If you want to use a train and to get to Haifa from Tel aviv it will take you an hour (more or less) and it should cost you something like 50 nis for both directions.
An excellent introduction to the nothern part of Israel called the Galilee (it is listed here in VT as "Haifa District", but that is like including San Francisco in the Los Angeles District): http://www.galileeguide.com/galilee2005/welcome.asp
Just hit the button marked "Tourism" which will bring you to the English part of the site: http://tourism.index.co.il/
Hitching is a good way to get around this part of Israel. I did it a lot during my 6 months as a kibbutz volunteer and travelled with some very nice and interesting people. Of course, as everywhere else in the world, there are some risks involved and I had a couple of not so pleasant experiences. Here's some basic tips:
- when hitching don't stick out your thumb. In Israel that is a rude gesture. Instead use your index finger and point at the road.
- girls: don't hitch alone. EVER ! In fact I'd go so far as to suggest even 2 girls is not a good idea, especially at night
- guys: if there is a girl in your group let her sit in the back of the vehicle.
- if there are 2 or more of you hitching, just have one person doing the finger work. The others should stay out of sight somewhere, in the bus shelter or whatever. If a car does stop don't come running out like it's an ambush. They will drive off very quickly :)
- sometimes be prepared to wait. Usually I got a lift very quickly (almost immediately), only a couple of times I waited up to an hour at which point I gave up and looked at Plan B :)
- I believe that hitching is technically illegal but sometimes I accidentally tried to hitch with police cars. They never stopped - not even to arrest me :)