ICML 2010 - Transportation

Transportation from Ben Gurion Airport

Train

From the Ben Gurion Airport train station, located near the arrivals hall in the airport, you can take a direct train to Haifa. Buy a ticket to the Hof HaCarmel station in Haifa and go down the escalator to the train. Make sure you board on the correct track. Take a taxi from the Hof HaCarmel station in Haifa to your destination.
For more information, see the Israel Railways site. Note that trains and buses do not generally run on Friday afternoon or Saturdays. If you arrive on Friday afternoon, or on Saturday, you will probably want to rent a car or take a taxi to Haifa.

Bus

You can take a direct Egged bus from the airport to Haifa. Take the 947 bus to the Hof HaCarmel station in Haifa and take a city bus or taxi from there to your destination. Estimated travel time is 2:15 hrs. Tickets can be purchased onboard - 36 NIS (10 USD).
From Hof HaCarmel station you should take either the 133 or 3 bus to Carmel Center, where main hotels are (Please consult the interactive map for specific location information). Both bus lines arrives every 20 minutes.
To find out more about the buses that serve the city of Haifa, go to the main Egged Web site.

Sherut Taxi Service

Shared taxis, called Sheruts, are available from the airport to all destinations in Israel. Sheruts are about half the price of a private taxi, so they're a good deal, especially if you're going to a distant area such as Haifa or Jerusalem. Keep in mind that you may have to wait a while, since the taxi only leaves the airport when it is full. Generally, there are 10 seats in such a car. The rate for a one way trip from the airport to Haifa is about 65 NIS (~USD$20). You can also pay in dollars, but there is no credit card payment available--only cash.

Taxi

As you exit from the terminal building, look for the supervised taxi stand. Give your destination to the dispatcher and he will direct you to the correct taxi. The fares from the airport are fixed, so the driver should not use the meter.

Ride sharing

For those of you who wish to find partners for taxi ride - to or from the airport, or for any other destination, you can coordinate on the ride-sharing section on Craigslist. Use the string ICMLCOLT in the title.

Rental Car

Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, and other local firms have offices at the airport.