Tel Aviv · Africa and Middle East

Overview

Print

• Send to a friend
• RSS
• Menéame
• del.icio.us
• Digg
• Google

Proud residents call it the city that never stops, and if you don't believe them, just come around 4 AM, when you may find yourself waiting in line for a table at a café or stuck in a traffic jam on Hayarkon Street.

The first impression Tel Aviv makes depends on the direction from which visitors enter. Glass office towers along the Ayalon Freeway, the city's ring road, showcase the latest trends in high-rise architecture. A dose of Israeli urban sprawl circa 1960 awaits those who come in via the neighborhoods northeast of Old Jaffa along Kibbutz Galuyot Street, eventually easing into the area's own funky charm. Tel Aviv's Bauhaus and art deco masterpieces, which can be seen from the Ayalon Freeway and Yizhak Sade Street, are the pride of Center City. Whatever the route, one thing is clear: Tel Aviv is the heart of Israeli commerce and culture, and its restaurants, art galleries, museums, and beaches are unmatched anywhere in the country.