hours actually on the shore. It solves the transport problem for the Gospel sites and solves nothing else: no Arbel, no swim, no eastern shore, and no stopping when the light is good.
Timetable and fares at abrahamtours.com →
The car question
The one corner of the Galilee where a car is optional
For most of the Galilee the answer is that a car is close to compulsory, because the parks and viewpoints sit at road junctions served three times a day. The Kinneret is the exception, and the reason is Superbus 450. It leaves Tiberias central bus station for Safed 62 times on a weekday, runs the whole of the western and northern shore on Route 90, and is scheduled at 7 minutes to Migdal junction, 8 to the Ginosar turning, 12 to the Capernaum junction and 14 to the Mount of Beatitudes stop. A visitor with no car can do Ginosar, Tabgha, Capernaum and the Beatitudes in a day on one line and one fare band.
What the car buys is the last kilometre, and the last kilometre here is unusually punishing. The 450 sets you down on Route 90. The gate at Capernaum is roughly 2.7 kilometres from the junction stop, along a road with no pavement and no shade; the churches at Tabgha are under a kilometre from the same stop; the Church of the Beatitudes is about 900 metres from its stop in a straight line and further by the access road, all of it uphill. In July and August, when Tiberias regularly runs at 38 degrees, those are not incidental walks. The Arbel clifftop, which is the single best thing to do with an hour at the lake, has no bus at all.
Driving in is simple. Route 77 east from the Ishai interchange is the way from the coast whichever city you start in, over the Golani interchange and down past Poriya junction into Tiberias. The choice on the first half is the coast road or Route 6, and Derech Eretz publishes the toll in full: a non-subscriber in a car up to 4 tonnes pays 24.20 shekels for up to three sections, 34.21 for five or more, and 16.93 on top for section 18 between the Iron interchange and Ein Tut, for journeys from 1 April 2026. There is no booth. The road photographs the plate, which on a hire car means the rental company bills it on later with a fee of its own.
Once you are at the lake the car earns its keep on the circuit: Route 90 down the western and southern shore, Route 92 up the eastern, short enough for an afternoon with stops. The cost is parking. Ynet's survey of the shoreline found pedestrian entry to the guarded beaches run by the local authorities is free but that most charge for the car park, which is why a free summer shuttle exists.
Paying
The Rav-Kav, the fare bands, and why no bus company will quote you a price
Israeli public transport runs on the Rav-Kav, a smartcard loaded with money or a travel contract and validated on board. Egged describes it as reloadable, reusable, personal and non-transferable, embossed with the holder's name and photograph, and says you must appear in person at an Al-HaKav station with an Israeli identity card, driving licence or passport. A visitor with none of those ends up with the anonymous or semi-anonymous version, which exists for that case.
Paying with a bank card is now possible in Israel, but not here. Egged opened its credit card validation pilot in Eilat on 11 January 2026 and in Jerusalem and the Haifa metropolitan area on 18 January 2026, taking physical cards and Apple or Google Pay at the validator. The Galilee is not in that list. Buy the card, or set up a payment app, before you go north.
Fares are national and banded by straight-line distance rather than set by the bus company, which is why no operator publishes a price list for its own lines. Rav-Kav Online's summary of the tariff that took effect on 1 July 2024 gives a single bus fare of 12.50 shekels for 15 to 40 kilometres and 17 shekels for anything from 40 up to 120, the band that Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa to Tiberias all fall into; a train in the 40 to 75 kilometre band is 25 shekels. The two published summaries do not agree on the shortest band, one giving 6 shekels for a journey under 15 kilometres and the other 8, and the ministry's own journey planner at bus.gov.il is the arbiter for a specific trip.
Three operators matter here. Egged runs the intercity coaches from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa; Superbus runs Tiberias itself, the 450 and 452 north to Safed and the 28 south to Beit She'an, and lists them on its own Valleys cluster page; the Golan Regional Council runs the eastern shore. None will tell you a fare. All will tell you a departure time.
The weekend
The Friday cliff, and the last bus past Capernaum
Intercity public transport in Israel thins through Friday and mostly stops until Saturday evening, and the published schedule shows the shape of it precisely. Across 6 to 8 August 2026, Superbus 450 went from 124 departures in both directions on the Thursday to 70 on the Friday and 8 on the Saturday. Egged's 430 from Haifa fell from 59 to 25 to 12, and the Golan council's line 51 round the eastern shore from 38 to 18 to 4. Egged's 961 from Jerusalem ran 42 times, then 18, then not at all.
The times matter more than the totals. On Friday 7 August 2026 the last 450 to pass the Capernaum junction heading back to Tiberias left at 16:25, and the last 836 out of Tel Aviv left at 16:10. The eight Saturday departures on the 450 were all after 21:00. The railway is stricter still: on Saturday 8 August 2026 the earliest departure anywhere in the national schedule was after 21:00, so a train is not an option for any part of that day.
There is one exception, and it is the corridor most visitors use. The 836 between Tel Aviv and Tiberias kept 25 departures on Saturday 8 August 2026, the first in the middle of the afternoon rather than after dark. Everything else that day is a beach you can walk to, which is not the worst outcome: Saturday is when the Kinneret shoreline is at its fullest and most Israeli.
Once you arrive
One bus does the Gospel shore, another does the eastern beaches
Tiberias central bus station is the hub for all of it, standing on the slope above the town with the promenade downhill. The northern shore belongs to Superbus 450, which calls at Migdal junction, the two Ginosar turnings, Hukok beach, the Capernaum junction, the Mount of Beatitudes and Korazim junction on its way to Safed. On Thursday 13 August 2026 it passed the Capernaum junction 62 times northbound, the first at 05:42 and the last at 23:42, with the last service back through at 00:10. Egged's 541 between Afula and Kiryat Shmona adds 16 northbound calls at the same junction.
The eastern and southern shore belongs to the Golan Regional Council's line 51, which runs from Nator down to Tiberias and calls at Kursi junction, Lebanon beach, Gofra beach, the Susita beach stops at Ein Gev, Kibbutz Ein Gev, Ha'On, Ma'agan, the Kinneret Academic College, Tzemach beach, Degania A with its Beit Gordon museum, Kinneret Moshava, Tzinbari and Shikmim beaches and Hamat Tiberias. That is the whole circuit for one fare. It ran 20 times towards Tiberias on Thursday 13 August 2026, and the number to write down is the last one: it called at the Susita beach stop at 19:03 and then not again until 20:48.
Through the summer holidays there is also a free shuttle. Ynet describes it running the entire lake at weekends from 30 June to 31 August and daily from 18 August, with a shorter service on the eastern beaches from 30 July to 17 August, explicitly so that visitors can avoid the parking charges. The dates shift from year to year, so treat them as the shape of the thing rather than as a timetable.
What there is not is a ferry. Boats do cross the lake, but the Tiberias operators sell chartered and group sailings: Holy Land Sailing, which has worked the lake for more than twenty years, publishes neither a timetable nor a fare on its own site. Plan a sailing as an excursion you have booked, never as the leg that gets you to Capernaum before the church shuts.
Practical
What to know before you go
- Learn one bus number before you arrive: Superbus 450. It leaves Tiberias central bus station for Safed 62 times on a weekday and calls at Migdal junction, Ginosar, Hukok beach, the Capernaum junction and the Mount of Beatitudes.
- Budget the walk at the far end. The 450 stops on Route 90, not at the gates: roughly 2.7 km to Capernaum, under a kilometre to Tabgha, about 900 metres and uphill to the Church of the Beatitudes, with no pavement and no shade on any of them.
- Buy the Rav-Kav or set up a payment app before you go north. Egged's credit card validation pilot covers Eilat, Jerusalem and the Haifa area, and the Galilee is not in it.
- Do not plan a Friday afternoon arrival. On Friday 7 August 2026 the last 450 back past the Capernaum junction to Tiberias left at 16:25 and the last 836 out of Tel Aviv at 16:10.
- Check the last bus off the eastern shore before you settle in at Ein Gev. On Thursday 13 August 2026 line 51 called at the Susita beach stop for Tiberias at 19:03 and then not again until 20:48.
- Coming from the airport, decide at Tel Aviv: change to the 836 at Savidor station for speed, or ride on to the Central Bus Station and board on level 7 for a guaranteed space with luggage.
- If you are driving in the school holidays, reach the beach car parks early. Pedestrian entry to the local authority beaches is free and the parking is not, and the free summer shuttle exists because the parking fills.
- Do not count on a boat as transport. The Tiberias operators sell chartered and group sailings and publish neither timetables nor fares.
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 450 departures, Tiberias to Safed and back | 124 on Thursday, 70 on Friday, 8 on Saturday | 6-8 August 2026 | open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il |
| Line 836 departures, Tel Aviv to Tiberias and back | 73 on Thursday, 37 on Friday, 25 on Saturday | 6-8 August 2026 | open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il |
| Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv Savidor by train | 21 minutes | 13 August 2026 | open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il |
| Merkazit HaMifratz to Tiberias, Egged 430 | 59 minutes | 13 August 2026 | open-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.il |
| Single bus fare, 40 to 120 km band | 17 shekels | tariff effective 1 July 2024 | ravkavonline.co.il |
| Route 6 toll, car up to 4 tonnes, casual rate | 24.20 to 41.95 shekels | journeys from 1 April 2026 | kvish6.co.il |
| Galilee day tour from Tel Aviv | From 360 shekels a person | August 2026 | abrahamtours.com |
| Jezreel Valley railway reopened to passengers | 16 October 2016 | 2016 | en.wikipedia.org |
The rest of the The Sea of Galilee guide
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 Airports Authorityiaa.gov.ilBen Gurion Airport: getting here by train
The railway station beneath Terminal 3 and the free 24-hour inter-terminal shuttle every 15 minutes
- OfficialEggedegged.co.ilRav-Kav and payment apps
Card types, the requirement to appear in person with photo identity, and the credit card validation pilot dates for Eilat, Jerusalem and Haifa
- OfficialSuperbussuperbus.co.ilLines in the Valleys cluster
The operator's own listing of line 450 and 452 to Safed, line 28 to Beit She'an and the Tiberias city lines
- OfficialMinistry of Transport, National Public Transport Authoritybus.gov.ilNational public transport journey planner
The planner that returns departures and the fare for a specific journey across every operator
- OfficialRav-Kav Onlineravkavonline.co.ilPublic transport fares update, effective 1 July 2024
Single fares, day passes and monthly passes by distance band for bus and train
- OfficialRav-Kav Onlineravkavonline.co.ilDerekh Shava: the distance-band fare reform
How the banding works, and the source of the discrepancy over the shortest band
- OfficialDerech Eretz Highwayskvish6.co.ilRoute 6 travel tariffs, valid for journeys from 1 April 2026
Toll rates by vehicle type, section count and customer type, and how section 18 is billed separately
- OfficialAbraham Toursabrahamtours.comGalilee tour: Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, from Tel Aviv
Price, days of the week, 07:15 departure and the hour by hour itinerary
- OfficialAbraham Toursabrahamtours.comGalilee tour: Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, from Jerusalem
Price, 06:00 departure and the same lake itinerary from the other city
- OfficialHoly Land Sailingjesusboats.comHoly Land Sailing, Tiberias
A Tiberias sailing operator of more than twenty years that publishes group and individual sailings but no timetable or fares
- ReportingYnetnewsynetnews.comThe Sea of Galilee's beaches: what they cost and how to reach them
Free pedestrian entry at local authority beaches, parking charged at most of them, and the free summer shuttle round the lake
- DataThe Public Knowledge Workshopopen-bus-stride-api.hasadna.org.ilOpen Bus Stride API: Ministry of Transport GTFS routes, rides and stops
The published schedule behind every line number, journey time, stop and departure count on this page, for 6 to 13 August 2026
- ReferenceWikipediaen.wikipedia.orgJezreel Valley railway
The line's stations, its reopening to passengers on 16 October 2016, and the fact that it does not serve Tiberias
- ReferenceWikipediaen.wikipedia.orgCapernaum
Coordinates on the northern shore and the 2.5 km distance from Tabgha, against which the walk from the junction stop is measured
Getting to the Sea of Galilee: common questions
Is there a train to the Sea of Galilee?+
No, and there has not been one since the old Valley Railway. The nearest stations are Afula and Beit She'an on the Jezreel Valley line, which reopened for passengers on 16 October 2016. From Afula, Egged's 442 reaches Tiberias in 45 minutes; from Beit She'an, Superbus 28 takes 33 minutes up Route 90.
How do I get from Ben Gurion Airport to Tiberias?+
Train to Tel Aviv, then a coach, in about three and a quarter hours. The railway station is beneath Terminal 3 and a northbound train reaches Tel Aviv Center, the Savidor station, in 21 minutes; Egged's 836 to Tiberias calls at the stop on Namir Road outside and takes 1 hour 57. The alternative is the train the whole way to Merkazit HaMifratz in Haifa bay, 1 hour 33, then Egged's 430 for another 59 minutes.
Do I need a car at the Sea of Galilee?+
Less than anywhere else in the Galilee, and it still helps. Superbus 450 runs the northern shore 62 times a day each way and the Golan Regional Council's line 51 runs the eastern and southern shore, so almost every lakeside site is within a few kilometres of a stop. What the car buys is those few kilometres, plus the Arbel clifftop, which no bus reaches.
Which bus goes to Capernaum, Tabgha and the Mount of Beatitudes?+
Superbus 450, from Tiberias central bus station towards Safed. Superbus lists it on its own Valleys cluster page, and the ministry's schedule for Thursday 13 August 2026 shows 62 departures in each direction, scheduled at 12 minutes from Tiberias to the Capernaum junction and 14 to the Mount of Beatitudes stop. Egged's 541 between Afula and Kiryat Shmona calls at the same junction 16 times northbound.
How far is the bus stop from Capernaum?+
Roughly 2.7 kilometres, on a road with no pavement and no shade. The 450 stops at the Capernaum junction on Route 90, and Capernaum itself sits on the shore about 2.5 kilometres east of Tabgha. Tabgha's churches are under a kilometre from the same stop, which makes them the easy pair to do on foot and Capernaum the one to think about in August.
What happens on Shabbat?+
Most of it stops from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening. Superbus 450 fell from 124 departures on Thursday 6 August 2026 to 70 on the Friday and 8 on the Saturday, all eight after 21:00, and the last Friday service back past the Capernaum junction left at 16:25. Trains ran nothing before 21:00 on that Saturday. The exception is Egged's 836, which kept 25 Saturday departures between Tel Aviv and Tiberias.
How much does the bus cost, and how do I pay?+
About 17 shekels from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Haifa, paid with a Rav-Kav card or a payment app rather than cash. Fares are set nationally by straight-line distance band, and the tariff effective from 1 July 2024 puts anything from 40 to 120 kilometres at 17 shekels on a bus. Egged's credit card validation pilot reached Eilat, Jerusalem and the Haifa area in January 2026 but not the Galilee, so get a card before you travel north.
Can I do the Sea of Galilee as a day trip from Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?+
Yes, though a tour is the honest way to do it. Abraham Tours runs a Galilee day tour every Monday and Thursday, from 360 shekels a person out of Tel Aviv leaving at 07:15 and from 390 out of Jerusalem leaving at 06:00, with Capernaum and Tabgha from 12:00 to 13:15 and Yardenit from 15:00 to 16:15. Doing it yourself on the 836 is possible but leaves you about four hours at the lake.
How do I get round the lake without a car?+
Two buses and, in summer, a free shuttle. Superbus 450 covers the western and northern shore from Tiberias and the Golan Regional Council's line 51 covers the eastern and southern shore from Kursi and Ein Gev down through Ma'agan, Tzemach and Degania. Ynet reports a free shuttle running the whole lake through the summer holidays, at weekends from 30 June to 31 August and daily from 18 August, laid on so that visitors can avoid the beach parking charges.
Is there a boat across the lake?+
There are boats, but not a ferry you can turn up for. The Tiberias operators, Holy Land Sailing among them, sell chartered and group sailings and publish neither a timetable nor a fare on their own sites. Book one as an excursion and keep the bus as the way you actually get from Tiberias to the northern shore.