Planning a trip to Israel

I will be going this solo, quite daunting really, but being raised catholic i'd like to actually physically see what I spent 13 years of my life studying at school.

Can any locals or people who have been there tell me...
Is it easy to get around there?
How much would I be looking to spend daily... Staying in hostels, eating basic food etc.
And how easy is the transport to Cairo? (which i'm looking at going to after i'm done in Israel.

Thanks guys!

public transportation is really easy to come by. Where do you plan on visiting in Israel? Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Tiberias, is all great. what month do you plan on going? It can be a bit cold in Jerusalem around this time. When taking taxi's I'd recommend telling the driver to use the meter. its not even worth trying to negotitate with the taxi drivers, once they realize your a tourist they'll raise the fee, so stick to meter. I dont know about staying in hostels except for tel aviv. Gordon Inn is a real nice place to stay and also there is a nice one on Yarakaon near the beach.

Is it easy to get around there?

Yes.

Public transport is excellent. There are the local buses in the cities and the Egged buses are running all over the country. It helps if you know enough Hebrew to identify destinations on buses, but it is not really necessary.

Apart from buses you got sheruts, shared taxis. These are minibuses that run on certain routes, they are faster, more frequent and get you to out of the way places, but they are also more expensive and their drivers can screw you over. Always know the price before you get in, a good guidebook will list them. If possible make sure you know the price of the Egged bus ticket so when the sherut driver tells you a price you can compare it.

How much would I be looking to spend daily... Staying in hostels, eating basic food etc.

This info is a bit dated, but I think you are looking at around 70 AUD per day and person, more if you like eating out or partying.

And how easy is the transport to Cairo?

Transport to Cairo involves a bit of leg work. It is not very difficult, but takes some planning. First you need to get an Egyptian visa either at the embassy in Tel Aviv or at the consulate in Eilat. Then you need to find out when the buses run, IIRC there is only one bus daily from Taba going to Sharm el-Sheikh. Don't plan on going from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv to Cairo in one go, break up the journey either in Eilat or the Sinai or both before going to Cairo.

http://www.ask-aladdin.com/bus_schedules.htm

Tip: If you are going to Israel for religious reasons, definitely stay for a few days in the Sinai and visit St. Catherine's.

http://looklex.com/egypt/st_catherine.htm
http://www.ask-aladdin.com/stcatherine.html

From Sharm e-Sheikh you can go to Cairo by bus or take the ferry to Hurghada. If you plan to tour Egypt it would make more sense to take the ferry to Hurghada and continue from Hurghada to Aswan, visiting Abu Simbel and then making your way down the Nile to Cairo.

Get some decent guidebooks to help you with your planning. I like the Lonely Planet, almost everybody uses it for Egypt. I also had the Lonely Planet when I went to Israel, but this was 10 years ago and I don't know how useful the current edition is. Two or three years back at the height of the internal troubles in Israel the Bradt guide was the only decent guide book for Israel.