Tel Aviv lies alongside the Mediterranean coastline. With few exceptions, all points of interest for tourists are in a rectangle defined by the sea to the west, the Yarkon River to the north, the Ayalon highway to the east, and Salame Road to the south. This rectangle is separated into two long strips by Ibn-Gvirol Street, starting from the Yarkon River and changing its name to Yehuda Halevy. Most of the attractions are in the west of these strips.
Tel Aviv developed from south to north. To the south-western corner of the rectangle you will find old Jaffa. To its north, is the first Jewish neighborhood outside Jaffa, Neve Tzedek (meaning "Oasis of Justice"). To Neve Tzedek’s east is Florentin, a 1920s light-industry quarter founded by Jews from Salonika in Greece that in recent years has turned into a trendy neighborhood for young people, albeit one with a large population of older and poor people; and then the Central Bus Station area, now home to foreign workers from around the world.
To the north of Neve Tzedek is "Kerem Ha'Temanim" (the Yemenite Vineyard), a crowded but picturesque neighborhood dating to the early 20th century and east and north of here lies the city center, a chiefly residential area built in the 1920s and 1930s, where the majority of Bauhaus ("International") style architecture is to be found. Further north and east, the "old north" (not to be confused with "the north" on the other side of the Yarkon), is a more spacious residential area built during the 1940s and 1950s.
Tel Aviv residents often speak of a north-south divide in Tel Aviv-Yafo. The north is usually associated with a continental, chic, and suburbanite lifestyle centered around Kikar haMedina and "Ramat Aviv". To the south, the city takes on a more working-class and eastern, albeit evermore trendy, urban feel. A crude divide would be that all neighborhoods north of the Yarkon River are considered "north"; the area between the sea in the west, Ayalon Highway in the east, Yarkon River in the north and Salame Street in the south is considered "central" Tel Aviv. The area south of Salame Street is generally south Tel Aviv, and Jaffa lies to the South-West.
North Tel Aviv is generally more residential and family-oriented; central Tel Aviv is the hipper-younger area with many single people and couples in their 20s and 30s; south Tel Aviv is a rapidly gentrifying area with a mixed population - from older working-class people to artists to migrant African workers.
Tel Aviv is likely the most liberal city in Israel and in the Middle East - as it is no-less liberal than Western Europe's liberally-inclined major cities. It has a bustling civil society and is home to many activist movements and NGOs. Its residents tend to have liberal attitudes towards gay and lesbian rights, and, in fact, Tel Aviv hosts the largest gay pride parade in Israel (the only country in the Middle East where homosexuality is not considered illegal). It is also a destination for gay Palestinian refugees, unable to pursue their lifestyle in the Palestinian territories. With its liberalism comes a dose of sophistication and some will say detachment, and Tel Aviv is often dubbed "The Bubble" or "Medinat Tel Aviv" ("The State of Tel Aviv") by residents and non-residents alike. Some ultra-Orthodox Israelis have even dubbed the city a modern day "Sodom and Gomorrah", due to its hedonistic lifestyle.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Tel Aviv
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Tel Aviv - updated May 2024
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Tel Aviv Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
