The opposite of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is modern, secular, flat, and filled with scantily clad bronzed beautiful people enjoying its lengthy beaches. It is one of the buzziest cities I’ve ever been to, home to seemingly endless wonderful places to eat, and a constant stream of people walking, running, cycling or scooting around.
The main attraction for many are the kilometres of beaches, each with their own vibe and specialties, all of which are heaving on Saturdays and surprisingly busy the rest of the week.
Gordon Beach is a particularly good one for people watching, with multiple beach volley ball courts and an extensive outdoor gym.
The sunsets from here were pretty good…
Close by is the aptly named Crazy House, interesting from every angle.
Spiegel Park is another great place to watch the sunset.
Nordau Beach has an unusual design, with a large wall shielding it from the street, as it is used by Orthodox Jews, alternating between men and woman on alternate days.
Inland Meir Garden was one of the more attractive city parks.
It was closed when I visited, but I got an idea of the scale of the Trumpeldor Tel Aviv Cemetery.
One of the main city squares, Habima Square was home to colourful flowers, and every Saturday night in 2023 huge protests against the government’s plans to change the Israeli Supreme Court.
Kikar Dizengoff is in the centre of one of the main shopping areas, and home to a large fountain.
Tel Aviv’s two best known markets couldn’t be more different from each other. Carmel Market is a classic hawkers type market, colourful, noisy and hectic.
The upmarket Sarona Markets are a modern foodie paradise, with a slick fit out.
Sarona has some of the original Jewish settler houses surrounded by flash new buildings.
The Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv was a rather plain 1920s building transformed into a modernist building with the addition of exterior arches in 1969. When built it was in the heart of a residential area, but this has changed now to a mainly commercial area so it has become poorly used, other than as a large wedding venue.
ANU : The Museum of the Jewish Diaspora was the only museum I visited in Tel Aviv, and a good choice, as it brilliantly displayed many aspects of Jewish life (including comedy, music, film, theatre, literature, language, synagogues, and the Torah) as well as telling well the story of Jews from the start to the creation of Israel.
Tel Aviv is a big place, and on the Sabbath (and public holidays), there is no public transport so I had to find another way of getting around. My first port of call was Tel-O-Fun, who have hundreds of bikes and eBikes at stations throughout the city that can be unlocked and hired by the minute. Established around a decade ago it’s an amazing system in theory, but in reality it is clearly little used and the bikes are mostly rusting away. I only used it once, and found the bike the worst I’d ever hired, with nonfunctional brakes, and hard to ride. I could then understand why I never saw anyone ride one of their bikes, but still saw the stations everywhere, a real shame.
It has basically been superseded by scooters (such as Lime) which require less infrastructure and effort to use. They were the perfect way to get around the city as I’ve never been anywhere with as many cycle lanes. They appeared to be everywhere and are separated from traffic and pedestrians. It was so much fun scooting around in relative safety, and much better than walking in the 30C plus heat.
A prime spot for scooting was along the Yarkon River, which looked more like somewhere in Australia, as it was lined with eucalyptus trees.
The river leads to the huge Hayarkon Park, a wonderful place to cycle or scoot around, less fun on foot in the sun. The TLV Balloon offers scenic views of the city from the end of a tether.
The Rosh Tsipor Bird Watching Center was an unexpected find. These bright blue kingfishers were amazing.
To end with the highest natural point I found in Tel Aviv, just south of Hayarkon Park. Tel Grisa / Napoleon Hill was an odd scrubby, cacti filled hill with good views of the surrounding apartment blocks and skyscrapers.
