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Sightseeing Overview
Much of the original Tel Aviv, around the popular Rothschild Boulevard, was built in the pre-war Bauhaus or internationalist style. The city now has the world's largest surviving collection of Bauhaus buildings, thousands of them currently being handsomely restored and returned to their original gleaming white color. The unique urban and historical fabric of Tel Aviv-Jaffa has been recognized by UNESCO, under the name 'The White City', a World Cultural Heritage site.

As well as having a multitude of attractions of its own, Tel Aviv is well-placed as a base for day trips to Jerusalem and Caesarea, while even the Dead Sea and the Galilee are within a two-hour drive of the city.

The Tel Aviv-Jaffa city center is a long, narrow strip beside a very attractive beach, with a waterside promenade reaching from the Marina in North Tel Aviv as far as Jaffa (locally called, and written, Yafo) at the southern edge of the city, with a host of galleries, craft shops and cafes. Ramat Aviv, home of Tel Aviv University and the extensive Eretz Israel Museum, are located on the outskirts of north Tel Aviv on the other side of the river Yarkon.

South of the city center, the large and busy Carmel Market (the city's main open-air food market) runs alongside the atmospheric old Yemenite Quarter (originally home to Jewish refugees from Yemen). Neve Zedek was the first Jewish neighborhood outside Jaffa (established in 1867) and it is currently benefiting from extensive restoration. Over the years, it has served as a home for numerous artists and now houses various different galleries.

Tel Aviv's major sights are its diverse and unusual museums, some focusing on Israel's ancient history, some on landmarks in its 20th-century Zionist history, with very poignant records of the struggles of Jewish refugees, the conflict with the British and with the Arabs, and the first steps of the new state.

Among the most impressive is the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, while in the old town of Jaffa, there are remnants of the history of the world's oldest port, as well as another important museum.

When sightseeing or just exploring, visitors may be anxious about the intense campaign of terrorism that has been waged against Israel by its Arab neighbors. However, these attacks have been halted by the security barrier separating Israel from the Palestinian territories. In addition, security guards are now routinely posted at entrances to all public venues.

Tourist Information
Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo/Association for Tourism
Tel Aviv Promenade at 46 Herbert Samuel Street (corner of 2 Geula Street)
Tel: (03) 516 6188.
Website: www.tel-aviv.gov.il

There are also tourist information desks in the City Hall Lobby, at the Central Bus Station (sixth floor) and at Ben Gurion International Airport.

Key Attractions:

Eretz Israel Museum
The name of this internationally important museum means ‘Land of Israel' and traces 3,000 years of culture through artifacts found on this very site, as well as examples from other Israeli locations. Constructed around the extensive archaeological site of Tel Kasile, the museum resembles a park and is housed in a dozen separate pavilions, each of which could be viewed as a museum in its own right dealing with a separate aspect of Israel's material culture and ethnography. Visitors are advised to buy a site map upon arrival at the museum, to help navigate around the different pavilions.

2 Haim Levanon Street, Ramat Aviv
Tel: (03) 641 5244.
Website: www.eretzmuseum.org.il

Tel Aviv Museum of Art
This world-class museum has been Israel's principal showcase for modern art since the 1930s and was originally housed in the home of the city's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. Today, it occupies several buildings and a sculpture garden. In addition to hosting a succession of exhibitions brought from the world's leading modern art museums, the museum maintains a distinguished permanent collection of European and American art of the 20th century, notably impressionist and post-impressionists, including Cézanne, Monet, Dali and especially Chagall. The purpose-built main building also serves as a venue for concerts, as well as talks and debate on cultural topics.

27 Shaul Hamelech Boulevard
Tel: (03) 607 7020 or 528 7196 (Helena Rubinstein Pavilion).
Website: www.tamuseum.com

Beth Hatefutsoth (Museum of the Jewish Diaspora)
The Museum of the Jewish Diaspora (its Hebrew name is pronounced Bayt Ha-tay-foot-sot) is devoted to Jewish history, migration and cultural diversity since the Jews were expelled by the Romans from Israel (or Judea, as it then was) in AD70 right up to the return to Israel in modern times. On six floors, it displays the astonishing diversity of various Jewish communities, also highlighting the common cultural and religious threads that enabled the Jewish people to retain a common identity throughout. Especially enjoyable are the musical sections, in which you can listen to Jewish music from Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities and the rousing songs of Zionist pioneer days. Special exhibitions have dealt with the island of Malta, Lithuanian Jewry and the cultural influences on Sigmund Freud.

Tel Aviv University Campus, Klausner Street, Ramat Aviv
Tel: (03) 745 7800.
Website: www.bh.org.il

Independence Hall
The building is one of Tel Aviv's original structures, formerly the home of Meir Dizengoff, the city's first mayor. On 14 May 1948, it served as the venue for the historic declaration that brought the State of Israel into being. The house has since become a museum recalling that momentous day and the events that led up to it, giving a stirring history of Zionism. Among extraordinary displays are several fascinating historic photographs, showing such moments as the barren sand dunes north of Jaffa being awarded by lot to Jewish settlers. Others record the United Nations in session in November 1947 voting to partition Palestine and the meeting at which David Ben-Gurion announced the creation of the State of Israel.

16 Rothschild Boulevard, south Tel Aviv
Tel: (03) 510 6426.
Website: www.eretzmuseum.org.il

Jaffa
Although mentioned several times in the Bible, Jaffa is mainly of 19th-century construction and has little sense of history. It was mainly built after Napoleon's destructive raid in 1799. A small section of Old Jaffa remains, its lanes and stairways cleaned up and restored and the squalid center replaced by a park. The most enjoyable way to and from Jaffa is on the waterfront walkway from central Tel Aviv. The entrance to the Old Town is marked by the Ottoman Clock Tower, built in 1906 to honor Palestine's Turkish rulers, now a focal point for outdoor socialising before eating at the many nearby restaurants. Close by, the minaret and domes of Mahmoudiyeh Mosque were constructed by the Turks in 1809 using stonework from the Roman ruins of Ashkelon and Caesarea. A few paces uphill, Kedumim Square is Old Jaffa's main plaza, dominated by St Peter's Monastery. In a curious underground structure beneath the square, the Visitors' Center has a tourist information desk and displays a remarkable collection of artifacts from Jaffa's long history. Narrow steps and picturesque lanes zigzag down from the square to the historic, once-busy harbor, now unused.

Visitors' Center
Kedumim Square, Old Jaffa
Tel: (03) 518 4015.
Website: www.oldjaffa.co.il

Further Distractions:

Shuk HaCarmel (Carmel Market)
Situated on the edge of the Yemenite Quarter, this packed daily market extends along the long, narrow HaCarmel Street (and neighboring lanes), which branches off Allenby Street at Magen David Circle. Despite the lack of traffic, it is noisy with stall-holders’ cries and busy with the extraordinary crush of people. Huge piles of fresh fruits, vegetables, olives, herbs, spices and meats are on sale for the lowest prices in the city. Stalls often specialize in just one item, offering only crates of nectarines, for example, or olives or oranges. The market is a perfect location to observe the bringing together of East European shtetls (Jewish villages), the Jewish quarters of Arabia, the sophistication of European Jewry and the raucous energy of the sabras (Jews born in Israel), all of whom are pressed shoulder to shoulder here. The market is especially hectic and colorful on Fridays, as people shop for Shabbat. A more sedate craft market can be found in parallel Nahalat Binyamin.

HaCarmel Street, south Tel Aviv
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 0600-1900, Fri 0600-1300.
Free admission.

Azrieli Center
For a phenomenal view over the unplanned sprawl of still-growing Tel Aviv and Jaffa and far beyond the city limits, visitors should take the high-speed lift (traveling at 6m, or 20ft per second) to the 49th floor observatory of the downtown Azrieli Center. On a clear day, it is possible to see (with the aid of the powerful telescopes) Jerusalem in one direction and Haifa in another. Although its 84-window observatory is the highest in Israel, this remarkable circular tower (with 50 floors above ground and seven below) is not quite the country’s tallest building, having been exceeded by the City Gate Tower (opened in Ramat Gan in 2001). The Azrieli Center in fact consists of three separate buildings, housing hundreds of offices, three embassies and a shopping mall and attracting 40,000 visitors a day.

132 Petach Tikvah Road
Tel: (03) 608 1179.
Website: www.azrielicenter.co.il
Opening hours: (Observatory) Tues-Sun 1000-2000 (Fri closes 1800).
Admission charge.

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