Day 88: Double Decker Bus Tour

My kids are getting ready to leave in a few weeks for a trip to England with their Boy Scout troop.  For my older son, it will be a repeat trip, but for my younger son, it will be his first venture "across the pond".  Of course, no trip to England is complete without a ride on a double-decker bus, so the Scout troop already has their tickets purchased.  So imagine my surprise when I saw that they have double-decker bus tours in Israel!

That's right, in Jerusalem, you can hop aboard a double-decker bus for a two hour tour of the city.  The Route 99 Egged City Tour Bus, takes visitors all over the city with a "digital tour guide" providing the running commentary.   Riders don headphones and can choose from eight different languages - English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, and Hebrew.

In addition, riders can choose to sit downstairs in the comfort of air conditioning, or upstairs which has an open-top.  Unlike jolly old England, where they experience a lot of rain, you are probably safe to sit up top and enjoy the sunshine.  Plus, since there are no windows upstairs, it probably is better for taking pictures.

The cost of the two hour tour is 60 Shekels ($15 US dollars).  The only caveat is that the two hour tour does not allow for any "hopping on or off".  If you want the flexibilty to do that, you are better off buying a 12 hour pass, which cost 80 Shekels ($20 US dollars). I think this sounds like a really fun way to see the city of Jerusalem.  I can't wait to check this out.