Visiting Tel Aviv, Israel: Top Sights on Foot

The best things to do in Tel Aviv range from exploring historic squares and museums to discovering Jaffa’s churches and walking beside the Mediterranean. The city combines modern cultural landmarks, public art, religious heritage and large green spaces, making it well suited to exploring on foot. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Tel Aviv with 141 narrated places.

What to See in Tel Aviv

Rabin Square and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Rabin Square is one of central Tel Aviv’s most important public spaces. Designed with Tel Aviv City Hall in 1964 by architects Yaski and Alexandroni, the broad, mostly paved square has hosted political rallies, parades, concerts, festivals and national celebrations. It was renamed in memory of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin after his assassination there on November 4, 1995.

In the southern section, the Holocaust and Revival Memorial by sculptor Yigal Tumarkin takes the form of an inverted pyramid balanced on its point, built from rusted iron and glass.

Nearby, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is one of Israel’s major cultural institutions. Founded in 1932, it focuses on modern and contemporary art from Israel and around the world. Its collections include Israeli art, photography, design and architecture, European art from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, and works by artists including Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Francis Bacon and Anish Kapoor. The museum occupies three buildings, including the Samuel and Herta Amir Building.

Habima Theatre and Habima Square

Habima Theatre is the national theatre of Israel and an important institution for Hebrew-language performance. It received the Israel Prize in 1958 and belongs to the Union of European Theatres. Its position on Habima Square makes this part of central Tel Aviv a natural stop for visitors interested in the city’s cultural life.

A nearby museum offers a very different artistic experience. The Joseph Bau House Museum occupies the artist’s former studio, where graphic art, language, writing and animation came together. The museum contains animation equipment, paintings, drawings, letters, photographs and graphic works, as well as a screening room.

Dizengoff Square and Fire and Water

Dizengoff Square is associated with Fire and Water, also known in Hebrew as “Esh VeMayim.” Created by Israeli artist Yaacov Agam and dedicated in 1986, the work combined a fountain with kinetic sculpture. Its movement and changing visual effect made it one of Tel Aviv’s distinctive public artworks.

The installation was removed in 2016 while the square was temporarily relocated during reconstruction, and it has not been restored. Today, the history of Fire and Water is part of the story of how Dizengoff Square has changed.

The seafront: Atarim Square, London Square and HaKnesset Square

Tel Aviv’s promenade connects a series of public spaces beside the Mediterranean.

Atarim Square is a notable example of Brutalist architecture in Israel. Designed by Yaakov Rechter and Werner Joseph Wittkower, it combines shops, roads, parking, restaurants and public areas in a multi-level structure. The complex links the promenade with the marina, Ben-Gurion Boulevard and Hayarkon Street. Its upper level becomes a public plaza with restaurants, an amphitheatre and the round, glass-covered building known as the Colosseum.

London Square stands at the western end of Bograshov Street, between the Herbert Samuel Promenade and Hayarkon Street. Its name honours the citizens of London who endured the Blitz during the Second World War.

At the point where Allenby Street meets the Herbert Samuel Promenade, HaKnesset Square recalls the First Knesset. The assembly met for nine months in the nearby Kesem Cinema building before moving to Jerusalem in December 1949.

Further along the promenade, “Beyond the Limit,” also known as “Beyond the Realm,” is an outdoor sculpture by Zadok Ben-David. Installed in 1990, it combines an orange oval form with the silhouette of an upside-down monkey. It was one of twelve sculptures placed along the promenade as part of a project curated by Micha Levin.

Hassan Bek Mosque and Neve Tzedek

Between Neve Tzedek and the road to Jaffa stands Hassan Bek Mosque, also called the Hasan Bey Mosque. Built in 1916 in the Manshiya neighbourhood, it was commissioned by Hassan Bek, the Ottoman military governor of Jaffa. Its Ottoman-style architecture and Islamic character contrast sharply with the contemporary high-rises around it.

The mosque is included in the Neywo walk through Neve Tzedek, which also visits the Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater, Beit Gidi, Immanuel Church, Rokach House and the Nahum Gutman Museum of Art.

Jaffa’s churches and religious heritage

Jaffa brings a different historical and architectural atmosphere to Tel Aviv. In the Ajami neighbourhood, Saint Anthony Maronite Church—also known as the Maronite Monastery of Saint Anthony—has a white façade with brown kurkar stone bricks. Established in 1904 by a wealthy Maronite merchant, the church and monastery were created after the Maronites left Jaffa’s Old City.

The entrance faces east and is framed by three tall, narrow windows and a round window. Above it rises a two-storey bell tower topped with a cross. The site also contains an archive cared for by two monks.

Jaffa’s religious landmarks continue beyond Ajami. Neywo’s Old Jaffa walk includes Siksik Mosque, Mahmoudiya Mosque, Al-Bahr Mosque, Saint Nicholas Monastery, St. Peter’s Church and St. Archangel Michael Monastery, alongside the flea market, the Arab-Hebrew Theater, Hasimta Theatre and Nalaga’at.

Yarkon Park and the museums by the river

Yarkon Park, officially Ganei Yehoshua, is one of Tel Aviv’s largest open spaces. Extending along the Yarkon River from the Ramat HaHayal business district to the river’s mouth at the Mediterranean, it covers about 3,750 dunams, or roughly 3.5 square kilometres.

The park includes lawns, botanical gardens, an aviary, sports facilities, water attractions, lakes and two outdoor concert venues. It was named after Yehoshua Rabinowitz, who served as mayor of Tel Aviv–Jaffa from 1969 to 1974 and later became Israel’s finance minister.

The area also provides access to several museums and cultural sites. At the Tel Aviv University campus, ANU—the Museum of the Jewish People—explores Jewish identity, culture and history from antiquity to the present. Opened in 1978 as Beit Hatfutsot, it reopened in March 2021 after major renovation. Its galleries include exhibitions on Jewish culture, religion and history, temporary exhibitions, full-scale synagogue models and an interactive exhibition for children about Jewish pioneers and trailblazers.

Plumer Square and the old exhibition complex

Near the old Tel Aviv Port, Plumer Square marks the main entrance to the historic Exhibition of the East complex. It has carried its name since the fair opened in 1934, honouring Lord Herbert Plumer, the British High Commissioner for Mandatory Palestine.

Two L-shaped buildings frame the square. They were restored and renovated in 2013, when a new entrance to the complex was also created.

Shaul Hamelech Light Rail Station

For a glimpse of contemporary Tel Aviv’s urban infrastructure, Shaul Hamelech Light Rail Station lies underground beneath Begin Road, close to the Kirya. It forms part of the Red Line of the DanKal light rail system and is situated south of Shaul Hamelech Boulevard, perpendicular to Mozes Street. The site is also associated with the names Mozes Bridge, Shaul HaMelech and The Sleepers.

Explore Tel Aviv with a self-guided audio tour

Neywo’s Tel Aviv audio guide includes seven walking tours, one bus route and one bike route, with 141 narrated places in total. The walks range from 2.37 to 3.90 km and from 69 to 108 minutes; the bus route covers 4.8 km in 21 minutes, and the bike route covers 4.3 km in 22 minutes.

You can choose among routes through Old Jaffa, Neve Tzedek, the White City, the seafront, central Tel Aviv, Ajami and the Yarkon area. Each story plays as you reach the place, at your own pace: no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages.

Download Neywo and explore Tel Aviv with a free audio guide that lets the city tell its story as you walk, cycle or ride through it. To continue planning your trip around Israel, you can also discover Jerusalem and Haifa.