Israel to Jordan | Border Crossing Guide

How to cross the Israel-Jordan border

When I decided to visit Jordan, it quickly appeared that flights were much cheaper to Tel Aviv (Israel) than Amman (now that Ryanair operates flights to Amman, this might not be true anymore, depending on where you are travelling from, but anyways its’ a very good excuse to visit both countries if you have the time to).

Since the 2 countries are neighbours and quite small, I started looking into overland border crossing. Crossing the border between Israel and Jordan can seem complicated, but with the correct information it’s actually an easy process.

A bit of general information:

There are 3 border crossing points between the 2 countries:

– the Yitzhak Rabin Terminal/Wadi Araba Crossing, in the south, close to the cities of Petra and Aqaba

– the King Hussein Bridge (Allenby) Terminal, close to Jerusalem and Amman. It would seem to be the easiest option geographically speaking but it’s the only border opened to Palestinians from the West Bank so it is usually more crowed than the 2 others and waiting times might be longer. Also, you can’t get a Jordanian visa at this border and will need to apply for a Visa at a Jordanian consulate beforehand.

– the Jordan River/Sheikh Hussein Crossing, in the North, where you can get the Jordanian Visa on arrival. This is the one I chose.

Jordan River crossing - the easy way
Nazareth to Amman | Amman to Nazareth

The easiest option to cross the border is to book a seat on a bus that operates between Nazareth and Amman. You just have to board the bus, get out at the customs to pay the exit fee and get your Visa and board back when exiting the border terminal.

It costs 22€ one way and departs from Nazareth 97 Paulus Ha-Shishi Street, at 8:30 AM and from Amman Waradat Albustan Hotel at 2:00 PM.

Book your seat here

The only problem is that this bus only operates on Saturdays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, so depending on your schedule, this might not be an option, but there are other ways to cross the border on your own.

Jordan River crossing - the slightly less easy way
Tel Aviv to Amman

From Tel Aviv Central Station, board the Egged bus n°843, on platform 5 to Beit She’an Terminal Station (37,5 NIS). You can find the time schedule here.

I would recommend to take the 9:50 AM bus, as you’ll then be able to board the 12:30 bus 16 at the Beit She’an terminal station, that will bring you closer to the border (there is no stop at the border but you can try to ask the bus driver, they apparently usually agree to drop you at the border entrance).

There is no bus between 12:30 and 16:30, so the only option you’ll have if you don’t want to wait or walk the 7k will be to take a taxi. The ride to the border takes less than 10 minutes and will cost you 50 NIS. You can try to negotiate but I wasn’t successful as the taxi drivers know you have no other option, so try to find people to share the ride with.

Crossing the border is pretty straightforward, you walk through the Israeli customs, pay the exit fee (105 NIS), then wait for a shuttle that will bring you to the Jordan customs (5NIS). There, you’ll get your visa (40JD) and enter Jordan. Prepare cash as there is no ATM and they don’t accept credit or debit cards, but you can exchange to JD or NIS at a fair rate.

There is no public transportation at the border, so the cheapest way to get to Amman, is to take a taxi to the city of Irbid, that costs around 20JD, and from there finding a bus to the capital.

Another option is to have your Couchsurfing host pick you up at the border, in exchange of a compensation to cover for the fuel and hassle.