Tel Aviv/South and East

South Tel Aviv and East Tel Aviv are two overlapping areas of Tel Aviv.

Understand
When referring to "South" Tel Aviv, people commonly mean the part of Tel Aviv which is south to Yehuda Halevi and Harakevet streets - excluding Jaffa which is considered a separate part, although it is also "below" those streets. "East" Tel Aviv is the part east of Ayalon Highway (excluding the part north of the Yarkon River). The two areas overlap in the southeastern neighborhoods.

South Tel Aviv has been neglected for decades, rendering large parts of it an industrial urban wasteland. However, since the early 1990s, and following a massive housing price increase in central Tel Aviv, a gentrification process has changed the face of many areas in south Tel Aviv - as many artists, students, and eventually middle-class (and in some cases upper-class) families moved in. Another factor greatly affecting South Tel Aviv's character is the influx of migrant workers from Africa, China and Southeast Asia, whose presence diversified the area significantly.

Get in
See Tel Aviv for details of how to reach Tel Aviv from other Israeli cities or from the airport.

Get around
A dense network of bus lines operates through the Tel Aviv city centre, branching out to other districts and suburbs. A map of routes is available here. In addition, Google Maps has up-to-date bus schedules and an efficient routing feature.

See
South & East Tel Aviv is not the quintessential tourist spot, but it is a fascinating urban landscape with notable nightlife interests and a chance to encounter Tel Aviv's bustling migrant community. South Tel Aviv is now a rapidly gentrifying area.

Buy
The Florentin neighborhood still has a lot of wood-working and furniture workshops, although in the center many of these are closing and are being replaced with an eclectic mix of upmarket designer boutiques selling custom-made t-shirts, designer clothes, tattoos, home decor and design. There are several small art galleries, offering a range of styles such as modern art, sculpture, and installation pieces. If you are looking to buy accessories for your home, but not from a large chain, you will find lots to choose from in the small independently owned stores on Herzl Street. These sell everything from bathroom and kitchen accessories, mezuzot, hand-painted items, door handles, and more. Herzl Street is famous for its bespoke furniture stores, where you can buy all types of furniture at a range of prices and qualities, even made to your specifications. Further up Herzl Street, there are small toy shops, and clothes stores for bulk purchases. Most of these stores claim not to sell to individuals, but if you see an item you like, you can always try haggling.



Eat
The Florentin neighborhood has a lot of small, privately owned bars, restaurants and coffee shops, many of which are open very late, and even all night.



Drink
In the past few years, the neighborhood of Florentin has become a hub of trendy bars, coffee shops and restaurants. Lately, some of the old industrial workshops and tiny factories have closed (as have some of the more hippyesque places, e.g. the shanti rooms on Florentin Street), and are being replaced with hip boutiques, sushi bars and new bars and restaurants. In particular, the area around Vital and Florentin Streets has about 30 small places, mostly pubs, in an area of only a few hundred square meters. There are also some restaurants, great pizzerias and gelaterias. Everything is open almost till morning. The place is less known to tourists and has a "local" touch of small neighborhood with a young population (therefore the prices are lower than in the center and beach areas of Tel Aviv). It's not a sightseeing place, so it's better not to visit during a day when it's quite boring and noisy. But it changes completely at night, and then is more than worth a visit.