Tel Aviv: Where to Surf, Eat, Drink, and Dance Xantana/Getty Images
Natalie B. Compton
July 26, 2018

The Mediterranean vacation you didn't know you needed.

Tel Aviv’s beachfront promenade is a feast for the eyes (and the 'gram) on any given sunset. As another day on the Mediterranean coast comes to a close, the walkway pulses with the Israeli city’s famously attractive residents, low-key flaunting their superior good-looks in swimwear and athleisure. The sea shimmers, the palm trees sway. Happy dogs trot alongside six-packed owners. After dark, the streets only get busier. Tel Aviv has one hell of a nightlife scene. You could call it a daylife scene, too, considering that some clubs stay open (and crowded) until morning.

Tel Aviv, I should mention, is not a city without controversy. The world is at odds with Israel’s ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory of Gaza. You shouldn’t go to Israel for a jaunty vacation and turn a blind eye to the violence going on in the south. Go to meet the people living in this deeply complicated reality. The more locals you talk to about the deeply complicated issues between Israel and Palestine, the more you’ll hear a plea for outsiders to see Israeli people as humans separate from their government.

What to know before you land

A weekend is not enough time to spend in Tel Aviv, particularly because the best night of the week to go out is Thursday and the city nearly shuts down for Shabbat from Friday night to Saturday night. Give the city a week, and throw in a day trip or three. The city is smaller than your average metropolis ( about 20 square miles) and extremely walkable. It’s easy to clock in ten miles a day on your pedometer between people-watching, sightseeing, shopping, and partying. Walk, scooter, or bike your way around instead of getting caught in city traffic. Credit cards are accepted nearly everywhere, just know that there’s no tip line on the receipts here. Instead, tell your server/taxi driver/masseuse/bartender to add a tip to the bill before your card is swiped or leave gratuity in cash. Convivial shot culture is alive and well in Tel Aviv, so be prepared to throw a few back not only at bars but at dinner as well.

Where to stay

Tel Aviv has become the boutique hotel capital of the Mediterranean with more than 45 intimate and interesting properties to choose from, and more opening regularly. The first to debut in the city was the 12-room Hotel Montefiore, perhaps best known for its legendary breakfast. A newer addition is The Vera, a sleek 39-room property conveniently located near some of the city’s best restaurants and nightclubs. The rooms offer Egyptian linens to slide into after a long night partying, and free wine (yes) in the lobby that showcases a different Israeli vintage each month. Later this summer, the city is welcoming The Jaffa to its high-end hotel roster. The team behind the property spent ten years renovating and reconstructing a 19th century complex that was once home to a French hospital. That hospital is being transformed into the most spectacular bar you’ve ever seen, and will initially be invite-only. (Another future perk: poolside shawarma.)

What to eat

Get familiar with the local food scene on a walking tour with Delicious Israel. You’ll have the opportunity to eat your way through Tel Aviv’s jam-packed Carmel Market, learning about the mosaic of Israeli cuisine from an expert guide. One thing you’ll pick up is that in Israel, hummus is a full meal, not just an appetizer or side dish. Eat a warm bowlful for breakfast at Shlomo & Doron, a fourth-generation hummus restaurant that will change the way you see the chickpea staple. A few corners away is Panda Pita, a pop-up turned Carmel Market stall stuffing amazing things into the fluffiest pita bread of your life. Squeeze into North Abraxas for lunch or dinner to see why chef and restaurateur Eyal Shani is so famous. Your meal starts with house made bread (born from a nine-year-old sourdough starter) with bowls of crème fraîche, tahini, and diced chilis and tomatoes for dipping. Order a glass of natural Israeli wine to go with your pizza, carpaccio, lamb skewer, or the deservedly popular baby cauliflower.

For your next dinner, book a table at Alena at The Norman hotel, even if you’re not lucky enough to stay in the gorgeously renovated 1930s Bauhaus building for which its “White City,” UNESCO-protected neighborhood is known. (Pro tip: If you can, stay there). Chef Barak Aharoni’s food is both beautiful and delicious, putting seasonal Israeli ingredients on their best display. Mashya is a name you’ll hear over and over again when you ask locals for restaurant recommendations. No open table or online reservations available here; the highly-regarded restaurant accepts reservations by request only. The slight obstacle is hardly a price to pay for the experience you’ll have at chef Yossi Shitrit’s restaurant at the Mendeli Street Hotel. Whatever you do, order the bread, made with three flours and 16 spices.

How to spend your day

Take a walk to the sea and you'll find that the Tel Aviv coastline is peppered with surfers bobbing in the waves. And if you're into it, you can join them: If you’ve never surfed before, contact the pros at Aloha Surf School who can teach you the basics during a group or private lesson. Treat your body with a post-surf massage—one of the best of your life is hiding in Jaffa (the ancient city that predates Tel Aviv) at Yoko Kitahara spa. Once you've rejuvenated your body and mind, you'll be ready to learn all that you can at museums like Beit Hatfutsot museum and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. If you're looking for something to bring home, shop for local crafts at Nachalat Binyamin Market, open twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays, or head to the Shuk Hapishpishim, or flea market, in Jaffa. Unwind yet again back on the beach, which stays bustling until the sun shines its final rays on the soft sand.

Where to Side Trip

Take time to go float in the Dead Sea, the lowest place on the planet (located some 1,412 feet below sea level), and about ten times saltier than any ocean you’ve ever encountered. The landscape is stark and the sun is unforgiving; the water is hot and will give your eyes a salty scorch should they get splashed. “Bathing in [the Dead Sea] offers a weird sensation and might be an extreme experience, but while caution should be exercised at all times, it's not to be missed,” says Eldad Brin, M.A., a licensed tour guide and PhD candidate at the University of Haifa. “[It’s] the exact opposite of the often hectic and frenetic Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, or the lush and verdant Galilee. The wild, wild east.” There’s nothing like bobbing around in the lifeless body of water, so salty that you pop up the minute you pick up your feet from the muddy sea floor. (It's also said that that mud is therapeutic and beautifying.—give yourself a magnesium-rich mud bath on the shores or pay to visit a hotel in the area where the mud is made ready for your convenience.) Even though the Dead Sea is only any hour from Tel Aviv, don’t rely on public transportation to get to there. “Going on a full-day organized tour (organized by many a hotel and hostel) is one way, but renting a car (or a driver-guide) and making a full one or two-day affair of it will allow one to see so much more at one's own pace,” says Brin.

Up north, the town of Akko ticks a number of boxes for those looking for a side trip. History nerds will enjoy exploring the grounds of the Crusader’s Seaport, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that snakes above and underground. Food freaks should head straight to Uri Buri, the seafood-focused destination restaurant from famed Israeli chef Uri Buri. Everyone who enjoys comfort and sleep on earth will love The Efendi Hotel, a property that took eight years to restore to its full painted-ceiling glory. Driving from Tel Aviv will take about an hour and a half to two hours. If you’re car-less, you can take a train to Akko and get there even faster by beating city traffic.

Where to spend your night

Before you melt into the steamy neon maze of Tel Aviv's dance clubs, a cocktail is in order. Imperial Bar is a 40-seat, reservation-only cocktail spot that has all of the quality of a Michelin star without any of the ostentation. Book a seat during happy hour and delve into the bar’s new Tel Aviv-inspired menu. Romano and Phi are two other good night-starters. The former is a good transitioning bar, where you can eat dinner, stay for the DJ and drinks, then move downstairs to Teder.FM, a drinking and dancing spot in the courtyard. At Phi, you can pretend you’re being healthy and pair a fresh green juice with a shot of gin or tequila to drink on the patio. Just next door you have Alphabet, a nightclub that looks like a nondescript smoky room until you head through the bathroom into a much bigger, much smokier strobe light-lit dance hall. There’s hip hop to be found underground at Radio. There’s a guy singing covers of Kevin Little and Busta Rhymes at JIMMYWHO? The Block—a club some call the Berghain of Tel Aviv—is where you end up, even if you’re not ending until after sunrise. Heads up, it’s only open Thursday and Friday. Piece yourself back together with a sandwich from Itzik and Ruthie, which opens at 4:30 in the morning.
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