Tel Aviv is Israel's cultural and commercial center with as much to offer visitors as some of the better-known historical sites in the Holy Land. It's a more liberal, secular city than Jerusalem and has a wealth of interesting sights, great shopping and nonstop nightlife and dining. In addition, it has a beautiful seashore with excellent beaches.
The Old City of Jaffa, prominent on the Tel Aviv shoreline, gives visitors a chance to explore the city's biblical roots; it's also home to a vibrant artist colony and many fine restaurants. Tel Aviv's 9 mi/14 km of clean, sandy beaches provide an excellent place to swim and relax in the sun. Long, shady streets are perfect for an evening stroll or a cup of steaming espresso at a sidewalk cafe.
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Sights—The Old City of Jaffa, Tel Aviv's link to its biblical past; Independence Hall, where the State of Israel was officially declared in May 1948; the Yitzhak Rabin Memorial, where Israel's late prime minister was assassinated.
Museums—The Tel Aviv Museum of Art for its collections of modern and impressionist art; the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora for its cultural history of the Jews in exile; the Eretz Israel Museum for its exhibits connecting the modern state to the land's archaeological and cultural past.
Memorable Meals—The city's best hummus at the simple Abu el-Abed restaurant in Jaffa; the gourmet seafood dishes at Mul Yam; the refreshing and innovative cuisine at Lilit.
Late Night—A stroll through the Old Tel Aviv Port entertainment area with stops at the city's hottest, trendiest nightclubs; the mix of blues, jazz and rock 'n' roll at Mike's Place; a Guinness at Molly Blooms; the first-class live music at the Zappa Club.
Walks—A stroll along Tel Aviv's beachfront promenade; the bohemian atmosphere of Sheinkin Street; the lovely, tree-lined Rothschild Boulevard, with its unique display of Bauhaus architecture.
Especially for Kids—The Meimadyon Water Park for a refreshing break on a hot summer's day; the Safari Park for a drive past lions; the beach for sun and swimming.
The first thing that air travelers see out their windows as they approach Israel is Tel Aviv's impressive Mediterranean shoreline. From high above, the line of tall hotels hugging the beachfront promenade and the straight streets leading deep into the heart of Tel Aviv give the impression of a well-designed, modern city. From the ground, however, the city is a bit more complicated, with tourist sites spread far apart from each other and transportation routes clogged with heavy traffic.
To Tel Aviv's south is the older city of Jaffa, a major gateway port since before biblical times. Jaffa is primarily an Arab city, with a mix of Christians and Muslims. Jaffa's Old City quarter, impossible to miss when looking south because of its elevation, is a popular tourist attraction, with a vibrant artist colony and an old port.
Tel Aviv first took root in its southern neighborhoods. The Yemenite Quarter outside the Carmel Market and the Neve Tzedek neighborhood in the shadows of the Shalom Tower have been renovated and today host first-class restaurants, galleries and boutiques. Dizengoff Street and the shady Rothschild Boulevard bisect central Tel Aviv. A major north-south transportation artery is the Ayalon Freeway, which separates the city from its Hatikva and Yad Eliyahu neighborhoods and from the neighboring city of Ramat Gan.
To the north, the Yarkon River crosses through Tel Aviv until it spills into the Mediterranean near the Reading Power Plant and the Dov Airport. Just south of the Yarkon is the Old Tel Aviv Port entertainment area, a trendy restaurant and nightclub locale. Farther north are the affluent neighborhoods of Ramat Aviv, Azorei Hen and Neot Afeka.
The city of Tel Aviv is part of the much larger Dan metropolitan area, which also encompasses the coastal plain cities of Herzliya, Ramat Gan, Bnei Brak, Givatayim and Holon. Together these cities form Israel's largest population center.
Before 1909, the bustling, modern city of Tel Aviv was nothing more than sand dunes along the Mediterranean coast. During Passover of that year, a lottery was held to distribute plots of land in a city to be built along the coast on the outskirts of the Arab city of Jaffa. The outlying neighborhood of Neve Tzedek, established in 1887 by Jews who wanted to live outside Jaffa, quickly merged with this new community.
After a wave of Jewish-Arab riots in 1921, the British Mandatory officials, in charge of what was then Palestine, granted Tel Aviv independence, and it became a separate municipality from Jaffa. In the 1930s, a wave of immigration brought modern European architecture to the city. During these years, Israeli architects who had graduated from the renowned Bauhaus art-and-design school in Germany introduced the city's distinct architectural style. The school emphasized the synthesis of art and functionality.
On 14 May 1948, the leaders of the Jewish community in Palestine gathered in Tel Aviv. David Ben-Gurion, who would become the country's first prime minister, declared the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Aviv became Israel's temporary capital until the Knesset and government ministries set up their permanent offices in Jerusalem. On 4 October 1949, the modern city of Tel Aviv and the ancient city of Jaffa were reunited as a single municipality.
In 2003, Tel Aviv was selected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site because of its Bauhaus architecture and its original urban design. Today, it remains an outstanding example of early 20th-century new-town planning and architecture.
With approximately 4,000 buildings constructed in the unique Bauhaus style in Tel Aviv, the city has earned the nickname of the "White City."
Tel Aviv is part of the Dan metropolitan area, the largest population center in Israel.
The name Tel Aviv was chosen by a majority vote of the first residents, who had rejected a number of other suggestions. The name, which was mentioned in the Bible, is a combination of old and new. In Hebrew, tel is a mound of ancient ruins and aviv is the word for spring.
Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel's perennial basketball champion, is one of the best basketball teams in Europe and won two consecutive Euroleague championships in 2004 and 2005. When Maccabi's games are broadcast on television, streets all over Israel, and especially in Tel Aviv, are completely empty.
Tel Aviv is a center for Israeli trance music, developed from music brought back by Israeli travelers from Goa in India.
