Is Tel Aviv worth visiting as a solo traveller?

ATC111

I believe there are going to be direct flights from Dublin to Tel Aviv from May this year.

Is it worth visiting as a solo traveller?

Voyager2002

Tel Aviv is a relatively modern city, but is the gateway to the whole of Israel (which is tiny, with good transport links).

EssexExile

It was a dirty hole when I was there, but that was a few decades ago. Too many men with guns too.

silvercar

Plenty to do and see. A bit of googling and this may help:

https://www.girlabouttheglobe.com/solo-travel-in-middle-east/solo-travel-in-israel/

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/middle-east/topics/tel-aviv-for-3-days-solo

https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/israel/articles/a-solo-travelers-guide-to-tel-aviv/

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/10-reasons-why-israel-is-a-great-destination-for-solo-travel/

zagfles

It has the feel of a modern secular Western city. I see more obviously Jewish people where I live in Manchester than in Tel Aviv! Good for beaches, surfing etc.
But you're not far from Jerusalem, and you can go direct to Jerusalem from the airport (the airport is between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem), and that really is an amazing city with religious history everywhere, together with evidence of current tensions without significant threat to tourists. Somewhere everyone, of every religion or none, should visit once in their lifetime IMO.

zagfles

EssexExile wrote: »

It was a dirty hole when I was there, but that was a few decades ago. Too many men with guns too.

Things have changed massively since then, like with loads of other places, eg Eastern Europe in the 90's was pretty dodgy. Same in the UK, I went for a stroll down the Falls Road in Belfast a couple of years ago and had a drink in a pub, that wouldn't have been safe for an English person a few decades ago.

Ballard

Tel Aviv is a decent city with some excellent food options and a few decent sights. There are some nice markets around where you can eat very well. The beaches are pretty good (much better than Eilat).

Nearby Jaffa is also lovely with a very pretty church. I also enjoyed a visit to Ceasarea which isn’t too far away.

There’s a decent train service to Jerusalem so you should definitely make that trip. Bear in mind that Jerusalem will be several degrees colder than the coast so a jacket might be in order. I would suggest a tour of Jerusalem to get the most out of it.

You will see plenty of young conscripts carrying guns and security into public places is similar to that of airports. It’s not a cheap country so expect to pay a bit more for your food and drink (it’s not in the same league as Scandinavia though).