Tel Aviv

Currency budget Israel

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 all of Israel

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 Israel visa rules

Health & emergencies all of Israel

Required to enter

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

Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic 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.

Nightlife

One of the best nights out in the Mediterranean, and it runs on a week that starts on Sunday — Thursday is the big night.

• Rothschild Boulevard — the bars, and the boulevard itself
• Florentin — the young, cheap, graffitied version
• Tel Aviv Port — and Alma Beach, for the waterfront
• Allenby Street — the clubs, and the late end

Closing: 04:00 or later. Thursday and Friday are the peak.

A beer in a bar: ₪28–40

Public transport stops for Shabbat from Friday afternoon to Saturday night; sheruts and taxis keep running.

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 speedall of Israel

Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Israel, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026

Must-see

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Hebrew

• Hello / goodbye / peaceשלוםsha-LOM
• Pleaseבבקשהbe-va-ka-SHA
• Thank youתודהto-DA
• Yes / Noכן / לאken / lo

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