Neve Tsedek - Neve Shalom - Tel Aviv

Neve Tsedek

Welcome to yuppie Tel Aviv, where the newly rich reside in beautiful 100–year-old houses that were once occupied by the city’s lower classes. Neve Tzedek (literally, Abode of Justice and also one of the names of God) has become one of TA’s most fashionable and expensive districts, thanks to its proximity to the beach and its village-like atmosphere.

Welcome to yuppie Tel Aviv, where the newly rich reside in beautiful 100–year-old houses that were once occupied by the city’s lower classes. Neve Tzedek (literally, Abode of Justice and also one of the names of God) has become one of TA’s most fashionable and expensive districts, thanks to its proximity to the beach and its village-like atmosphere.

The tables have turned more than once on this once impoverished and now stylish neighborhood. It was the first Jewish neighborhood built outside of Jaffa, and marks the beginnings of Tel Aviv, that went on to grow around it. Though it’s been renovated, rebuilt and refurbished, it hasn’t failed to retain its old charm. And so,  between gorgeous villas you can still find families that have been living here forever in crumbling homes, and are still refusing to sell no matter what. This is what keeps Neve Tsedek grounded firmly in the past even as parts of it is racing towards the future.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, many Jewish artists and writers moved here from Arab dominated Jaffa, most notably future Nobel Prize laureate in literature Shmuel Yosef Agnon. Years of neglect and disrepair followed Neve Tsedek’s first years, and the special artsy flair was gone.

But by the end of the 20^th century, its old houses where the city’s neglected and rejected had once lived became fashionable as the love for modern and high tech-like structures came and went. The neighborhood was appreciated again for its unique combination of picturesque architecture and modren urban life, and as several buildings went on conservation lists, things started changing for the better.

Tel Aviv’s yuppies started buying property and soon enough the entire population changed as the land prices shot through the roof. What was not that long ago a slum was now being renovated, cleaned and dressed to impress. If you happen to be looking to buy property there, you won’t find anything for less than 40,000 NIS per square meter, but you might be asked to part with more than twice that sum for something truly special.

This neighborhood is quiet and has a rural feel to it. The cultural center of Neve Tsedek is the Susan Dalal Center, where Israelis come to watch world class contemporary dance, and It is surrounded by historical structures. The architecture is quite delightful as are the narrow streets, the gardens, piazzas, cafés and restaurants. What’s not so delightful is the humongous Neve Tsedek Tower which stands half empty and feels at odds with the village vibe, sticking out like a sore thumb among  one-story houses. It’s been controversial from day one, and as those opposed to it were proven right, no one seems to want to live in this giant white elephant.

Fridays is when Neve Tsedek is filled with local and foreign tourists, many of them on tours that highlight the neighborhood’s charm and follow its rich and vibrant history, as an integral part of Tel Aviv. The homes of the neighborhood’s founders feature prominently on these tours, and if you go on one you won’t be disappointed.

Geographically, Neve Tsedek starts south of the Yemenite Quarter, west of Allenby. Some small adjacent neighborhoods are not officially part of Neve Tsedek, but have the same historical and cultural lineage, and the same well-to-do population that bought the land – Shabazi, Neve Shalom, Ahva and Mahne Yossef.

Carmel Market

The bustling Carmel Market, the fashionable Nahalat Binyamin pedestrian mall and theYemenite Quarter all start in Magen David Square, where Sheinken and King George connect with Allenby. It’s an area rich in history and offers diverse culinary and shopping experiences.

The market-pedestrian mall combo that isCarmel Market and Nahalat Binyamin (nicknamedNahala or Ha’Nahala) is a wonderful mix of the old and down-trodden with the old and refurbished. The Yemenite Quarter feels as though it’s a century away from the beach, the nearby Allenby Street, and the rest of Tel Aviv altogether. These three attractions are best explored together, even though you can surely spend here more than one day.

The Carmel Market goes straight down from Allenby all the way to the Carmelit bus station near the sea. In the surrounding alleyways and streets you can find market stalls and niche shops selling eastern food, meat or spices.

Nahalat Binyamin is basically a two-part street, one is a pedestrian mall (Ha’Nahala) filled with a-la-mode cafés in charmingly designed old buildings and some absolutely superb gourmet restaurants. The atmosphere is jovial every day, but especially on Tuesdays and Fridays (10AM-5PM) when the ever-popular Crafts Market takes over and street performers entertain the passers-by. The other runs all the way south to Florentin, where you can go if you want to have a drink.

The Yemenite Quarter (nicknamed Ha’Kerem,short for the quarter’s Hebrew name: Kerem Ha’Teymanim) is a living breathing piece of history, one of the few truly old TA quarters that have not been gutted and replaced with newer buildings.

It all start in Magen David Square. This square can be nothing more than a space people walk through to get to one of the aforementioned destinations, but it can also come alive when people huddle around some singer songwriter who had known better days or young street artists who are looking for a break (and for a few of your spare shekels).

Park Ha’Yarkon

Tired of the city’s concrete? Want to relax in a non-beach atmosphere? Care for a family picnic? Maybe a stroll, a jog, a bike or a boat ride? Head on to the  Yarkon Park  (Park Ha’Yarkon).

Compared to other urban centers around the world, Tel Aviv has very few green areas. The only major park is this one, so you better make the most out of it. It is 3.8km square in size, and is frequented by more than 16 million every year.

It might be “a poor man’s” Central Park, but it does allow one a change of pace right in the north end of the city. Sitting by the Yarkon River, seeing families enjoying some quality time together, hearing the birds chirping  – it’s the countryside within the city. There is much to do there,  you can find sporting facilities, a water park, big lawns, the Yarkon River, artificial lakes, botanical gardens, a bird park,??? bicycle lanes, playgrounds and more.

The park’s official name is Ganei Yehoshua (Yehoshua Gardens), honoring Tel Aviv’s mayor between 1969-1974, Yehoshua Rabinovich. Because the Yarkon River runs through the park, it’s universally known by the unofficial name in the title. The river runs from the east to its western end, the Mediterranean Sea, next to the Reading Power Plant. It has been heavily polluted for some time, so don’t take a swim in its waters.

The park is dominated by Eucalyptus trees, originally brought here to help dry the swamps and have since become an integral part Israeli and Zionist history. Thanks to the fact that Israel sits on the intersection of three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa, it is an important migratory station for many bird species (storks, herons and more).

They spend the winter months in Africa and on their way to Europe, for the spring months, they cross here. You can see many of them in the bird park, the Zapari.

Park Ha’Yarkon stretches from Tel Aviv’s north east (Ibn Gabirol) all the way east (Bavli Neighborhood, Rockach Boulevard), across Ayalon Highway to Bnei Brak and Ramat Gan. The more you go east the broader park becomes, with more facilities, sights and activities. They started planning of the park in 1969, 18 years after the first park tree was planted, and it officially opened in 1973.

Tel Aviv Beaches

Beaches, beaches, beaches. They might not have Thailand’s crystal blue water or the Greek islands’ perfect white sand, but they’re still great. They can be enjoyed practically all year round as the weather is fantastic, the water is just the right temperatures, especially during the looong summer months, the sand is soft and we love them.

As is the case with other parts of Tel Aviv, the beaches generally get cleaner and quieter the farther north you go, though as you’ll see right below there are certainly some exceptions. The most popular options are right in the center of the beach strip, the Gordon and Frishman beaches, so if you’re looking for some peace and quiet you better walk a little further south or north, depending on your taste.

We’ve included a thorough overview of each and every Tel Aviv beach, to help you decided where to go, but the best recommendation we could give you is to try them out. Odds are you’ll enjoy these trials and errors as much as you’ll enjoy every other thing you’ll do in Tel Aviv.

If it’s not safe to go out swimming, you’ll see black flags flying all over the beach and on top of the lifeguard’s hut. A red flag means you can swim, but should be careful. If you happen to forget  or go out swimming in a no-swim zone, 10 times out of 10 you’ll hear the lifeguard’s voice over the megaphone calling out for you to return to the fold.

View Tel Aviv City Guide: Beaches in a larger map

Rothschild Boulevard

One of Tel Aviv’s major streets, and certainly it’s most famous, Rothschild Boulevard has it all. It’s the financial center of Israel’s only metropolis, with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and all the head offices and branches of the big banks and brokerage houses. But it’s but also a culinary hotspot, with posh restaurants on either side of the boulevard and in adjacent streets; a café Mecca that has trendy spots in and around the leafy avenue; a nightlife center with nearby Lillinblum offering the city’s largest concentration of quality bars; an architectural and historical relic, with a glorious collection of Bauhausstructures that are in and of themselves pieces of the city’s and the country’s history.
So what makes this place so special? Rothschild Boulevard attracts the young and the beautiful, 

the rich big spenders, as well as parents with strollers or dog walkers with plastic bags. It’s one of the most expensive streets in TA, thanks to some beautiful structures that have been kept in excellent condition or have been carefully renovated. Municipality rules prohibit making any changes in the exterior of the boulevard’s buildings that form part of the White City recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Site.
The boulevard is named after Baron Edmond de Rothschild, member of the French branch of the famous banking dynasty, renowned for his support and generous donations to the Zionist movement in its early years, which eventually helped lead to the establishment of Israel.
Rothschild Boulevard was one of the first four Tel Aviv streets, and was built on top of sand dunes. 

It was first named Rehov Ha’Am (literally – the Street of the people), but in 1910 it was changed to Rothschild Boulevard, in honor of Baron de Rothschild. It was designed as a boulevard because the Jewish settlers were unable to drain the small wadi that ran there and were compelled to construct on both sides of the street, leaving the center for pedestrians , thus making it into the city’s first boulevard. It is here that the Independence Hall, the site where the first Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, declared the establishment of the State of Israel, on the 14th of May, 1948.
The boulevard starts in Neve Tsedek on its western end and goes east, intersecting with Herzl and Allenby until it reaches the Habima National Theater. Many of the smaller streets that connect with Rothschild have the same historical-yuppie atmosphere, architectural style and cultural significance. Don’t restrict yourself just to walking up and down Rothschild and don’t be afraid to wander around in search for some gems. They’re are out there, you just have to find them.

Unlike most of Israel’s modern cities, Tel Aviv has a unique architectural style, mainly due to its being home to the glorious Bauhaus design. Another important facet of Tel Aviv’s distinct charm is the eclectic nature of its architecture, thus one may observe on the left of an 80-year- old magnificent Bauhaus building a row of functional utilitarian crumbling and unpainted structures, while on the right, a 25-storey high- rise for the city’s ultra rich. Though more and more towers are being erected in Tel Aviv’s city center, it is still known for its 3- 4 storey buildings.

All in all, the city’s main architectural attraction is undoubtedly the Bauhaus-style buildings, some of them renovated splendidly and others left to wither away. A watershed moment for all us architecture and history enthusiasts came in 2004, when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized Tel Aviv’s White City as an official UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since then, things have begun to change for the better.

You can go to the Bauhaus Center on Dizengoff Street to get more extensive information, or join a free municipal city tour.

Tel Aviv has Bauhaus-style structures

Tel Aviv has the largest collection of Bauhaus-style structures in the world. In the 1930s, after the rise of the Nazi regime in Germany, scores of Jewish architects fled to British- mandated Palestine and made their home in Tel Aviv. Here they built literally thousands of (mostly white) modern Bauhaus-style houses, around which the city grew, as it became a lab experiment for Bauhaus.

The center of the White City was set on Rothschild Boulevard, in the heart of Tel Aviv, and it came to flourish thanks to the municipality’s lack of established architectural conventions.

Though the British urban planner Patrick Geddes laid out the street and block sizes in the 1920s, no architectural style per se was ever prescribed. This allowed the Jewish Bauhaus-loving (and Le Corbusier-inspired) German architects to let their imagination run wild when designing public and residential buildings in the city. The designs and structures were adapted to the hot and humid Tel Aviv climate, thereby distinguishing  Tel Aviv’s Bauhaus buildings from the European Bauhaus structures (windows, balconies, etc).

Most of the kiosks situated in the middle of the boulevards, including Rothschild Blvd, have turned into trendy cafes, and the overall atmosphere is nothing if not chic. You can stroll for hours along Rothschild Blvd. and its surroundings and admire the splendid designs, sip good coffee and engage in some intense people- watching.

Bauhaus (literally: “Building School” or “House of Building”) was a German school of design that combined  fine arts and crafts, and operated from 1919 to 1933, when it was closed down by the Nazi regime.

The style was based on the idea of combining various forms of applied arts, like architecture, interior design and graphic design, and is characterized chiefly by an emphasis on functional design and inexpensive materials.

View Tel Aviv City Guide: Architecture in a larger map

Municipality tour – free

Time: every Saturday at 11AM

Meeting point: 46 Rothschild Boulevard, at the corner of Shadal Street

Bauhaus Center tour – $15

Regular two hour tour: every Friday at 10AM

Meeting point: the Bauhaus Center, 99 Dizengoff Street

To set up a group or individual tour at time and place of your choosing, call 522 0249 or send an email to info@bauhaus-center.com

Check out the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, learn more about the architects, the concept, the process and the diversity. In many ways, the story of the White City is the story of Tel Aviv itself, so this is a splendid opportunity to have a taste of the first Hebrew city’s past.

Some of the structures on and around Rothschild are truly magnificent, and the stories about them are fascinating.

Florentine

Florentine is Neve Tsedek’s younger, hippier, scruffier and poorer half-sister. Eilat Street is the dividing line between the two neighborhoods, but it feels as though they’re situated in two different cities. A walk south of Salame Street will get you to an even poorer and scruffier neighborhood, Shapira.

Florentin is a concrete jungle, a once industrial district of small workshops now turned into the Tel Aviv version New York’s SoHo. It abounds with art galleries, superb and varied night life, some of Tel Aviv’s most happening street parties, an independent art scene, and an overall underground atmosphere. Having said that, it could do with a little more cleanliness.

Most of the workshops are long gone now, and young families or children are a rare sight, as the 20-to-35s now dominate the Florentin industrial plain. It seems as though nobody wants to take out the stroller for a bumpy ride on a rundown sidewalk with nothing but grey and no green around.

But if you’re into bars/pubs, cafés and art – you’re in the right place. The residents of Florentin don’t really mind that it’s grimy and unkempt, what interests them is having their favorite local bar or coffee shop right beneath their windows, or their neighborhood improvised concerts and shows, and the burgeoning designer outfits across the street.

Florentin is currently one of the last frontiers whicht corporations, chains and the local wealthy crowd haven’t been able to cross. Shenkin and Rothschild have already been lost, or are getting there. The rise in Florentin’s popularity (the population has nearly doubled, from 4000 to 7000, over the last decade) has, however, resulted in steep hikes in property prices, by as much as 65 percent according to some. Still, you’ll be hard pressed to find buildings that are more than  four stories high, so apart from five-story homes being planned around it, it’s been nearing full capacity.

The neighborhood’s name comes from its main street, named after David Florentin, a Greek Jew who purchased land here at the start of the 20^th century. He bought this land with a clear purpose: helping Greek Jews to immigrate to Tel Aviv.

The watershed moment in the quick rise of Florentin was probably the popular TV series that aired in the late 1990s and was called Florentin. The first to come were the artists who were looking to stay in Tel Aviv without having to pay hefty sums each month for rent, but now the masses have followed, and Florentin has become an extremely popular place to live, eat and drink.

The Greek Diaspora that settled in Florentin built the neighborhood as an almost exact replica of the Salonika Jewish quarter, with the shops and workshops on the ground floors and the owners’ homes right above it. Now that most artisans have closed up shop and moved to other parts of town or to nearby suburbs, the carpentry and welding workshops have been replaced by restaurants, cafés, bars, galleries and real estate agencies.

The end result is that all these businesses pour into the street, and passers-by intermingle with the ones sitting in the bars, cafés and restaurants, as all the action virtually takes place on the street.

Even though much of the action takes place on Florentin Street, you’ll miss out quite a lot if you confine yourself to this street rather than wander around to the close-by back alleys which make up the neighborhood.

Allenby Street

What was once one of Tel Aviv’s top streets, one of its cleanest and prettiest, now remains a commercial hub full of low level businesses selling cheap clothes and even cheaper appliances, amid disintegrating dirty sidewalks and Bauhaus buildings whose best years were long gone even before most of us were even born.

But Allenby does have its set of attractions. It’s a launching pad for marvelous destinations such as Shenkin, Bialik, Rothschild and its surrounding streets, the Big Synagogue, Yemenite Quarter, Nahalat Binyamin and Carmel Market. Furthermore, even though the Bauhaus structures are decomposing, they’re still beautiful and are worth a walking tour.

The Allenby shops are also worth a visit, not so much for the shopping opportunities as for their steadfastness in staying in business for several decades, constituting an actual monument for  the Tel Aviv that once was. While most TA establishments change hands every few years and inject new blood into the neighborhood, this street has remained unchanged for as long as anyone can remember. It’s almost like walking into a time machine.

Allenby Street starts by sea on the esplanade,  then goes east and turns south to run parallel to the coast until it changes its name to Ha’Aliya Street at the intersection with Yafo Street. It was first paved with concrete back in 1914 and was a symbol of modern cities and times.  The problem is nobody bothered to maintain it, so it has become an emblem of the neglected Tel Aviv areas. Add to that the fact that Allenby is one of the city’s major transportation routes, with a never ending stream of buses driving back and forth, and that’s a recipe for a not-so-pleasant-street.

Allenby can be divided into two parts – north and south of King George. The northern part is lively also after dark, with dance bars frequented by youngsters and out-of-towners. They’re mostly tacky and strong on the heavy electronic music front. The southern part goes to sleep once the small business owners go home and it becomes a half desolated plain making it borderline unpleasant to walk around there, especially for the ladies.

Nahalat Binyamin

This historic street was established even before Tel Aviv was born, in 1909, not long after Tel Aviv’s first Hebrew neighborhood of Ahuzat Bayit came to be. Over the years, streets and buildings were built around it. The Nahalat Binyamin Street now runs from Allenby (Magen David Square) all the way south to Florentin.

After Israel’s independence, Nahalat Binyamin became the textile center of the city. In 1985, its northern part was turned into a pedestrian mall and its buildings were renovated. The architecture is distinctly eclectic, with some Bauhaus structures and Art Nouveau ones standing  side by side. These house posh cafés, chef restaurants, fast food joints, fashion studios and old textiles stores.

The pedestrian mall includes the Nahala’s adjoining streets, which almost all of them are equally as appealing. On Tuesdays and Fridays (10AM-5PM) it’s at its very best with the local and stylish Crafts Market. Artists open their stalls and sell handmade crafts, from sculptures to paintings to trinkets to photography. There’s something here for everyone. If you’re traveling with kids they’ll be enchanted by the clowns, musicians and acrobats performing for some applause and a few shekels.

The Big Synagogue - Alenby Area

This huge building (110 Allenby, corner of Ahad Ha’Am) was constructed in the 1910’s and was a cultural and religious center for the many residents in these parts. These residents are long gone and in the 50’s and 60’s small businesses, restaurants and corporations took their place, which has resulted in a dwindling of the local congregation.  It’s beautiful dome stood in stark contrast to Judaism’s usually bleak houses of prayer, but the dome is barely visible now  that unattractive columns were erected around it.

Dizengoff Square

Dizengoff Square has always been a focal point of central Tel Aviv, with a lot going for it and even more revolving around it. It is just too bad that it is in a rather miserable state.
The square is located on a raised platform on the crossroads of Dizengoff and several smaller streets. It is surrounded by some of the city’s best kept and most impressive Bauhaus structures, standing next to dilapidating ones.
This whole area was designed with the Garden City concept of the city’s planner Patrick Geddes in mind. Geddes prepared in 1925 the master plan for the fast-growing city, and much of his influences can be seen right here. His concept was to create a clear distinction between main streets, residential streets and passageways with greenery. Much of this concept was realized and then abandoned over the years, but visible evidence of it still remains in and around Dizengoff square.
The square itself used to be one of the most scenic spots in the city back in the day, but it was raised during the 70’s, in a failed attempt to ease traffic. It has never recovered. A fountain (of “fire and water”), designed by world-renowned Israeli artist Ya’akov Agam, was placed in its center, and it now attracts mostly teenagers in black clothes with Mohawk hairdos schnorring cigarettes or gulping booze, old-timers accompanied by their hired-helpers, and homeless people looking for a place to rest their heads.

Human traffic on and around the square is always hectic. The nearby Dizengoff Center mall is also always teeming with locals looking to shop for everything from groceries and gadgets to high-end jewelry, in an air-conditioned two-part space that leaves the scorching and humid TA weather outside.

The Center sits on the Dizengof-King George intersection. King George is home to rudimentary shops selling housewares and bargain-basement clothes shops catering to the large crowds coming and going. Across the street from the mall is Gan Meir (Meir Garden), a not-terribly-preserved little park whose grass is more grey than green, but it’s still greener than everything else in sight?? There are big beautiful trees that provide shade and also some activities for toddlers, as well as for dogs, that have their own little amusement park in an especially designated fenced-in area.
Bugrashov Street, which is a two-minute-walk away from the square and adjacent to the Center, is a prime location for shopping for vintage or 2nd hand clothes. To rest your arms from carrying all those shopping bags and your legs from walking around admiring the Bauhaus structures, you can sit yourself down in one of the many coffee places lining this lively street.

Basel Street

Basel is where Tel Aviv’s yuppies go to get the espressos, young mothers go out for a walk with their strollers, and in-the-know women come to get their designer and alternative clothing. It’s clean and chic the locals love it.

Basel is actually a 650 meter long street that connects Ibn Gabirol to Dizengoff, but when talking about Basel, Tel Avivians always refer to the even shorter part between Yehoshua Bin Nun in the east and Sokolov in the west, and the surrounding little streets. It’s right in the heart of the Old North, but it’s so nice we decided to give it its own section.

Around the Basel square, whose official name is the City’s Builders’ Square, is where it’s all happening. The attractions are conveniently located around it and everything you want to check out is within a 1km radius. It’s more of a hangout/shopping area than anything else, and if you get here on Friday or Saturday late morning or early afternoon you’ll have trouble locating a spare chair to sit on, as it seems everyone and their sister is here.

Basel Street is named after the Swiss city, where Jews held their first Zionist Congress in 1897, after which Theodore Herzl, otherwise known as The Visionary of the State of Israel, famously declared: “In Basel I establish the Jews’ State”.

Tel Aviv Center

The part of the city that is central Tel Aviv is like a gift that keeps on giving. A different kind of gift every time: architecture, shopping scene, party scene, coffee scene, and even the theater and movie scenes – with several movie theaters. Welcome to the beating heart of Tel Aviv.

This heart starts south of Bugrashov and goes all the way south until it reaches Yehuda Ha’Levi. Its eastern boundary is Ibn Gabirol and its western one is Ha’Yarkon. Here you’ll find more things to do, see, eat and drink than you’ll have time for. Every other part of TA has its own particular thing going for it, but as it is with most metropolitan cities – nothing rocks like the center of town.

If you’re into architecture in general and Bauhaus in particular, you’ve arrived in Bauhaus central. Rothschild and its surroundings have a sublime collection of early 20^th century structures, some of which have been so gracefully restored that you’ll want to walk by them over and over again.

Bialik is not as famous as Rothschild, but it’s just as exquisitely preserved and just as historical, with its own little pedestrian mall and several interesting museums showcasing the street’s significance in TA history. This history can be seen almost everywhere in the city’s center, from the first Hebrew neighborhood of Ahuzat Bayit to the lottery of land on Rothschild in the 1930’s, and the rapid developments of the surrounding streets as the city began to take shape and Jewish immigrants started flowing in.

More buildings to marvel at are around Dizaengoff Square and Nahalat Binyamin, which was built even before Tel Aviv was a concept, while the Yemenite Quarter had Jews living in it as far back as the 19^th century.

Not everything here has an historic value, rest assured. This area is home to some truly splendid restaurants offering all kinds of concept, fusion and gourmet food. It all depends if you go to Nahalat Binyamin, the Yemenite Quarter or Bugrashov. Here is also where most of the city’s cafés are huddled together, allowing you to coffee-hop or gain a few pounds thanks to tasty deserts. More into drinking? Well, new drinking spots open up every month trying to outdo one another. You can go chic, cozy or gigantic, it’s all here. And then there’s Lillinblum Street, which is Routhschild’s nightlife partner, and that’s saying a lot.

On the shopping front, there are just too many options to name. Dizengoff Center and its hundreds of shops are one thing and the stalls at the Carmel Market are another.

Those of you wishing to make a day out of an ordinary Friday,  can start the morning in the Crafts Market on Nahalat Binyamin buying art items and artifacts from local artisans while all around you street performers try to brighten your day. Then have a genuine hummus at the Yemenite Quarter, go through Rothschild and admire its beauty, until you get to the Dizengoff Center Food Fair with its stalls filling every space with traditional Israeli and international cooking. Your final stop might as well be the Junk Market at Dizengoff Square, with its antiques and bargains.

Entertainment buffs will not be disappointed by the movie selection, while true theater lovers can sample simultaneously-translated plays in Habima National Theater, where some of the country’s best actors, writers and directors come to work, believing that if you can make it there you can make it anywhere.

If you have only a few days to spend in Tel Aviv, you can happily spend them all here, and not really feel like you have missed out on anything. On the contrary, you’ll need a few weeks to feel you’ve seen all the city center has to offer.

North Tel Aviv

North Tel Aviv starts around the intersections of Ben Gurion Street and Dizengoff Street, and stretches all the way northward, to Ramat Aviv. In-between you’ll find the entire old north, some of the best beaches in the city, the ever-developing port, Tel Aviv University, and one of Tel Aviv’s highlights – Park Ha’Yarkon, the city’s public park.
Generally speaking, Tel Aviv’s north is cleaner and less urban. The streets are wider, there are more boulevards and trees, and far less towers or skyscrapers. Some hardcore Tel Avivians would even claim that it’s a residential suburb attached to the city, but don’t believe them, there’s plenty of drinking, eating and other activities here, it’s simply nicer and cleaner and has no party scene.
Whether you go for a pleasant stroll in Park Ha’Yarkon or take a boat ride on the Yarkon River, order a cappuccino in one of Bazel’s top cafés or hummus in a family-run restaurant, there is no shortage of things to do. Even if it’s just walking up and down Ben Gurion Boulevard for some people-and Bauhaus-watching. Though Tel Avivians remain ambivalent about it, don’t be shy about going down to the port, where you can take your kids and find countless things to do, or  go to a yoga class, or to a hip club at night.
The northern part of the city is also where Tel Aviv University is located, the largest university in Israel and once an academic powerhouse. Now it can’t crack the world’s top 100, but the architecture is still definitely interesting.
Historically, Tel Aviv’s northern end was once what is now referred to as the Old North, before the city expanded to Ramat Aviv, and other neighborhoods, which are mostly residential areas.

The southern part of Tel Aviv

The southern part of Tel Aviv boasts of a variety of attractions that include sights, shops, restaurants, cafés and clubs. You can find there  historic buildings and neighborhoods, hardcore nightclubs operating well into the wee hours of the morning, fancy and well-designed wine bars, an alternative bar scene, quaint shops, high- rise buildings towering over old one- story houses with decaying pavements alongside the poorest neighborhoods in town.

With the exception of pockets in Neve Tsedek and parts of the Jaffa beach, southern Tel Aviv is less developed than the central and northern parts of the city. The imaginary line of southern  Tel Aviv starts in the corner of Yehuda Ha’Levi and Allenby and ends all the way in Jaffa, which before it was integrated into the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality, had a history of several thousand years of independent as a port city.

The population in these parts also differs quite a bit from that in other parts of the city. In Neve Tsedek and Jaffa beach you’ll come across the city’s old and new (Jewish) money, mainly those involved in the finance industry, who can afford some of the most expensive real estate in the country, and live in renovated old structures which were once inhabited by the city’s poor in cobblestone and narrow alleyways that have now become fashionable.

Around them live the less fortunate. They are, among others, the Russian Jews and Christians who immigrated to Israel in the 1990s, who have their own shops, grocery stores and book stores (a surprisingly not so small minority does not even speak Hebrew). Also, in the areas around the Central Station, in Ha’Tikva Neighborhood along Ha’Aliya and Yafo Streets, in the Shapira Neighborhood, the Shabazi Neighborhood and the like, live the poorer “Mizrahim”, Jews who came here from the neighboring Arab countries in the 1950s after being expelled by hostile regimes. Living amongst them are African refugees and migrant workers. Though not dangerous, these areas are more rife with crime, and most are downright unpleasant after dark.

In contrast, it is when the sun goes down that Florentin comes to life. In this SoHo-like quarter, artists, musicians, hippies and wannabe artists, musicians and hippies, have made themselves an alternative Tel Aviv neighborhood that is ever growing in popularity. This very low-tech industrial zone turned residential and entertainment district has succeeded in creating enough viable and enviable food, drink and shopping options to allow residents to remain within the confines of Florentin all year round without feeling they’re missing anything. More often than not, it’s those who are not getting a taste of what Florentin has to offer that are missing out.

East of Begin Street, especially on Yad Harutsim, you’ll find many restaurants and nightclubs, surrounded by an industrial district which is lively by day and goes quiet by night.

Tel Aviv West
The beaches are the undisputed highlight of Tel Aviv, and since western Tel Aviv runs along the coast, it’s obviously the highlight of this area as well, and thanks to them Tel Aviv features on the list of the top 10 beach cities the world has to offer, according to National Geographic. It’s also the main reason why Lonely Planet has voted it one of the top 10 cities in the world overall.
As the 13km long beach line is but a few steps away from the city center, you can take a quick dip in the morning, go shopping in boutique stores or dining in a top notch restaurant on the promenade or more inland, and then come back for an afternoon swim. That’s not bad for a day’s work, isn’t?
The fact that the beach feels like it’s a 5 minute walk from every part of the city center brings the beach-feel to the streets themselves. The gorgeous weather is almost always here, so even if it’s too cold to go into the water, odds are you’ll find a few warm days even in the winter-est of months that allow you to just lie on the sand in a swimsuit and relax.
The city’s main beaches are pretty clean and most of them are crowded. From June till October you will encounter on the sand or between the waves the city’s young and beautiful alongside the elderly, parents and grandparents with children, the racket playing enthusiasts and just about every other resident of Tel Avivian. It’s simply where everybody goes. In August you might want to watch out for the occasional jelly fish, as those tend to drift en masse to shore right at the peak of tourist season.
Besides lying around or swimming, you can check out one of the many restaurants or cafes located there, even though they range mostly between bad and average, as they do not sell food but the view. Or,if you’re into more physical activities, there’s a diving school, a sailing school, coursers in windsurfing, kite surfing, kayaking and more.
The accomodation options are great and there is not much difference between the vairous 4-5 star hotels. You’ll probably have to say goodbye to at least a couple of hundred bucks if you want to rest your head in a hotel that is on the promenade or the parallel Yarkon Street.


Tel Aviv The Old North

The Old North isn’t really that to the north anymore, and is in fact part of Tel Aviv’s center. Before the city expanded north of Rockach into Ramat Aviv and other northern neighborhoods, this was northern Tel Aviv. The area it encompasses stretches from north of Bugrashov and west of Ibn Gabirol, with the Mediterranean delineating it from the west. One can also include Yehuda Maccabi in the Old North, even though it’s east of Ibn Gabirol.

The Old North is home to some of Tel Aviv’s biggest highlights. Look for the Bauhaus design structures on Ben Gurion Boulevard; check out Tel Aviv’s political heart in Kikar Rabin, the square where former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated and where mainly left wing political and social rallies have and are being held; sit in a Ben Yehuda café before walking down to the beach; or shop in one of Dizengoff’s top jewelry stores.

By walking through the Old North from one end to the other, either along Dizengoff or Ben Yehuda, you will witness firsthand the changing aspects of the city, its landscapes, businesses and people.

Around Frishman and Gordon you can see small real estate offices, crowded food stalls, workers on their way to work, young people hanging around, and deteriorating structures and sidewalks. Once you get to Ben Gurion, Orlozorov, and then Nordau and Yirmiyahu, the streets and boulevards become wider, there are more lanes for bicyle riders and more dog walkers, everything seems better kept, the food stalls are replaced by boutique restaurants and cafes, bars are no longer part of the scene, and Tel Aviv’s elderly population walks along the streets sometimes with the aid of hired help.

In colloquial Hebrew, the word “northerner” is a pejorative attribute for Istaelis of European origin living in these parts, who are supposedly well-off, spoiled and pretentious. At present, the population here is  somewhat eclectic, but unlike in the center or  the south it is less poor  and migrant workers are not a common sight.  What you see here are the older folks who have steadfastly stood ground, young families with means to rent or buy here, as well as the regular collection of post-military service youngsters that are found almost anywhere in the city. Since it’s the Old North nowadays, the term “northerner” now is used more in reference to residents of the “new north”, those of Ramat Aviv and Bavli.


The Port of Tel Aviv

The Port has become a symbol for Tel Aviv in the eyes of those who do not live there. On any given day, you are likely to run into more tourists, both local and foreign, than Tel Avivians. Maybe that’s one of the reasons it doesn’t have that urban feel typical of Tel Aviv, another being that it’s not exactly in walking distance from most parts of the city.

The port’s biggest draws are family oriented activities on the one hand, and bars and nightclubs for partygoers from the suburbs on the other. But it’s not always recommended to get there by car, as finding a parking spot can sometimes be a brutal chore.

The port is basically divided into two parts – the huge hangars and the wooden deck promenade. The hangars contain large shops, restaurants or rock concert halls, while the deck stretches into the Med and is what makes the place popular. Walking on the deck is pleasant and uplifting, with the sea currents beneath you, the sea breeze in your hair, and the city’s noise and hassle seemingly light years away. It is sure fun to spend here a whole day, and there’s plenty of things to do.

If you just want to explore the port without any outside distractions, head to the western stone pier. You’ll find fishermen fish and brides and grooms have their photos  taken several hours before tying the knot. It’s quite a picturesque spot where even the local birds beg you to take their pictures.

The port has changed quite a bit since it was built back in the 1930s. It was supposed to rival Jaffa’s port, but after the war of Israeli independence it lost its status when the ports of Ashdod and Haifa took over and have since been the country’s main commercial ports. In recent years it has become a night life and life style power house.