Tel Aviv City Guide

Although two weeks is really not long enough to do everything in a city like Tel Aviv, I was fortunate enough to have a cousin that lives right in the city center, affording me easy access to plenty of great bars, restaurants, shops and other fun things (like the beach!) Here are some of my favorites:

C A F E S  //  R E S T A U R A N T S 

Little Prince Bookshop: Super cute and chill library-themed cafe, with indoor and outdoor seating. They have thousands of books on their shelves, in Hebrew and English, although I am not sure if you are allowed to borrow them!

Olive Korner: Located right on the corner of the street, this cafe has the perfect outdoor seating area for people watching. I ordered the lamb shish kebab plate, which was great but not AMAZING. We were also disappointed by the fact that our hummus was served with matzah (it was the last day of Passover), even though we saw someone bringing in loaves of bread right as we were leaving!!! FML

HaKosem: This place gets it: you want food while you wait! They bring you fresh falafels to munch on while you are in line, then once you get to the front you have a full menu of falafel, shawarma, and other Israeli staples to choose from. Although I was a bit disappointed by the crusty shawarma (my cousin swears it is usually juicy and amazing), the rest of the sandwich and accompanying pomegranate lemonade slushy were on point

Hamitbahon: I LOOOVED this spot! It’s tucked away in an alley (a cool alley, not a sketchy one), and surrounded by beautiful flowers and trees. We sat outside (obviously) and enjoyed a delicious beef tagine plate with a side of green tehina and bread

Cafe Yom Tov: My cousin took me here right after I got to TLV, and thus was my first impression of the city. It is right next to the previous cafe, tucked in the cool alley, and definitely a great place to go if you just want to chill and talk to your friends over a glass of wine. Which is exactly what we did!

Cafe Shneor: We got lunch here on a day where we waited until we were hangry to go eat our first meal at 2:30. At that point, I think anything tastes good, especially a hunk of crusty bread with five dips! We also ordered a quiche which I thought was just alright, and a salad which was pretty meh. The food didn’t impress me much, but the atmosphere inside the cafe was super cute and the chairs were SO comfy! Hey, that matters to me ok?

Shlomo & Doron: This place was visited during another semi-hangry state, but I was much more impressed! It is not so much a cafe as a little shack with a bunch of tables set up in the alleyway next to the shuk (outdoor market), but it is exactly the kind of no frills place that serves delicious food. We got the hummus topped with shakshuka, which my cousin was raving about, and practically inhaled it!

Bicicletta: This was probably my favorite restaurant in terms of overall rating. The food was great, the drinks were amazing, and the music was exactly the kind that I would put on in my own restaurant! It is a pretty hipster place, but in a chill TLV way, not an obnoxious LA or NYC kinda way. I would definitely recommend a visit!

Tamara Yogurt: I never get fro-yo (both because I don’t normally eat dairy and fro-yo is all chemicals in the States), but my family friend who was visiting from Jerusalem with her boyfriend insisted on going (and treating me), so I obliged. It was definitely a tasty and refreshing treat after the beach, and I loved their choice of toppings: where in the US can you get halvah on your fro-yo??

EatMeat: I found this place out of pure desperation: I was in bed ALL day during my last week with horrible cramps, which I eventually realized were due to my low iron levels. In order to replenish them, I knew I needed some meat, and FAST! My cousin told me about this place near her apartment, and judging by the name it was exactly what I needed. The restaurant is barely big enough for a few counter chairs inside, where you can watch them cook the meat, and a few tables outside on the sidewalk. The menu is simple – sandwich or salad – and definitely does not disappoint. I ordered a sandwich, which not only hit the spot but literally revived me. I ended up going back on my last day it was so good!

C O F F E E

Hotel Saul: Boutique hotels are becoming a huge thing in DC right now, so when my cousin and I found this new spot we had to check it out! It has an open front cafe at the entrance which makes it very inviting and visually appealing. Although they have a full menu, I just ordered an iced coffee (which was delicious). There is a very cute little area to sit and eat, and another area next to it to sit and work and just enjoy your coffee!

Way Cup: Situated on a peaceful street corner, it is the perfect spot to sit and chill outside on the weekend while enjoying some coffee. I didn’t get a chance to sit and hang out, but when I was ordering my iced coffee to go, I noticed that their playlist was definitely on point!

Carpe Diem: Located a block away from Hotel Saul, this is another new hipster-vibe cafe that’s perfect for posting up and working all day. They also have a cute barista who happens to be semi-famous apparently…

Aroma Espresso Bar: You can’t go to Israel without a trip to Aroma. End of story.

B A R S

Teder.fm: I’m not sure the best way to describe this place, because it has a really unique set up that seems very “Tel Aviv”. Basically, you walk through the front door to an open courtyard, which is surrounded by a pizza joint and a couple bars, one of which is Teder.fm. All through the courtyard are places to sit and chill, and people are just spread out all over the whole inside/outside area. The first time we went, it was PACKED and we left right away. The next time, I got a better feel for it and really enjoyed the laidback vibes. Check their website for specific events, but make sure you stop by and see it for yourself at least once!

Romano: This is one of the bars in the Teder.fm courtyard situation, located on the second level. It is a fairly small bar, that feels like a living room but with way more people. We went for their hip hop night, which was surprisingly great! The DJ was spinning ACTUAL records, and killing it. It eventually got too crowded to hang out, but the nice thing is you can always chill in the courtyard if are over the vibe or the people in the bar.

Kuli Alma: I was disappointed that I didn’t stay here longer, because this place was so cool!! It was covered in neon signs, graphic art, and tropical palm tree decorations. The vibe was somewhere between a bar and a chill club, but it definitely gets packed. They have a few different rooms playing different music, and you can purchase apparel in one of the rooms (their shirts are fucking dope!)

22: I didn’t get to spend too much time here either, but from what I could tell, this seems like a good place to start the night, as it is near a bunch of other bars. With two staggered levels, this bar is still pretty small but feels spacious due to the high ceilings. It sort of feels swanky inside, but they have a DJ booth playing tunes so it isn’t too uptight.

Poli House: This rooftop hotel bar is SUUUPER swanky and fancy, but in a slightly chill Tel Aviv way. Unfortunately, we went on a night where there happened to be a birthday party taking up the whole rooftop, but I still got to appreciate the view over a glass of rose! I would definitely recommend coming here at sunset, or coming during the day and chilling by the pool.

S H O P P I N G

Adika & Castro: These are two separate shops, but both located in Dizengoff Center mall and both have similar vibes. They offer trendy clothes, accessories, and cute home decorations. The prices are fairly cheap at both places – think of them as Israeli Forever 21 or something similar.

Azrieli Mall & Sarona: Located across the street from one another, but very different vibes. Azrieli is a HUGE mall with all kinds of shops, and Sarona is more of an outdoor mall with a more chill vibe, perfect for walking around and getting lunch in between shopping.

Dizengoff Street: Right in the center of Tel Aviv, this street has TONS of boutiques (read: expensive), bars and restaurants. We spent a day walking around and window shopping here. Worth a visit – you may find something good to eat even if you don’t wanna spend all your money in the boutiques!

Shuk HaKarmel: The main shuk (market) in the center of Tel Aviv, you can find everything here from food to jewelry to clothes to gifts to random crap you probably don’t need!

King George & Sheinken St: Two intersecting streets right next to the Shuk, both offer different sorts of shops but all worth checking out. King George has more streetwear/trendy shops, and Sheinken has more jewelry/artsy shops. Also great for walking around and window shopping!

T H I N G S   T O   D O

Beach: This is really self explanatory, but as a self-proclaimed beach bum, I will tell you what I loved about the beaches in Tel Aviv. First off, the beaches span pretty much the entire length of Tel Aviv, which is a huge change from the separated/broken up beaches in San Diego. This lends well to the paved walkway that goes all up and down the beach, which has built in stairs/benches to sit on if you don’t wanna actually post up in the sand. The beach is right next to a busy street, as it is a city after all, but I think it lends a really cool feel to the beach that, again, you can’t get in a place like San Diego. Best of all, the sand is perfectly soft and almost-white, the water is turquoise blue and SO CLEAR, and there are almost no waves so you can just float in the water. Ahhhh…take me back!

Yafo: Located to the south, it is technically another city, although it feels more like an extension of Tel Aviv. I only visited the market, but there are plenty of other things to do. You can take a quick bus down to the market, which has a different feel than the one in TLV, so I would definitely recommend checking it out!

Shabbat Drum Circle: Every Friday night, a bunch of people get together at Banana Beach for a drum circle to celebrate the start of Shabbat. We stupidly messed up and got here too late, as everyone was leaving, but I could tell it was super cool and would have been fun to check out earlier! If you are at the beach during the day, your best bet is just to wander over around sunset to check it out before going home. Don’t mess up like we did!

Day trips from TLV: Israel is super tiny, so you can make a day trip out of pretty much any other city or town in the country. I took a trip to Jerusalem to visit my cousin, which took about an hour on the bus. I spent the night there, but you can easily go there and back in a day, as buses run from TLV to Jerusalem around the clock. I didn’t make any other day trips, as I had already taken a tour of Israel before and wanted to spend as much time as possible in TLV with my cousin, but I highly recommend trying to see other parts of Israel! It is a gorgeous country with a vast variety of climates, topography and landscapes. They don’t call it the Promised Land for nothing!

I really hope you enjoyed this guide! Israel (and now TLV) are very near and dear to my heart, so if anyone takes a trip there and happens to visit one of these spots, I would love to know what you thought! 💕