Israel & Jordan in 7 Days — Self-Launched

Arrive at Ben-Gurion Airport and take the Israel Railways train directly from the terminal to Tel Aviv HaHagana or Savidor Center (about 20 minutes, ~₪16 / £3.50). Check into a hostel or budget guesthouse in the Florentin or Neve Tzedek area. Spend the late afternoon walking the Tel Aviv Promenade to Jaffa old town — free, sunset-friendly, and a good way to shake off jet lag. Pick up a Rav-Kav transit card at the train station (worth it for buses and light rail).

🚌Israel Railways train from Ben-Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv (~£3.50); walk or local bus

🛏Hostel or budget guesthouse, Florentin/Neve Tzedek (£22-30 dorm/budget double)

• →Israel Railways airport transfer
• →Tel Aviv Promenade walk
• →Jaffa old town at sunset
• →Rav-Kav transit card setup

Catch an early Egged bus or shared sherut from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (~£5, 1 hour). Drop bags at a hostel in the New City or East Jerusalem near Damascus Gate. Then self-walk the classic Mount of Olives circuit: panoramic viewpoint, Garden of Gethsemane, Church of All Nations, Dominus Flevit and Pater Noster (small entry fees, £1-3 each). Enter the Old City via Lion's Gate, see the Pools of Bethesda and Church of St. Anne, then follow the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Finish at the Western Wall at dusk and walk the Byzantine Cardo and Jewish Quarter. Most of this is free — a GetYourGuide Old City walking tour (~£25) is an optional upgrade if you want context.

🚌Egged bus or shared sherut Tel Aviv–Jerusalem (~£5)

🛏Jerusalem hostel, private budget double (~£30-35)

• →Mount of Olives panorama
• →Garden of Gethsemane & Church of All Nations
• →Pools of Bethesda and Church of St. Anne
• →Via Dolorosa & Church of the Holy Sepulchre
• →Western Wall and Cardo

Take the Arab bus 231 from Damascus Gate to Bethlehem (about £2), then a local taxi to Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity, the Milk Grotto and Shepherd's Fields. Continue by shared service taxi to Jericho (roughly £4-6) for the Tel es-Sultan mound, Elisha's Spring, Zacheus's Sycamore and views to Mount of Temptation — the Jericho cable car costs about £8 if you want the climb without the walk. Take a service taxi back to Jerusalem by late afternoon and eat on Al-Zahra Street in East Jerusalem.

🚌Bus 231 Damascus Gate–Bethlehem (~£2); shared service taxi Bethlehem–Jericho (~£5); return to Jerusalem (~£4)

🛏Jerusalem hostel (~£30-35)

• →Church of the Nativity & Manger Square
• →Milk Grotto and Shepherd's Fields
• →Tel es-Sultan and Elisha's Spring
• →Mount of Temptation viewpoint / cable car

Morning at Yad Vashem Holocaust museum (free entry, closed Fridays, Saturdays and Jewish holidays — check the calendar). Then Mount Zion for the Hall of the Last Supper and David's Tomb (free), walking back through the Jewish Quarter. In the afternoon take an Egged bus north to Tiberias via Afula (about £7, 2.5 hours) and check into a budget guesthouse near the Sea of Galilee. If you'd rather keep Jerusalem as a base for a second full day, swap this for the Mount Zion sites only and move north on Day 5 morning by the 6am bus.

🚌Local tram/bus around Jerusalem; Egged bus Jerusalem–Tiberias (~£7)

🛏Tiberias budget guesthouse (~£28-34)

• →Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum
• →Mount Zion: Hall of the Last Supper & David's Tomb
• →Jewish Quarter walk
• →Evening lakeside walk in Tiberias

Base yourself in Tiberias and use local buses (or a hired taxi for the day at roughly £65-80 split between travellers) for the Galilee circuit: Basilica of the Annunciation and St. Joseph's Church in Nazareth, the Wedding Church at Cana, then north around the lake to Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes and a view of Mount Tabor. The Yardenit baptismal site is a short detour south of Tiberias if you want to go in the water. Bring cash — several of these sites have small entry fees of £1-3 and the buses are infrequent after 4pm.

🚌Local buses / shared taxi around the Sea of Galilee (~£12-15)

🛏Tiberias budget guesthouse (~£28-34)

• →Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth
• →Cana Wedding Church
• →Capernaum ruins
• →Mount of Beatitudes
• →Optional Yardenit baptismal site

Take the early Egged bus from Tiberias to Eilat (long day — about 6.5-7 hours, roughly £18, or consider a cheap domestic flight). From Eilat cross at the Rabin/Aqaba border by taxi (~£10-15) and get your Jordan Pass before you travel — the Jordan Pass (from about £55, Jordan Explorer tier) covers your entry visa and the Petra ticket if you stay 3+ nights, otherwise Petra entry alone is ~£45. Base yourself in Wadi Musa village. Alternatively book a GetYourGuide or Klook Petra day tour from Eilat (~£75-95) if you prefer the border logistics handled for one day. Evening: Petra by Night (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, ~£14) is worth the ticket.

🚌Egged bus Tiberias–Eilat (~£18); taxi across Eilat–Aqaba border (~£12); minibus to Wadi Musa (~£5)

🛏Wadi Musa budget hotel or hostel (~£25-30)

• →Eilat–Aqaba border crossing
• →Petra by Night (if running)
• →Wadi Musa village evening

Start Petra at opening (6am in summer, 6:30am in winter) — walk the Siq to the Treasury before the coach groups arrive, then climb to the Monastery or the High Place of Sacrifice (2-3 hours, proper shoes needed). Late morning, take a shared minibus from Wadi Musa to Wadi Rum (~£6, 2 hours) and join a 2-3 hour jeep tour with a Bedouin camp operator (~£30-40, book on arrival or via Klook). Continue to Aqaba in the late afternoon (~£5) for a swim and a walk along the corniche. If you're flying out of Tel Aviv, allow for the ~£50 flight from Aqaba or the bus back to Eilat and onwards — note the group tour charges £52 for the return transfer.

🚌Wadi Musa–Wadi Rum shared minibus (~£6); Wadi Rum–Aqaba (~£5); local taxis

🛏Aqaba budget hotel or hostel (~£25-30) — or night bus/flight onward

• →Petra early entry: Siq, Treasury, Monastery
• →Wadi Rum jeep tour with Bedouin guide
• →Aqaba corniche and Red Sea swim