Visiting Tel Aviv for the First Time

First Time Tel Aviv

I can’t believe it has been two months and I have only just managed to get this post ready. End of May finally saw me visiting Tel Aviv for the first time (well if I say me, I mean me, my colleague and one of our clients).

And whilst I was really looking forward to it (after all, a trip to Israel had been on the radar for a full year now, so expectations had been building up high), I was a little uneasy at the same time. Not really sure what to expect.

As Israel was back in the news around that time, what were we letting ourselves into? All those nagging question in the back of my head (not helped by colleagues questioning our trip):

Is it safe to travel to Tel Aviv?

How should I dress for a trip to Israel?

Is there anything I should be aware of before travelling to Israel?

Looking back, I almost feel like laughing at myself. The minute we arrived at Tel Aviv, we realized loads of our concerns were completely unnecessary. We were greeted by a very modern and vibrant city with a rather diverse population, open and welcoming.

To save you the headache when preparing for your first trip to Israel, let me put together a few key points on how best to prepare.

Visiting Tel Aviv for the First Time: Is it safe to travel to Tel Aviv?

Trick question. Obviously I cannot guarantee that you will be safe at all times. Same as I cannot guarantee that anywhere else either. So I’d say yes it is safe to travel. Or at least it seemed safe to us.

As with every other large city, it is probably advisable to be a little cautious and keep an eye on your surroundings. Same as you should do if you were to visit London, Paris or Berlin. Watch out for random bags, suspicious behaviour and pickpocketing. But this is general travel advice stuff really.

Other than that, it didn’t feel as if I had to be on guard all the time. Just relax and have a good time.

What really got me the first day was the activity at the beach. With our hotel right by the water front, it didn’t take us long to dump everything in the room, change into summer dresses and head to the water. And with it being a bank holiday in Israel that day, the beach was packed and felt very much like a proper beach holiday destination.

Second thing that got me was how little police and army you would actually see. Somehow I expected a lot more presence everywhere. And to be fair, there might be more in other parts of the country, I don’t know. But there sure wasn’t in Tel Aviv.

Yes there were a few armed police at the airport and you would spot a soldier or two around town. But not in huge numbers and not very much in your face.

As far as going out in the evening is concerned, even as two ladies on our own, we didn’t have any problems or felt particularly unsafe. The beach promenade was crowded with people and street performers day and night anyway. Loads of young people going out, sitting in one of the beach bars with a drink or a shisha, music playing.

Visiting Tel Aviv for the First Time: How should I dress for a trip to Israel?

To prepare for my trip, I did some research in form of reading up on various travel blogs. Since I very quickly worked out that there weren’t any travel guide books just for Tel Aviv. And I couldn’t quite get myself to buy one for the whole of Israel, if I were to only visit one city. In addition, I checked the travel advise on the Gov UK website.

One of the things I was most unsure about (well the safety aspect aside) was how to dress correctly. As this was a work trip, I knew I would have to attend meetings as well as visit several dealerships. Overall a fairly male dominated environment. So how should I dress as a woman when visiting Israel? The Gov UK website mentioned things like ‘to dress modestly’ and ‘not to wear trousers’. Which wasn’t really my idea of dressing for 30+ degrees and measuring up workshops. To be on the safe side, I bought a long floaty summer dress a couple of weeks ago. Which I hoped would be considered modest enough (although it didn’t really have long sleeves, but with a cardigan on top, it should hopefully do the trick). And just for good measures I bought a second long floaty dress the week before the actual trip.

But whilst these were fine for the evening, I really didn’t fancy wearing those dresses to visit workshops. So I packed two proper pencil skirts (and tights, because you really want to wear tights when it is hot), along with several pairs of trousers and a huge selection of blouses and tops (of various sleeve lengths) and hoped for the best.

And I am glad to report that I needn’t worry at all. In Tel Aviv everything goes. The moment we arrived at the beach promenade, we realised that covering up wasn’t big on anyone’s agenda in Tel Aviv.

And even during work meetings everyone’s style was very relaxed and casual. Well suited for the temperature. And as some of our clients were also women, I was glad to see that they would show up in summer trousers and short sleeved tops as well. So nothing to worry about.

Needless to say, I did not wear the skirts or the tights and also half my tops and blouses came back with me unworn (but then again, we were only there for six days and I had packed probably 10 tops, so it wasn’t really a massive surprise that I didn’t wear them all).

But whilst it seems anything goes in Tel Aviv, I would probably still advise on bringing something a little more modest and maybe a scarf, so you’d be able to dress accordingly and cover up if you go to areas that are more conservative or if you visit any religious sites. But then, this is the same if you visit any of the big cathedrals in Italy for example. If in doubt, pack a large scarf, that can be used to cover up shoulders and arms.

Visiting Tel Aviv for the First Time: Things to be aware of before travelling to Israel

If you hold a European passport and you visit Israel as a tourist or if you visit Israel on business, you will not need a visa, as long as you don’t stay for longer than three months.

If you have been to other states in the Middle East before, you might want to check the stamps in your passport to ensure that none of those will cause any issues when entering Israel. If in doubt, it might be worth getting a second passport issued.

When arriving at Tel Aviv airport, your passport will not be stamped. Instead you will receive a B2 Stay Permit on a separate piece of paper that you will need to keep with your passport and show again when leaving the country (so best not to lose it… just to be safe we all snapped a photo of it with our passport, the minute we got out of passport control).

Before our trip I’ve read several posts and articles about safety checks when travelling to Israel. You were advised to show up extra early at the airport (absolute delight if you have an 8am flight on a Sunday morning, of course you want to arrive at least three hours before) and to prepare for long interviews and security checks before you even make it onto the flight.

Being well aware of Heathrow procedures I couldn’t quite work out how this was supposed to fit into their normal routine. But we didn’t want to chance it and arrived extra early regardless.

Which meant we had plenty of time for breakfast in the lounge. As on the flight out, it was business as usual, no enhanced security screening, questioning or extra time required whatsoever. Only thing were a few questions at border control in Tel Aviv, however I wouldn’t call that an interview. Each of us was asked the same two questions:

Is this your first time in Israel? Yes

Why are you here? Business.

No further questions, no further explanations.

On the flight back, it was a different matter though, but we’ll come to that later (in a different post).

Visiting Tel Aviv for the First Time: General Advise for your trip to Israel

Firstly check the weather forecast and dress accordingly. In case you didn’t know, it can be hot… proper hot. We went end of May and it was 35 degrees during the first two days. We were assured though that this was unusual in May. But at the same time we were told that we shouldn’t really expect any rain for the next few weeks or months.

So no need to pack your umbrella (what a very un-British thing to say).

Don’t worry if you don’t speak any Hebrew. Most Israeli we’ve encountered (especially the younger ones) spoke very good English, making it easy for us to communicate. However ‘Shalom’ (hello) is a good start to any conversation and not that difficult to memorise.

If you are taking any electronic items on your travel (and who doesn’t nowadays), be advised that Israel has different sockets. Therefore UK plugs won’t fit. You can buy a plug adaptor, which is good for Israel and a few other Middle Eastern states. However if you have a European plug adaptor (or like me are using European plugs when travelling), then don’t waste any money on a special Israeli plug adaptor that you won’t ever need again. Even though the Israeli plug has three prongs (it looks a little like the Swiss ones), the European ones fit just fine, leaving the third hole empty. Not a problem. It doesn’t even involve the use of a popsicle stick (if you are based in the UK and ever tried to fit a European plug into a UK socket, you know what I am talking about). I am talking about the thin European plugs here though. The round ones won’t fit at all.

Currency in Israel is Israeli New Shekel (ILS), which is roughly 5 to 1 compared to Sterling, however US Dollars seem to be widely accepted as well (at Tel Aviv airport everything in the duty free shop was priced in US Dollars).

Similar to the UK, credit cards are accepted almost everywhere. I was even able to pay contactless for my postcards in one of the small corner shops along the promenade. The only place that seems to only accept Visa and no other credit card was the actual airport. Who would have thought… of all places.

Overall Israel isn’t cheap. Although Israelis seem to eat out a lot, prices in restaurants are high, even by London standards. A nice dinner out can easily set you back 40-50 GBP a head. Service standards are high in Israel, so expect top-notch service. But please be prepared to also pay for it. Advice is to add around 15% tip to your bill.

I can’t really offer any advise on public transport in Tel Aviv, since we did not use any at all. Instead we took cabs everywhere, including to and from the airport. Overall prices for cabs were reasonable, although they seem to vary. To the extend that the cab from the hotel at Tel Aviv Beach to Jaffa Harbour cost us 62 ILS (which is around 13 GBP), the cab back from Jaffa later that evening only cost us 28 ILS, so less than half. Yes the trip back was a little shorter, as we fancied a walk along the promenade, but we sure didn’t walk half the distance.

Most cabs accept credit cards, however you will have to tell the driver before you start the journey. Otherwise they might not have the correct system running to accept card payments (or at least that was the story we were told).

Using Uber also works well (and obviously saves you the embarrassment of trying to pronounce any addresses).

The trip from our hotel at Tel Aviv Beach to the airport set us back 190 ILS, which is around 40 GBP. It took just under 30 minutes (but this was early morning, I suspect it would take longer once you hit rush hour).

Now that the basics are sorted, maybe you’d like to find out what there is to see and do in Tel Aviv?

Have you ever been to Israel? Any advise to add?

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18 Comments

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  4. Get Lost

    Tel Aviv looks like an incredible place! I’d love to visit one day and you’ve definitely answered many of the questions I had around safety and what to wear! Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

    Reply
  5. amyharneiss1

    Great Post. Like you mentioned, there isn’t really much out there on Tel Aviv. I hope to visit Israel soon, and will be taking these tips on board!

    Reply
  6. Tiffany

    It’s always good to know what to wear! Thanks for the dress tips for this city 🙂

    Reply
  7. Nora

    I would love to visit Tel Aviv! Thanks for the great guide!

    Reply
  8. nina2813

    This post is so great! Thank you for the information. I always like to know about how to dress respectfully in places with different perspectives. I’ve wanted to go to Tel Aviv for forever so I’ll definitely be using your tips

    Reply
  9. Olivia

    These are great tips! We were supposed to visit Israel last year, so hopefully I’ll be putting these tips to good use this fall!

    Reply
  10. Sophia Bawany

    Thank you for the in depth information. Good to know the practical travel aspects at the airport as well!

    Reply
  11. Emma

    Some great tips, I never really thought that dining out would be that expensive so that’s good to know. Not needing to pack an umbrella sounds nice though. I haven’t really thought about visiting Tel Aviv before but always open to seeing new places

    Reply
  12. Daphna

    I always love reading what other people notice when they come to Israel. 🙂 Yes to expensive dining out- the food is so good but not cheap at all!

    Reply
  13. Pink Luggage Abroad

    Tel Aviv, and Israel overall, has been on my list for a long time. Need to get there after the pandemic!

    Reply
  14. Sara Elizabeth

    I was invited on a group trip to visit this destination but COVID took that away for right now. Hoping to make it one day soon! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  15. Rhonda Albom

    We have been all around the world, but somehow we still haven’t made it to Tel Aviv, or anywhere in Israel. You have some really useful first-timer tips that hopefully I will remember when it’s time.

    Reply
  16. Krista

    I haven’t been here before so it’s great to know about these things before I plan my trip here. Thanks for all of the tips!

    Reply
  17. Denise

    I’d love to visit Tel Aviv! Good to know you don’t need to worry about what to wear!

    Reply
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