Tel Aviv

Currency

Tel Aviv is expensive — closer to Zurich than to anywhere else in the region. Change money at the small exchange offices on Allenby or in the Carmel market, which beat the banks and hugely beat the airport. Cards work everywhere, including on buses through the Rav-Kav app.

ATMs & cards

Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi and Discount machines are on every second corner. Avoid the standalone "Change" machines in tourist streets, which charge heavily. Decline conversion, and note that some ATMs dispense only 200-shekel notes, which small kiosks dislike.

The small exchange offices in the Carmel market and on Allenby give the best rates in the city, better than any bank.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

Street crime is low and the city is comfortable to walk at night. The honest caveat is regional rather than local: the security situation can change quickly, sirens and shelter alerts are part of life here, and the routine is to install the Home Front Command app and to know where the shelter is in your building before you need it. Check your government’s advice while you plan and again before you fly — insurers follow it.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date
• Hepatitis A

Getting treated

Among the best healthcare in the region, and expensive without insurance — Magen David Adom will treat and then bill. Travel insurance is essential and worth checking for a war or civil-unrest exclusion, which is not standard cover.

Sun and dehydration between May and September, when the coast runs above 30°C with high humidity. In the event of a rocket alert the routine is not improvised: install the Home Front Command app, know where the shelter or stairwell is where you are staying, and follow the instructions rather than the crowd.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

One of the best eating cities anywhere for its size. Hummus is a meal, not a dip — eat it at breakfast where the queue is longest and it will be gone by two. Sabich, a pita of fried aubergine and egg, is the street food to learn. The Levinsky market for spices and the Carmel for everything else.

Getting around

• Walking and cycling — the city is flat, compact and has a bike lane on most main streets
• Light rail — the Red Line opened in 2023 and runs from Petah Tikva through the centre to Bat Yam
• Bus — extensive and cheap with a Rav-Kav card or the Moovit app; nothing runs from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset
• Sherut — shared yellow minibuses on the main routes, and the one thing that does run on Shabbat
• Airport: Ben Gurion is 20 minutes away by train, and the train also stops running for Shabbat

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 2.3× the global median of 128 Mbps. Mobile runs at 64% of the global median of 110 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• Walk the promenade from the port to Jaffa at sunset
• Eat hummus for breakfast where the locals queue
• Get lost in the Jaffa flea market and stay for dinner
• See the Bauhaus buildings on and around Rothschild
• Swim before work, the way the city does
• Spend an evening in Florentin, which is where the bars are

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Hebrew

• Hello / goodbye / peaceשלוםsha-LOM
• Pleaseבבקשהbe-va-ka-SHA
• Thank youתודהto-DA
• Yes / Noכן / לאken / lo
• Excuse meסליחהsli-CHA
• How much?כמה זה עולה?KA-ma ze o-LE
• OK / fineבסדרbe-SE-der
• Cheersלחייםle-cha-YIM
• Do you speak English?אתה מדבר אנגלית?a-TA me-da-BER ang-LIT
• Good morningבוקר טובBO-ker tov

English is spoken almost universally in Tel Aviv and widely everywhere else, so nobody needs Hebrew to get by — but toda and beseder are used constantly and repay learning. Hebrew reads right to left; the transliterations below are what you say, not what you see on the sign. "Ch" is the throat-clearing sound, not the one in "church".

Religion

Jewish, with large Muslim and Christian minorities

Three religions with their holiest sites in the same small country, which is the source of both the interest and the friction. Shabbat runs from Friday afternoon to Saturday night and stops public transport and much of the economy; Tel Aviv observes it loosely and Jerusalem does not. Dress modestly at religious sites of any of the three, cover your head where asked, and do not photograph people praying at the Western Wall on Shabbat, when photography is forbidden.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Plan around Shabbat: from Friday afternoon to Saturday night, buses, trains and many shops stop
• Dress modestly in religious quarters — Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and the holy sites, not the Tel Aviv beach
• Expect direct speech. Bluntness is not rudeness here and questions arrive without a preamble
• Carry your passport; there are bag checks at the entrance to malls, stations and markets
• Learn toda and beseder, which will get you through most transactions

Don't

• Do not photograph soldiers, checkpoints or security installations
• Do not bring up the conflict lightly. Everyone has lost something and no visitor is going to settle it
• Do not expect kosher restaurants to serve meat and dairy together, or to open on Shabbat
• Do not touch or hand things to strictly religious people of the opposite sex; a nod is the greeting
• Do not queue politely and expect it to work — you will be there all day