Itineraries for Your Trip to Tel Aviv
3 Days in Tel Aviv for First Timers
Editor's note: Travel to Tel Aviv is not recommended due to serious safety risks in this area. Please follow your government's guidance and travel advisories.
When I briefly lived in South Tel Aviv, I would spend most days walking to the Mediterranean shore and then down to Jaffa, the oldest part of the city. Jaffa existed as a distinct port city for centuries while Tel Aviv grew around it; the two were merged in 1950, forming Tel Aviv-Yafo. In Tel Aviv, you’ll find many of Israel’s art and cultural institutions, a first-rate food scene, and lively bars and nightclubs—but it’s in Jaffa where you’ll feel the strongest sense of the region’s ancient history, including its Palestinian past. Here’s how to see both sides of the bustling capital in three days.
Tel Aviv is way hotter and stickier than Jerusalem—and far less modest, so less is more in the summer months.
If you only have time for one thing, make it a wander around Old Jaffa, which has layers of history spanning back thousands of years.
On your first day, learn where the “White City” got its nickname by going Bauhaus-spotting down Rothschild Boulevard. The UNESCO-listed Bauhaus buildings were designed by German-Jewish architects from the Bauhaus art school who immigrated to British Palestine in the 1920s-30s to escape Nazi persecution. There are over 4,000 of them in the capital.
Your second day is all about South Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Enjoy a plentiful Israeli brunch in pretty, upscale Neve Tzedek or hipster Florentin. Check out the vibrant street art of those neighborhoods, then wind your way along the Tayelet beachside walkway toward the Ottoman-era Clock Tower. Continue toward the Old Port, where you’ll get panoramic sea views from Ramses II’s Gate Garden.
Learn about Jaffa’s mixed heritage with a visit to the stunningly photogenic 16th-century Al-Bahr mosque and nearby St. Peter’s Church, which dates to 1894. Jaffa, once an important Palestinian city, is also famous for its hummus—try some at Abu Jassan.
On your last day, see what special exhibits are showing at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and cover downtown sights you may have missed, such as Habima Square (home of the renowned Habima theater) or Yitzchak Rabin Square, where you can see a memorial to the assassinated Israeli prime minister.
If you’ve had your fill of sightseeing, pick a café and unwind over a mint lemonade or milky sahlab (an Ottoman-era hot drink traditionally made from powdered orchid root), depending on the season. Save a few hours to grab a towel and hit Frishman Beach, which runs adjacent to the city center.
