Tel Aviv neighbourhoods

The centre — Bauhaus, boulevards and the market

The White City is the middle of Tel Aviv: thousands of Bauhaus buildings, and the reason the city is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Rothschild Boulevard is its spine — wide, tree-lined, and where the city walks its dogs and does its business. Dizengoff runs parallel a few blocks west, with the square at its centre and cafés all along it.

Carmel Market and the lanes of Kerem HaTeimanim around it are the loud, crowded, food-and-spice heart of the city — see Carmel Market. Everything here is walkable from everything else.

The south — Neve Tzedek, Florentin and the port

Neve Tzedek was the first neighbourhood built outside Jaffa, and it is now the prettiest and most expensive: low houses, small galleries, quiet streets. Florentin next door is the opposite — industrial, gritty, and where the city's bars and workshops ended up.

North of the centre, the Tel Aviv Port is a converted dock with boardwalks, restaurants and sea views — see the port. The museum of art sits just inland from it, on Shaul HaMelech. The seafront promenade connects all of it.

Jaffa — the old city at the southern end

Jaffa is older than Tel Aviv by millennia and was a separate city until they merged. Its old town is a maze of stone lanes above the harbour, with the flea market and the Clock Tower below. It is the single most atmospheric hour you can spend here — see Old Jaffa.

Practical note: Jaffa is at the southern end of the beach, and getting back to a northern hotel late at night is a taxi ride rather than a walk.

Practical details

• The centre is walkable end to end
• Rothschild, Dizengoff and Carmel Market are all central
• Neve Tzedek is the prettiest, Florentin the grittiest
• The port and the promenade run along the seafront
• Jaffa is a taxi ride from the northern beaches at night

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