If you're planning a visit to Tel Aviv as part of a tour in Israel or if you're coming
only for a short weekend then this video is for you.
My name is Oren and I'm a professional tour guide and in this video I'm going to show
you how to plan two full days in Tel Aviv.
Now if the weather is good (not too hot, not too cold) then I would recommend starting
here at Gan HaPisga in Jaffa.
Now there are a couple of ways to come here: you can either take a taxi or take a bus to
Sderot Yerushalim and then walk it (it's about 500 meters' walk) or the best way in my opinion
is to bike here.
Tel Aviv is flat and small and twenty minutes from the city center will get you almost anywhere
in the city.
So you can either rent a bike at your hostel or hotel or use Tel Ofan, which is the Tel
Aviv rental bike service.
It costs 17 shekels a day, which is about 5 dollars, and you need to remember that it
is per day and not per ride.
You cannot pay only for one ride.
After you pay you choose the bike that you want and you just go.
Now you need to remember that you can only ride them for half an hour each time and then
you need to bring them back to a Tel Ofan station.
There are stations all over the city.
Once you bring the bike back you can take them again for another half an hour of use.
If you use the bike for more than half an hour then you pay an extra fee.
Below this video I will leave a link with all the important information.
Anyway I recommend starting here at Summit Garden (Gan HaPisga) and from here you have
a beautiful lookout over Tel Aviv and from here it is very close to the Jaffa small alleys.
It is basically 3-4 short nice streets so you can walk all of them and no matter how
you go eventually you will find yourself in the main square, Kdumim Square, where you
will see the St Peter's Church.
The church has an interesting story that is connected to the separation of Christianity
from Judaism.
In the square you can also visit the visitor center, which is underground.
It is a very small museum but it tells the story of Jaffa in an interesting way with
a lot of videos.
From there you can continue down the alleys to the port and from there it is a couple
of minutes' walk to the clock tower and there you're basically very close to the flea market,
which is a great market.
In Old Jaffa you will see many tourists, in the flea market you will see many Israelis
that come to look, buy, bargain and eat.
There are some great restaurants that opened up in the past couple of years (Onza, Ramesses,
Puaa, Shafa) and many other great places.
Hatachana is a compound that was renovated.
It is where the first train station connecting Jaffa and Jerusalem was and today it is a
nice relaxing shopping area.
Right next to it is the IDF, the Israeli army museum, so if you're interested in the Israeli
army it's a nice place to visit.
And from there you are basically at Neve Tzedek, the first Jewish neighborhood of Jaffa, and
today a very trendy neighborhood.
From there you can continue to Rothschild Boulevard and then you are in the center of
the city.
You can visit Sarona which was a German colony that was renovated a couple of years ago and
today it is a really nice place and there is also a food market over there.
From there you can continue to Dizengoff Street, one of the most-known streets in Tel Aviv
and in Israel.
The best museum in central Tel Aviv is the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, probably the most
important art museum in Israel.
The collection represents mostly artworks from the leading artists of the 20th century,
worldwide and Israeli art.
Now I recommend taking a tour: there are not many, I think only once a week, but it is
worth it.
I will leave all the information and the links down here below.
The slogan of Tel Aviv is the city that never sleeps and it is really so.
If you want to go out you just need to go out, it doesn't matter where you go: Allenby,
Rothschild, where I am right now, Dizengoff, the Carmel Market, the flea market, Florentin,
wherever you will go out you will see people sitting outside in the middle of the week,
middle of the night, people are outside.
I will say that the more you go to the south it will be more alternative and the only place
that I wouldn’t go is the area of the central bus station but there are no hotels or hostels
there anyway, so you don't have any reason to go there.
But other than that everything is open and safe and great.
I would recommend starting your second day on the northern part of Tel Aviv.
You can ride along the promenade and then along Park HaYarkon to Tel Aviv University.
If you are not a bike fan or if the weather is not good you can always take a bus or if
you're coming outside of Tel Aviv you can also take the train: there is a station called
Tel Aviv University.
Inside of the Tel Aviv University there is the Museum of the Jewish People (Beit Hatfusot).
Now if you will ask Israelis where is the Museum of the Jewish People nobody will know
where it is so you need to ask where Beit Hatfusot is.
The museum shows different aspects of Jewish life.
There is a permanent exhibition about different synagogues from around the world and a very
good movie that explains the different Jewish prayers.
For children there is an exhibition about Jewish heroes throughout history, from leaders
to cultural figures, artists and philosophers.
It is a very liberal museum which makes sense as it is in Tel Aviv, not in Jerusalem.
There are also very interesting temporary exhibitions: when I was there I saw one about
Bob Dylan.
Now not too many tourists and Israelis visit Beit Hatfusot but I personally think that
it is a very good museum, especially if you want to learn about Judaism but not from a
religious point of view.
Five minutes' walk from the university there is the Rabin Center.
Now the museum is about Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister that was murdered by
a Jew in 1995.
But in the museum there is a part that is called the Israeli Museum and it explores
the history of the state of Israel, the country's development, conflicts and challenges.
I can say that as a tour guide there are many sites where I can talk about the history of
Jerusalem or sites that are connected to Jesus, but the Israeli Museum is the only place that
presents the full history of the Land of Israel - a subject that I get asked about more than
any other subject.
Right next to it is the Eretz Israel Museum, not to be confused with the Israel Museum
in Jerusalem.
The museum is about the archeology and the history of Israel.
There is a section called Man and his Work about ancient methods of weaving, baking,
jewelry- and pottery-making in the Land of Israel.
The first archaeological dig in Israel was Tell Qasile, which is a part of the museum
today, but most visitors to the museum visit the temporary exhibitions which are really,
really good.
All three museums, Beit Hatfusot, Yitzhak Rabin Museum, and Eretz Israel Museum, are
good but seeing three museums is way too much.
After one or two museums you can continue to Park HaYarkon or cycle to the Tel Aviv
Port, which is an area of restaurants, cafés and shopping.
Or cycle back to the city center.
The north is very clean and quiet: if you want more life then go back to the center:
you can always go to Shuk HaCarmel, the most-known market in Tel Aviv.
I've said it in a video about Jerusalem: something good is going on in the markets in Israel.
A couple of years ago it was a place to buy cheap fruits and vegetables and today it's
a great place to eat, shop and to feel the vibe of Tel Aviv.
Daytime and nighttime, there are so many great places to eat there (HaMinzar, Basta, Da Ban)
and many others.
Near Shuk HaCarmel every Tuesday and Friday there is a very nice art and craft fair at
Nachalat Biniamin Street.
Around the area of Shuk HaCarmel, Nachalat Biniamin, Bialik Square there are many old
buildings that were renovated.
Most of them are in the Bauhaus or the eclectic style.
Now if you've read a little bit about Tel Aviv you've probably heard about the Bauhaus
style.
This is why Tel Aviv is called also the White City because the Bauhaus buildings are painted
in white.
Now this style is very important but it was brought here by German Jews in the thirties.
I personally like more the eclectic style that started right here in Israel.
Anyway if you want to relax you can always head to the beach.
Tel Aviv has a beautiful promenade.
And this is what tourists do in Tel Aviv, this is what the people who live in Tel Aviv
do: go to the beach, this is the most important place in the city.
Tel Aviv never looked to the east, to Jerusalem; Tel Aviv always looked to the west, to the
sea, and the soul of Tel Aviv lies on the beach
That's it, guys.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
I did another video about the best hotels and hostels in Tel Aviv and one about the
best tours that you can take in Tel Aviv, so you can check them out.
If you like this video then please help me grow my channel and subscribe.
If you have any questions, then you can please leave them down here below.
And see you in the next video.
Bye for now!