If you are going to spend a few days in Tel-Aviv, you are very, very lucky because you don’t need to visit anything. There are no “Must See” places in Tel-Aviv and you can just enjoy life. Think of it like you have just finished high school exams and you can go to the beach.
Here is a list of things you can Do and places to Visit in Tel-Aviv :
- Walk in the Nice Streets of Tel-Aviv
- Go to the Beach
- Rent a Bike and Ride along the Beaches, Yarkon Park and Tel-Aviv Boulevards
- Take a Tour on the Touristic Bus , Walking Tour, Segway
- Visit the Yarkon Park
- Go Shopping in one of the Malls, Markets, Commercial streets or Leisure areas
- Take a View of the city from the 50 floor of the Azrieli towers
- Visit a Museum
- One day trip outside Tel-Aviv to : Jerusalem and Haifa cities
- Sit in a Café
- Tel-Aviv by Night
- What to do with Kids in Tel-Aviv
Walk in the Nice Streets of Tel-Aviv
Look at the following Google Map, I have highlighted the main streets which are nice and interesting for walking in Tel-Aviv :
- Along the beach promenade and in the Yarkon park (the purple line on the map)
- The elegant streets in the south of Tel-Aviv : around Rothschild boulevard and Shabazi street (the green line on the map)
- The commercial streets like Dizengoff (the blue lines on the map)
- Old Jaffa in the south (green mark on the map)
- The Tel-Aviv port in the north (an anchor symbol on the map)
- Tel-Aviv old City Hall (Pink mark on the map)
Go to the Beach
The beaches of Tel-Aviv are an important part of the city’s life, they are like Copacabana and Ipanema for the Brazilians in Rio de Janeiro.
There is a long promenade along the beaches with hotels and restaurants, maritime sports (surf, windsurf, catamaran…), volley ball, dancing events and a lot of Matkot noise.
If you are like most humans (in term of temperature sensitivity), you can enter the water of the sea from May to November.
July and August are extremely hot in Tel-Aviv, it’s hard to walk under the sun (and even to stay at the beach at some hours). It’s nice to walk along the promenade at sunset.
See this video : Bike ride along Tel-Aviv beaches.
Beaches, North part of Tel-Aviv :
- Metzizim beach : It is called Metzizim because of a famous cult movie from the seventies. The beach has a form of a bay and it is located near the Tel-Aviv port.
- Religious beach, the Separate beach : During week days, some days are reserved for women and other days for men. At Saturday, it is normal.
- Dog Beach : In this part of the beach dogs are allowed. Watch this video.
- Hilton beach, the north part, Gay beach : Near the Hilton hotel. It is known as a beach with many Gays and Lesbians.
- Hilton beach, the south part – Surf beach : A lot of Marine sports
Click map to enlarge:
Beaches, Central part of Tel-Aviv :
- Gordon beach : In front of Gordon street. The first beach after the Marina. The beaches in this part are large and open (unlike the bay style of the beaches to the north).
- Frishman beach : In front of Frishman street.
- Bograshov beach : In front of Bograshov street.
- Jerusalem beach (Allenby beach) : Buses have a stop close to this beach.
- Banana beach : Nice atmosphere on Fridays.
- Drum beach : A very short bay in which drums are being played on Fridays.
Click map to enlarge :
Beaches, South Part of Tel-Aviv :
- Charles Clore beach : With a view over old Jaffa. People are usually arriving by car to this beach.
- Honey beach : The closest to Jaffa, no lifeguard, “Wild style”.
Click map to enlarge :
How to arrive to the beaches of Tel-Aviv :
If you are a tourist and staying in Tel-Aviv, your hotel is probably at a walking distance from the beaches. Most hotels are either on the promenade or at a parallel street like Yarkon or Ben-Yehuda.
If you are coming by bus from somewhere, most of the buses don’t have stops right on the beach but in parallel streets like Dizengoff, then you have to walk a little. Don’t worry, Tel-Aviv is not that big. Some buses have a stop in front of Jerusalem beach, bus number 66 for example. On Saturdays, there are minibuses on the 66 line.
Rent a Bike and Ride along the Beaches, Yarkon Park and Tel-Aviv Boulevards
Tel-Aviv is a great city for biking, there are bike paths all over the city and the weather is warm most of the year without much rain.
It is easy to rent a bike in Tel-Aviv, there is the Tel-O-Fun service which is a public rental system allowing you to take a bike in one station and bring it back in another. You can pay for the service with an International credit card.
You can also rent a bike in a private shop or in some hotels (the bike shops are usually located in the streets parallel to the beach).
Look at the following map, you can see where it is great to ride (click to enlarge) :
The best is to ride along the beaches and in the Yarkon river park. The path for biking along the beaches is about 16 Km. If you go to the south you will pass Tel-Aviv, pass Jaffa and arrive to Bat-Yam promenade. (between Jaffa and Bat-Yam there is still a short distance without bike path, you will need to ride beside the streets).
If you go to the north, you can almost arrive to Hertzelia with the bike path.
See this video of a bike ride from the Yarkon park and along the beaches.
Take a Tour on the Touristic Bus , Walking Tour, Segway
If you don’t want to be alone, you can take an organized Segway tour or a Walking Tour. There is also a Touristic Bus service in Tel-Aviv, it is not as developed as the ones existing in Europe, it seems there is only one bus (I’m pretty sure it is the same one passing every hour), but it is convenient in order to be guided through the city.
Visit the Yarkon Park
The Yarkon park is located in the north of Tel-Aviv. Most of the park is just a narrow green zone along the Yarkon river and you can still see the roads on both sides (I mean, this is not the Amazonas).
A very pleasant park, in my opinion.
Activities :
- Rent a boat on the river or in the lake (the lake is in the right part)
- Ride a rented bike
- Visit a Botanic garden (near the lake) or the Tzapari (A bird zoo, near the lake).
Click on the Map to enlarge:
Go shopping in one of the Malls, Markets, Commercial streets or Leisure areas.
See this in the shopping page.
Take a View of the city from the 50 floor of the Azrieli towers.
Tel-Aviv is becoming a city of many skyscrapers. In the Azrieli towers there is an observatory deck with view over the city. The entrance is from the Azrieli mall.
See it on the map of Tel-Aviv shopping.
Visit a Museum
Look at the following Map :
There are two places quite special and easy to reach, located right in the center of Tel-Aviv, in Rothschild boulevard :
- The Independence hall (16, Rothschild blv) the place where the state of Israel was declared.
- The Hagana museum (23, Rothschild blv) a museum related to the Jewish fighting organizations before the creation of Israel.
There are more museums about the Jewish fighting organizations and they are located just in the heart of Tel-Aviv (marked in blue on the map) :
Etzel museum (38 King George Street), Museum “Etzel in 1948 year” (Charles Clore park, on the beach on the way to Jaffa), Lechi Museum – Beit Yair (8 Avraam Shtern Street, in Floretin area), Israel Defense Forces History Museum (near Atahana entertainment complex, near the beach on the way to Jaffa)
But, the biggest two museums in Tel-Aviv are :
Tel-Aviv Museum of Art (27, King Shaul street)
Eretz Israel Museum – Ancient cultures of Israel (2, Lebanon street, Ramat-Aviv suburb, north of Tel-Aviv)
See a list of all the museums in Israel and Tel-Aviv.
One day trip outside Tel-Aviv to : Jerusalem and Haifa cities
Jerusalem is at just 65 Km from Tel-Aviv. Visit the page about the Transport for details about arriving there from Tel-Aviv.
Visit my other site Visitjeru.com for details about Sightseeings, Transport, Hotels etc in Jerusalem.
Haifa is at 100 Km from Tel-Aviv. Visit the page about the Transport for details about arriving there from Tel-Aviv. Visit the page about Haifa (Sightseeings, Transport, where to Stay).
Sit in a Café
Sounds obvious, right ? but this is what locals do, and there’s no reason you should be different. There are many cafés in Tel-Aviv: Some belong to big chains and some are local cafés but they all have Wi-Fi (and coffee).
Bring your laptop or tablet, the Wi-Fi is free. Then, you can write a blog about Tel-Aviv.
If you don’t want to surf Internet, just watch the people (and dogs) passing.
Some characteristics of Tel-Aviv cafés :
- They are called cafés, but in fact they are restaurants. They serve light meals like omelets, sandwiches and salads.
- Most of the coffee chains have waiters and they are not self service (like Starbucks), only the Aroma chain is a full self service café.
- There are quite a lot of Vegans and Vegetarians in Tel-Aviv and so the food in the cafés is Vegetarian friendly.
- Some coffee chains in Israel : Aroma, Arcaffe, Café Café, Landwer, Loveat, Elite, Hillel, café Joe.
Tel-Aviv by Night
See this in the page about Tel-Aviv Nightlife.
What to do with Kids in Tel-Aviv
First you should realize that Israel is a country with many children and babies (the fertility rate in Israel is higher than in western countries). So, if you are travelling with kids, you will not feel different, and you can enter with your kids in restaurants and cafés without inconvenience.
To keep your kids busy and happy in Tel-Aviv you can take them to :
- The beach and swimming pools.
- Water parks – the most central one is the Meymadion in the Yarkon park (Yeushua park). Another is Shfayim, in a kibutz north of Tel-Aviv and there is Yamit 2000, south of Tel-Aviv in the city of Hulon.
- Tel-Aviv Malls, they are air-conditioned and some of them have special playgrounds for kids.
- The Azrieli towers have an observatory deck at the top floor and a 3D movie.
- The Yarkon park – you can rent there a boat on the river and visit a botanical garden.
- Rent bikes, there is Tel-O-fun, the public service and there are also private shops.
- Visit the Safari (big Zoological park) in Ramat-gan (a short bus ride), there are organized tours with a “kid train” for those who don’t come with a car.
- In the port of Jaffa, there are short boat tours.
- If you are willing to go out of town : Mini Israel is an attraction with replica models of Israeli sites and regions.
- Travel to Jerusalem by train – There are 2 train lines with different sceneries. See the Transport page. See my Jerusalem site.
More on Tel-Aviv :
- Where to Stay ? – Potential zones for the Hotel
- What to Visit ? – Beaches, Walking streets…
- What to Pack for the Trip ? Hidden Pocket for cash…
- Tour – How is Tel-Aviv, get the feeling of the city
- Transport – About the Airport, Buses, Trains…
- Cost – What prices to expect in Tel-Aviv ?
- Internet and Phoning – Pre-Paid card, how is the Internet…
- Maps – Google maps with points of interest for tourists.
- Frequently Asked Questions – Weather, Feasts, Costs…
- Vegetarian – Where to eat good Humus, Falafel, Sabih…
- Photos – Nice photos of the city.
- Travel Insurance (Health) – Points to know
On Haifa :
Haifa – What to Visit and where to Stay ?
On Jerusalem :
Jerusalem – What to Visit and where to Stay ?
If you have specific questions about Tel-Aviv or Israel, you can ask them in this TripAdvisor Forum
On Thailand :
- Bangkok – What to Visit, Where to Stay, Transport…
- The Islands in Thailand – Which one to choose, Where to stay, How to arrive ?
- Chiang Mai – What to Visit, Where to Stay, Transport…
- Pattaya city – What to Visit, Where to Stay, Transport…
Other Stuff :
- What to Pack ? the visual list that will help you prepare the suitcase.
- Visit my Vegetarian Page. Why be Vegetarian ? What to eat ?
- Visit my Salsa Dance Page. Salsa main Styles. Why Dance Salsa ?
- See City Information about 1 more cool city: Barcelona.
- Listen to nice Songs with translation in French, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew.
- Listen to basic Words In Spanish, French, Hebrew
If you find incorrect data on this page, like a restaurant that has closed or a big river that has moved or you want to tell me something, please write me to contact.