new Tel Aviv, Israel - Travel Tips

Arriving at the airport

Introduction
We didn't have any problem entering the county. If you specifically state not to put a stamp in your passport, they won't do it.

Getting to Tel Aviv
Cheapest way is to take the Egged bus which runs every 20 minutes. However, this is just a usual bus which happens to pass by Ben Gurion, so it stops everywhere and it takes 45 minutes to get into town or vice versa. Take this into account if you need to catch a flight. It stops at the central busstation and costs 9.20 NIS. This bus doesn't drive on Sabbath.

A better option is to take an STP Air Bus (line 222). This bus runs once every hour from 4 am till 11pm. It costs 15 NIS and takes about 30 minutes to go from Ben Gurion to Dan Panorama. It passes the hotel area on the way. This bus also goes on Sabbath !! Don't believe the taxi drivers hanging around on Sabbath saying there's no bus!

Most expensive option is to take a taxi. Count on 70 NIS, although I saw tourists being ripped off with 100 NIS.

Getting to Jerusalem
There's an Egged bus going directly to Jerusalem every 30 to 40 minutes, not on Sabbath, price is 16.80 NIS.Otherwise there are shared taxis, also on Sabbath. They leave when full.

Hotel

We stayed at Dan Panorama. This is a 5-star hotel of the Dan Chain. It's not really recommended. The breakfast is excellent, but some of the rooms have old and damaged furnishings (6 th floor), others are a bit better. The pool area is uninspiring, no safes in the rooms. Price 170 US$ for a double. The location is away from the center of Tel Aviv, on the other hand it's close to Jaffa which is good for dinners.

As said above, we preferred going to Jaffa for dinner. It's a lovely place for an evening stroll, offering a lot of restaurants which are (I admit) catering mostly for tourists. Alladdin restaurant was very popular, but not very cheap. It had good trout for 60 NIS. There are other restaurants in the same neighborhood which we didn't try.

Tandoori at Zamenhoff 2 is a good Indian restaurant in Tel Aviv (near Dizengoff Sq.). A bit more expensive, count on 100 NIS pp.

In town, especially around Carmel Market, there are plenty of cheap falafel restaurants.

Cybercafé

In Tel Aviv, there’s the Internet InBar (Tel 03-528 2228): barak@isralink.co.il at 2 Shomo HaMelekh just off Dizengoff St.

What to do

Tel Aviv
Beth Hatefutsoth or the Diaspora Museum is quite nice giving you the history of the Jewish people. Entrance is 24 NIS (students 17 NIS) there's a guided tour at 11 am and 1 pm costing 7 NIS, though nobody will notice if you didn't pay for the tour. The tour takes about 90 minutes. The museum has its own website at http://www.bh.org.il. Open from Sun-Thur 10 am till 4 pm, wed till 6 pm, fri from 9 am till 1 pm. You can get there by bus and get off

at the University. Go through the gate where luggage is checked, it's about 200 meters from there.

There are the so-called Orange Routes to explore the city. Tourism office has leaflets on them.

Another site worth having a look is the "Tel Aviv insider"-site. It is wriiten by a Tel Aviv citizen and it gives tips beyond the usual tourist attractions.

Jaffa
Don't miss going to Jaffa. It's been wonderfully restored, and both the harbour area and the artist's quarter are very cosy.There's a free guided tour of Jaffa every wednesday at 9.30 am leaving at the clock tower (11/98).

Caesarea
Caesarea can be easily reached by car in about 30 minutes from Tel Aviv. It's well signposted on the highway. By bus go first to Hadera and take a local bus there.

The site itself couldn't really impress us, and if you're short in time, I would say "skip it". There are actually 3 parts:
- First there's the theatre which has been heavily restored. It's OK, but if you've seen Bosra (Syria), you'll be disappointed.
- The second part is the crusader city. Apart from the walls there's not much left anymore.
- The third part is the aqueduct which is quite nice, but a long way from the 2 other parts so only accessible if you have your own transport.

Entrance fee is 18 NIS and this includes entrance to the first 2 parts, the aqueduct is for free.

Acco

Introduction
Acco is much further away from Tel Aviv, especially since you have to pass Haifa. Traffic can be hell there, that's why we decided to take the inland road nr. 70 so we bypassed Haifa. Still it's quite a long ride. There are buses going to Acco, the busstation is not far away from the old city.

Acco itself couldn't really impress us either, maybe because we expected too much of it since our guide book said this was a well preserved crusader city.

What to do

Museum of the underground prisoners
This museum is run by the military, and the main reason to see it is to climb the highest tower of Acco from where you have a nice view, though not really breathtaking. The museum itself is in the prison where the English used to keep the Jewish resistance locked up. Entrance is 8 NIS, 4 NIS for students (10/98).

Subterranean Crusader City
Restoration is still going on here, entrance is 15 NIS, this includes a free electronic guiding system. Opened every day.

If you follow the arrows, you'll come to the Turkish baths.

The Great Mosque
Visit is 2 NIS, you'll get a clothing if you're in shorts.

A walk around town
A walk around town is quite nice. Have a look at the harbour, the walls and the different Cerevanserai's.

Go to the North