Wondering what to see in Tel Aviv?
The Jaffa port and the Old City of Jaffa are a fantastic place to start.
The port is one of the oldest ports in the world. Even though it no longer functions as a port, it still functions as a harbor for the fishermen who still head out every day.
The Old City is at least 4000 years old, and there’s quite a lot to see and do there! In addition to the archeology you’ll be able to see, the place is full of narrow alleys and small shops and galleries for you to explore. Go on in, strike up a conversation with an artist or shop owner, or even check if there is something going on at the theater in the Old City! There are museums, cafes, and restaurants scattered though the old city as well, so there’s something there for everyone.
From the old city, you can continue to the Jaffa Flea Market.
Today it’s so much more than just a flea market, though that’s still there too. The area has grown to include antique shops, designers, cafes, restaurants, jewelry stores, and more. You can find just about anything here, and at just about every price. On the weekends, and during the summer there are live concerts and street performers that fill the streets.
Next, you can wander the streets of Neve Zedek.
Neve Zedek is considered to be the first neighborhood of Tel Aviv, though it was actually founded as the first Jewish neighborhood outside the old city of Jaffa, before Tel Aviv was even dreamed of.
Either way, it’s a charming neighborhood where the sidewalks are so small that everyone walks in the middle of the street. There is one main strip which is where all of the shops and restaurants are, and the rest of the neighborhood is residential. There are also a few museums interspersed throughout the neighborhood. The neighborhood also has a performing arts center, and this is where the Bat Sheva Dance Company performs. If you book in advance, you might be able to get a ticket to a performance!
Continue to stroll along Rothschild Boulevard.
Rothschild Boulevard was one of the first 5 streets of the modern-day city of Tel Aviv. A combination of restaurants, stores, commercial, and residential buildings come together to form the unique and vibrant atmosphere of the strip. This is one of the streets where the later it gets, the more people you’ll see out and about. Rothschild Boulevard is known not only for it’s thriving high tech start ups in the area, but also for its nightlife.
From Rothschild Boulevard, I’d continue on Nachlat Binyamin Street to the Artists Market and the Carmel Market.
Make sure that you’re in Tel Aviv either on a Tuesday or a Friday. These are the two days where the Nachlat Binyamin Artists Market is open. It’s an open air market, where the artists themselves are at the stands selling you their work. If you’re looking for quirky hand made souvenirs, this is THE PLACE to get them. I generally buy my soap there, though it’s also one of my go-to places to buy gifts as well. I bought a wind chime, a glass-blown horse, and a clock in the shape of the state of Israel as gifts here. And that’s only the tip of the ice berg as to what you can get at this market. It’s really one of my favorites to experience and see in Tel Aviv.
Another great thing about the market is that it’s adjacent to the Carmel Market, the food market. When you’re hungry from exploring the artists market, pop on over to the food market to grab a bite to eat! The Carmel Market is open every day except Saturday, so even if the artists market isn’t open, you can still enjoy the food market.
Shenkin Street is also right there next to these two markets.
This is a slightly more upscale shopping strip, and it’ll reconnect you back to Rothschild Boulevard.
It’s funny though, cause the man that the street is named after, Shenkin, was against all of the industry entering the city, and wanted things to stay quiet and calm in Tel Aviv. So it’s kind of ironic that it’s the street named after him that built itself a name for upscale shopping.
There’s so much to see in Tel Aviv that if you’re not exhausted by now, you can keep going and head over to Sarona.
Sarona is the largest restoration project that this country has undertaken. Lead by the Society for the Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites, 36 buildings underwent restoration. These bulidings are from the Templer time period — the 1800’s. Not to be confused with the knights from the time of the Crusades, which were 1000 years earlier. It’s a beautiful place to wander and explore, where all of the old buildings have been turned into shops and restaurants. Sarona is also a great place to have a picnic, or just sit and people watch. During the weekends a lot of families come to the area to enjoy the green spaces between the buildings.
Head to Dizengoff Street – the only street where walking down it has it’s own verb.
Le-hiz-dan-geff: To walk down Dizengoff Street, window shopping, enjoying the world around you. It was coined in the ’70s.
Dizengoff Street is one of the main strips of Tel Aviv, and it’s a street where you’ll always find something open, at any time of day or night.
It’s a long street, it’ll take you from Sarona, through the Dizengoff Shopping Center, and if you walk the entire length of Dizengoff Street north, you’ll make it to the Tel Aviv Port.
The Dizengoff Shopping Center is interesting. It’s a complex of 2 buildings which are across the street from each other, connected by a walkway over the street. There are a few stories of shops in both buildings, but what’s interesting is that there is a ramp that leads you up and down through the floors. No need for stairs or escalators, though they both exist. The thought process was that they wanted to build a complex which a person would never have to leave.
This is why there’s a ramp connecting between the floors, gently sloping upward, instead of your classic floor system. It’s supposed to be as though you’re walking through the streets outside. This is why there’s also no food court. When you wander outside there’s no food court area. You walk between stores, shops, cafes…everything mixed in together. And that was what they were trying to replicate here.
There’s a movie theater in the shopping center, and there used to be a school as well. They really tried to build everything that a person could ever need inside this complex. And it was meant to serve those living in the attached residential buildings.
The Tel Aviv Port
Well, this is our last stop in this post. Even though there’s so much more to do in Tel Aviv, I think this is definitely enough to at least get you started. And of course, this isn’t the only post about what to do in Tel Aviv. There are plenty more where this came from.
Since its establishment in the late 1930’s, the Tel Aviv port has undergone a lot of changes.
Most of the hangars were built by the British for the Levant Fair, to showcase everything going on in this region.
Today all of the hangars have been converted into stores and restaurants, and there’s even a farmers market there! The farmers market building is open every day, but it expands outside on Fridays.
Summary of What to See in Tel Aviv
So we’ve made it from the Jaffa Port to the Tel Aviv port. It’s only 5 kilometers from one to the other, but there’s so much to see and do on the way. There’s the old city of Jaffa, the port, and the flea market. There’s Neve Zedek and Rothschild Boulevard. And don’t miss Nachlat Binyamin and the Carmel Market. Sarona, Dizengoff Street, and the Tel Aviv port are also great places to spend some time.
Now, I don’t actually recommend you try to DO all of this in one day, but it should give you plenty of things to choose from. I’d choose just a few, or prioritize them in a list and work with that. Starting with the most important to you go down the list till you’re done. Whether done means you’ve done it all or you’re done for the day, that’s up to you!
If you’re looking for other things to do while in Israel, check out this post with a sample 5-day itinerary. Maybe it’ll give you more ideas as to what to do while you’re here in Israel.
What’s your favorite place to be or thing to see in Tel Aviv? Let me know in the comments!