These days it’s hard to remember how we once managed without our smartphones. Israel, aka “The Start-Up Nation”, loves its apps. In fact many of the apps you love and use, were developed in Israel. Enjoy them when you are here in 4G.
So as you make your Jerusalem travel plans, be sure to load your phone with our pick of the 10 most essential apps:
Gett
Formerly known as “Gett Taxi” is a popular way to order a cab in Jerusalem. The service gives you the name and contact information of your driver, tracks your cab’s location and arrival time, and allows you to pay by credit card.
Looking for a cab with a car seat? Request a Gett Kids. Want a driver who does not drive on Shabbat? Request a Gett Mehadrin.
Other options:
Gett Premium – modern luxury vehicles.
Gett XL- car service for 9-19 passengers (has to be prebooked at least 4 hours in advance)
No more haggling for taxi fares in Israel. It’s a set fare and in Israel you can tip if you want to but it’s not expected.
Moovit
If you will be using public transportation Moovit is an easy way to find the right route to get you where you want to go. It gives you the best route using a combination of car, train, bus and walking. It can also track the trains or buses in real time.
You can pay for the bus and train through the app.
WAZE
Planning to rent a car and drive on your own. The streets of Jerusalem are not that scary as long as you know which streets are one way and which lanes are bus/taxis only. Put on Waze and search for your destination.
If you can’t find it in english then search in Hebrew. Many of the popular attractions are listed in WAZE. Also make sure to set your settings to let WAZE know if you do not want to enter any areas under PA control.
Cellopark
The parking ticket machines are gone! Jerusalem now requires all drivers to use parking apps to park in the blue and white. Just download Cellopark and set up an account with your rental car license plate and credit card number. Cellopark works well for tourists by accepting foreign credit cards, international phone numbers and not requiring a teudat zehut ID number.
Each time you want to park, just turn on the app and choose Jerusalem. Make sure to get the extra reminder service where Cellopark will automatically turn off your parking when you drive away. (Note to Reader – Cellopark has not been responding to our readers emails but we can not get through to them either 🙂
eLuna
A great app for finding kosher restaurants in Israel. Once you decide where you will dine, eLuna offers you coupons for a nice discount on your meal.
Google Translate
One of the best translation apps on the market. Use your camera for instant translation, speak into the mic to hear how words are pronounced, draw letters with your fingers and more. Most people in Israel speak English but it never hurts to have a great solution for translation.
The Muqata
Looking for round-the-clock updates on news in Israel in English? If you are looking for information about security incidents, this is where I always check first.
If you have an iPhone you can follow them on Facebook or Android users can download the app from Google play.
Jerusalem Post (Jpost) Times of Israel
Apps that provide local and national news in English. If you want to be informed about news as it happens then make sure to set your notification settings to notify you on your lock screen.
Last, but certainly not least, make sure to take lots of pictures to document and share your travel adventures and fun! Follow funinjerusalem and make sure to tag us as well as tag the Jerusalem attractions you visit.
TAG US! @funinjerusalem #funinjerusalem
We would love to see your pictures and share them with our readers. Tag us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or pin to our pinterest boards.
