How To Cross By Land From Egypt To Jordan

If you’re looking to cross to Jordan from Egypt by land, here’s the exact route that I took when I went. When backpacking on a budget, I try to spend as little as possible on transportation and avoiding flights when I can is a key. Unfortunately, when I was doing my trip around the world I couldn’t find any information at all on how to attempt to cross by land. I also couldn’t find any information at the time on how to get across Jordan from the Israel border – from Aqaba to Amman. So I ended up just figuring it out for myself and took notes so that I could share my experience with others.

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Land Crossing from Egypt To Jordan 

From Cairo

Most people in Egypt are probably going to be leaving from the main city Cairo. This is the city where the pyramids are located and where you probably will be flying in to. In order to cross by land you’ll have to cross through Israel or you can alternatively take a ferry. The route to Israel will be to take either a bus and taxi combination or a private taxi all the way. Once arrive at Taba, you’ll walk across the border in to Israel and grab a taxi to take you the remaining way to the Jordan border crossing at Aqaba.

By Bus: You will take a bus to Taba and walk across to Israel and then take a taxi to Jordan.

*Here is the link to book the bus –> https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Cairo/Taba

There’s two options you’ll find, a regular bus that is 8 hours to Taba, that travels 3x a week for $22-$44.

There’s also the local bus that makes multiple stops and it takes 12 hours to reach Taba Heights for $7-$10 that leaves once a day.

By private taxi: This will take you around 5 hours and cost you about $40-$55 dollars. You can try to haggle this price from the taxis within the city center.

By ferry: You can head to Nurweiba and take the ferry across the sea directly to Jordan an bypass Israel. However this can cost $80-$100 per person and if you’re traveling on a budget you may not want to fork that out on transportation costs.

To get to Nurwebia, you’ll need to take a bus from Cairo to Dahab, then change buses and get on another bus that takes you the remaining way to Nurweiba where the ferry is. The first bus is 7.5 hours long and is around $10-$13 and the second bus is 1.40 hours long and about $2-$4.

You can also take a taxi which is about 6 hours.

The ferry itself is about 2.5 – 3 hours long plus check-in and immigration, which can add a couple hours on to the duration. The ferry is operated by Arab Bridge Maritime.

**Here’s the link to book the bus to Nurwebia –>

**Here’s the link to book the Nurwebia ferry –>

From El Sharm Sheikh

I actually traveled from Cairo to Sharm El Sheikh, to kill some days by the pool and the beach before heading to Jordan. I actually did not like this town as it is SUPER touristy and is essentially just a city with resorts/hotels right on the beach. It has a very super touristy street with shops, restaurants, etc. I’m sure its great for a vacation, but it didn’t have anything “Egypt” about it in my opinion and the beaches were so crowded with resorts and boats and roped off places you could swim only. But like I said, it was just a stopping place to kill time before Jordan. (I had just finished a 9 day organized tour of Egypt and needed to RELAX).

Theres one bus from Sharm el sheikh to Taba, and it leaves at 9:00 AM. The cost is 90 LE (~$5.40). You can only buy this ticket the morning of, so arrive at least 30 minutes prior to get a seat. You can’t buy it in advance like I was told by my hotel, so you will save yourself a 100 LE roundtrip taxi for nothing. This bus ride is BEAUTIFUL in itself. I never would have imagined such beauty along the coast between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Just beautiful blue waters and almost untouched shoreline till you get near Israel.

This bus ride will have you arriving around 3:00pm. From there you can easily walk to the border. It is only like a 6 minute walk, even though it appears longer on a map b/c the different stops you have to actually walk through to get to Israel. No need to pay for a taxi although they will be there trying to offer you one.

You’ll get to the Israel side, where you will see a person in a window. They will ask to see your passport and ask you a ton of questions, but its just procedure.  These are some questions I was asked at each point: “Why you are visiting Israel, how long do you plan on being in Israel, where are you coming from, what hotel did you stay at, where are you going next, why are you traveling, (if you are with someone, what is yalls relationship to one another).

Next is security, which is nicer like an airport. They will also ask you all these same questions.

After security, then you will walk up to another window where you will be asked all these same questions AGAIN lol, and that’s where you will receive your “paper visa” to keep in your passport as to avoid needing a stamp. (Israel does not actually stamp your passport due to the political issues and implications among being able to enter other countries if you had this stamp in your passport book)

**I’m not sure about other countries, but I did read there are 99 of them, but I’m an American and my partner is German and we do not need to pay for a Visa to enter.

Now you are free and in Israel. You’ll need to take a taxi to get to the Jordan border. Just flag one down, and they all run metered. Ask them to take you to an ATM so you can get money for the taxi. The ATM only lets you pull out increments of 50, but don’t worry if you take out too much because you can put what you have left towards the Exit Tax. The taxi cost 62.80 ILS (~$17.59).

Once you arrive at the border, there will be a cashier window. You’ll go there and they will take your passports and Israeli papers and charge you 102 ILS ($28.58) per person. I put the remainder of my ILS atm transaction money towards it and paid the rest with my card.

Entering Jordan By Foot

That’s It On The Land Crossing From Egpyt To Jordan!

I hope you found this information valuable if you’re doing a trip in the middle east and trying to navigate the border crossings via land rather than having to take a flight. As we know, flight prices continue to rise post-Covid and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better so when I have the opportunity to avoid flying, I take it! Plus, you have the opportunity to see the beautiful landscape in places you may otherwise have never seen.

If you’re looking for more information on planning your trip to Egypt or Jordan, stay tuned as I’ll be putting together a guide on the tour I did in Egypt and my 6-day self-guided trip in Jordan. Both places are absolutely stunning, packed with friendly people, rich culture and captivating history.

xx, christine

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