You'll find Tel Aviv's sandy beach and wide promenade a great place to start exploring the city. From here, enjoy stylish city-centre boutiques, then push your way through the crowded stalls of Carmel Market where you can buy exotic spices and breads. Admire 1930s Bauhaus architecture and modern performance arts centres. Visit major history museums like the Eretz Israel Museum, a treasure trove of ancient artefacts in North Tel Aviv, and explore arty neighbourhoods in South Tel Aviv and Jaffa.
Experience the energy around Tel Aviv's focal point, Dizengoff Square, near to the beach. The city centre is packed with arts venues, tempting shops and cafes. Explore Tel Aviv's fascinating first neighbourhoods, like attractive Rothschild Boulevard, now lined with chic eateries and restored 1930s buildings featuring curvaceous Bauhaus architecture and forming part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Push through the crowds in bustling traditional Carmel Market. Head south to discover the ancient, picturesque port town of Jaffa, now a dining and entertainment district for Tel Aviv.
Grab a falafel in pitta or a shwarma, Israel's popular budget takeaway meals, and walk along the wide seafront promenade beside Tel Aviv's vast sandy beach. Turn into the narrow streets of the Yemenite Quarter and the packed alleyways of Carmel Market, which sells everything from olives to fresh fruit at bargain prices. On tree-lined Rothschild Boulevard, visit historic Independence Hall, where the State of Israel was established. The Golda Meir Cultural and Art Center around the HaShalom Interchange is home to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art's prized modern art collection. Also, admire newly restored gleaming white buildings in the early-20th-century Bauhaus style. Head into Jaffa to explore the ancient port and enjoy a fresh-fish dinner with fruity Israeli wine and wonderful sea views.
If you've already seen 3000 years of local history at the stunning Eretz Israel Museum in North Tel Aviv, head to the nearby Beit Hatfutsot Museum of Jewish People. This marvellous museum showcases the music, costumes and culture of Jewish communities worldwide. Visit Tel Aviv Museum of Art for an overview of 20th-century European art – check its programme carefully beforehand, as it also hosts jazz and classical concerts. For dinner, follow locals to the city centre or Tel Aviv Port and sample a fascinating fusion of everything from French cuisine to sushi.
