[EasyMoney]

I spent about 2 weeks in Tel Aviv from the end of July 2013 till the beginning of August. I had an amazing time. Here are some details.

I stayed at a place called the Florentine Hostel. It's in the south part of town, about a 15min walk from Rothschild street and Allenby Streets and about 30 from the Marina area in the north of the city. The Flag potential here is ridiculous. Every day new girls, traveling alone, show up from every corner of the world. They also have private rooms with AC that aren't expensive. Like 60-70 bucks a night versus 30 for a shared room with 5 other people. I had one and it was perfect.

I can't recommend this hostel enough. I met tons of awesome people from all over Europe and the rest of the world too. Made lots of friends. Great party atmosphere up on the roof which is the main chillin/partying area. At night the hostel managers round up whoever wants to party and then they take you out to bars and clubs. Some of the more fancy clubs charge covers, but we were able to get into them for free thanks to the hostel.

I went to 2 western style clubs that were fantastic in terms of quantity and quality of girls, fun party vibe, etc. They were:
-Valium
-Junkyard
-Jessica - this one is owned by a Brazilian guy, so theres a fair about of brazilians there on the regular. Saw some awesome booties.

Both are located in the middle of the city, and are easy to get to.

The Florentine district of the city has a ton of great restaurants, bars, and nightlife to check out. There are a ton of bars here all on Florentine street as well as restaurants. I really like Refill and Whisky Bar, but there are about 6 other great ones there too.

My favorite restaurants I ate at in the city were:

Vong Aji - best westernized vietnamese food i've ever had, it was awesome. It's on Rothschild street.

Mizlala - great medieterranean/american yuppie fusion food. Its on Nahalat Binyamin just off Rothschild street.

Choco lulu - sounds like a gelato place, but its a restaurant with great food, especially for breakfast. On Vital street just off florentine.

Meat Night - this place is where you wanna be at 4 in the morning wasted. Amazing beef sandwiches, but service is super shitty. Also on Vital across from Choco lulu

Anita - amazing sorbets and gelatos. Best mango sorbet i've ever tasted in my whole life. Had some every day. On Florentine, 1 min walk from meat night and choco.


Beaches:

The water is really warm everywhere. The best beaches for seeing girls is Gordon Beach. This is the young people beach. Frischman beach is pretty good too.

Taxis:

You can negotiate fares with them ahead of time, or turn on the meter. They usually want to negotiate, but for short trips always insist on meter.

Thoughts on Israeli culture:

Service in restaurants is terrible. Seriously. They take their sweet time, they always act like they're doing you a favor. Flip side to it is that you aren't expected to tip much more than 10-12 percent. I had some meals that were so bad i didn't tip at all.

People here for the most part speak amazing English. I met only 1 Israeli who didn't speak functional English. I was really impressed.

Alcohol in bars is very expensive. In supermarkets its about the same as the US. Pregame when you're gonna hit the club/bars for the evening to save cash.

Israeli girls like being approached, despite the shitty vibes they give off. They warm up quickly if you say something funny fast or tease them quickly in the interaction. They have a hard exterior, but I found for the most part they were very real - not at all like the plastic whores i meet by the dozen in LA.

Its fucking hot there in the summer time. Really humid in Tel Aviv because its right on the water. Luckily, there is plenty of air conditioning everywhere you go.

Bars stay open till they feel like closing.

I love Tel Aviv - I know i'll be back one day for sure. This was my 2nd time there, can't wait to go with friends one day.

[Courage Reborn]

Thanks for this. I am considering to hit Tel Aviv this October.

Any thoughts on traveling there solo vs a going with a group? I've aged out of birthright, but there are a bunch of jewish organizations that still do special deals.

Where would you suggest staying, for close proximity to daygame and nightlife? Specific cross street intel would be ideal.

[chexmix]

Is there much backpackers there just to travel? Seems that the only younger people that visit Tel Aviv are on their birthright trip rather the average euro trip style thing. To add to that, the massive amount of girls I have met in hostels, who went on their birthright trip compared to the males is insane. Seems like many of the guys skip out on it.

Could you compare it to from other places you have been? I'm having a very difficult time trying to imagine what Tel Aviv and Israel overall might be like.

[EasyMoney]

@ Courage Reborn - That's a shame that you missed out on birthright - but yes there are other orgs that can soften the financial aspect of getting there. I would suggest staying at the Florentine Hostel - you're entire social world for your trip will be provided by the people there and the people who work there. You wont just meet foreigners though - you'll meet the Israelis who work there. It's on Elifelet Street, #10. I went there solo this time, and it was great. Having a friend or two from back home would only have made it better - but I did not feel lonely for 1 second. It was actually the opposite - i had to make time to be alone to get away from the partying/group chillin happening there literally all day.

@ Chexmix - There are a ton of backpackers and people on global journeys there. I'd say 95% of the people I met had nothing to do with Birthright and were just there to see the country and party. As far as how it compares to other places I've been, its very different. I've been all over Europe and I've been to Mexico a bunch - i'm not that well traveled. I went to Tel Aviv because I saw it for about a second on my birthright trip and loved it and wanted to come back.

It's a very modern city. People dress like Americans/Europeans and love to stay out drinking and having fun. Its a cafe culture. People go to Israel for the same reason they go to other fun Mediterranean places - beach, fun, good food, etc.

I would recommend it for Americans because the Israeli's love Americans and because English is spoken there.

[DVY]

Good to hear ure trip went well. I loved tel aviv when I did it via birthright

[Hispanic_Reasoning]

nice data sheet bro. All the more making me want to go to Israel.

[BCZalgyris]

EasyMoney, I'm surprised you failed to mention the Jewish factor. Did you meet many LOCAL girls who were ultra-conservative or not into foreigners due to religion, afterall it is forbidden in Jewish religion for a woman to date/marry a non Jewish guy. Please elaborate. Thx

[EasyMoney]

(08-19-2013 09:50 PM)BCZalgyris Wrote:  

EasyMoney, I'm surprised you failed to mention the Jewish factor. Did you meet many LOCAL girls who were ultra-conservative or not into foreigners due to religion, afterall it is forbidden in Jewish religion for a woman to date/marry a non Jewish guy. Please elaborate. Thx

I met zero local Israeli girls who were ultra conservative. You'll find the hardcore conservative girls in Jerusalem and living in settlements in the Palestinian territories - Tel Aviv doesn't really have many of those types of people.

Most Israelis are secular. I'd say 75% of them smoke and have tattoos and are very hedonistic. Tel Aviv is also a very young city, average age there is 34 years old.

They are totally down to get dong'd by a non Jew.

[Marco]

Great report EM.
Did you manage to bang some girls there? if yes, which game/tactics you used, which venues are easier, etc.

[EasyMoney]

I didn't go there to get laid, which I know sounds crazy. I went for a vacation - meaning that all the shit I do back home got left behind. No work, no active approaches (ok fine maybe I did a couple lol), but otherwise I didn't want to play games with girls - I just wanted to eat good food, chill at the beach, and meet cool people.

There were a couple sluts at the hostel I could have banged if I had wanted to, they wanted the D but they frankly weren't as good as the girl I've been banging for the last couple months so my desire wasn't that high.

But the guys with game at my Hostel were banging slutty foreign girls every other day.

[DVY]

For a higher-end nightspot, check out Clara. Pretty dope outdoor bar/lounge right on the beach. Cocktails were pricey though...

[EasyMoney]

Whoops...I forgot to mention Clara.

Clara is definitely higher end and the people watching is great, but it's expensive as fuck.

[gadabout]

Can anyone drop any info on Tel aviv from a non backpacker perspective?

Am thinking a month in November.
I never really got on with Israelis on the backpacker trail... There is a strong pack mentality and found both sexes to be overly macho.
However I met some real beauties in Russia and Ukraine who were way more open than the locals. It sounds like a cool city to do some work (good cafe culture) and explore the nightlife. Also good weather year round.

[Sourcecode]

Thread Bump.

Anyone been to Tel Aviv lately? Happen to able to get plane tickets under 200 dollars from my area.

I'm no jewish or anything.. I just like to travel.
I've ran across a couple israel people along with random people that always say israel is a nice place

Like the above guy said.
From a non Backpacker( super barebones traveler)
What can you do there?
Is it expensive to get out into the desert and visit the ancient stuff?
Ive always heard about/seen pictures of people going off on dirt bikes on adventures...How easy is it to do something like this?

[gringochileno]

I'm gonna be there early-mid July, I'd appreciate any info on Tel-Aviv as well. I'll try to drop some data at that point assuming that Birthright gives me sufficient opportunities for debauchery.

[berserk]

(03-31-2014 04:28 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

Thread Bump.

Anyone been to Tel Aviv lately? Happen to able to get plane tickets under 200 dollars from my area.

I'm no jewish or anything.. I just like to travel.
I've ran across a couple israel people along with random people that always say israel is a nice place

Like the above guy said.
From a non Backpacker( super barebones traveler)
What can you do there?
Is it expensive to get out into the desert and visit the ancient stuff?
Ive always heard about/seen pictures of people going off on dirt bikes on adventures...How easy is it to do something like this?

Yes, it is safe. Despite the propaganda, the Israelis have soundly and utterly defeated the palestinians and locked them in behind a tall wall.

Tel Aviv is a beach city, not much else to do, but lounge on the beach and party in the evening. The Miami Beach of the middle east I've been told. Lots and lots of hot israeli girls there on the beach in the day time, big teddies, long black hair, tanned skin, hourglass figures and round ass. They're hot seriously, I rank Israeli girls propably top 3 among all places I've been to. If the medditeranean look is for you, then it is paradise.

Unfortunately, I found a very real xenophobia towards non-jews. Until you open your mouth all is good, but then very subtly you can be isolated in the bar, no one giving you interest or talking to you. May depend on where you go, I found it most common in the higher end parts of the city while the edm places and lower ends didn't care as much, though some dude threw a drink at me.

As for what to do, go see the Red Ocean and you must go see Jerusalem as well. Depending on the time of the year, there is a tourist place called Eilat in the south which is either full of tourists local and foreign or deserted. You can dive there and do stuff like swim with dolphins.

All in all, I'd definitely check it out. Love Israeli, girls unfortunately they don't all love foreigners despite what the dude above claimed (didn't see any claim of actually banging one?).

[Sourcecode]

Would you say israel is a particularly expensive place?
Ive been to Scandinavia..and absolutely hated the price differences. How everything is worthlessly expensive..
would it cost an arm an a leg to travel around Israel?

[berserk]

(03-31-2014 10:34 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

Would you say israel is a particularly expensive place?
Ive been to Scandinavia..and absolutely hated the price differences. How everything is worthlessly expensive..
would it cost an arm an a leg to travel around Israel?

Yes it is rather expensive. Like say a kebab at night time would be something like 6-7 USD, they taste amazing though. Hotels in Tel Aviv are rather expensive, less so in Jerusalem and down south.

Travel in Israel can be done cheap enough though if you do the hostel thing and take public transportation between cities.

I would actually recommend Israel, if you can, you should go, just stay for a shorter time if you have a budget. I think perhaps AirBnB could work here.

Israeli women really are top of the line for me personally. Jerusalem is a great experience even for the non-religious like me.

[spalex]

I went to Koh Samui one year and it was the same time all the Israellis finished university. So they were all there partying.
My sex life had never been so active.
The women were amazing. The funny thing is that they are at one end of the scale or the other.
They will either be really nice and friendly to you, or they will just tell you to fuck off straight away.

After that trip, I always promised myself I would do a trip to Tel Aviv.
I can't fucking wait.

But yeah, I have always wandered about the cost of everything there.

[TheBulldozer]

Source,

Was in TLV a few months ago. Was there for a short amount of time and really only partied there 2 nights, one of them being NYE(a story for another time). Note: I am not a Jew.

My quick take:

The women are beautiful. They can be bitchy and gruff, but it's not like some JAPs in The States. If you're concerned with that, you'll probably struggle nonetheless. I didn't have much of a problem in approaching women because I've been around Jews my whole life, so much so, I might as well be part of the clan.

TLV has an amazing beachfront. I was there in the dead of winter and there were still plenty of day game opportunities. I'd imagine this increases exponentially as it gets warmer.

TLV has nightlife every night of the week, but it's very much an 'in the know' type of scene. I can point you in the right neighborhood, but from there you've gotta know which door to go in. I'd recommend heading down to Rothschild and Lilienblum, both right off Allenby. I went to a bar called Nanuchka and there was plenty of hot women around. This is on Lilenblum, I think.

I'd stay away from the bars on the upper part of Ben Yehuda, near the American embassy. They seemed dead.

I'd hit up Frishman, near Rabin Square. It seems like there's a lot of restaurants/bars open around there.

Israel is the size of New Jersey, making it very easy to get around. You'd be surprised just how different a place can be just by driving 45 minutes. For example, I went from Jerusalem to TLV. In Jerusalem it was raining and I was essentially in a winter coat. In TLV, I grabbed a beer on the beachfront a couple hours later.

Take the bus as the quickest, cheapest form of transport. Everything is in English and pretty easy to navigate around. You can pretty much get anywhere if you need. Figure out where said activity is, and head to the bus station. English is so readily available and busses leave so often, you'll certainly figure out how to get there.

[Friar]

I was in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat, and Petra this past summer. Definitely had a great time, met some cool people, saw amazing places. It is quite expensive, as I was paying 7-10 bucks for a basic beer at various venues. Get your pregame on. Overall, I'd say the locals were either laid-back cool hippy types, or overly aggressive Middle Easterners. I literally got yelled at by the Info desk person at the bus station. The Egged bus is the best way to get around, and pretty cheap. About 4.5 hrs to Eilat in the south. Everyone will tell you check out Abu Hasan for the best hummus in the universe. I went to the location in Jaffa, and it was the best I've had.

You'll find parties any day of the week in TLV. If you're not too sick of backpackers, I'd recommend you stay in Florentine Hostel a few days. It's a really good way to get your bearing around the city and find out what's going on. I got my own private room (shared bathroom), and the staff takes a group out to bars/clubs every night. They have an awesome rooftop with couches where people hang out drinking and smoking. There were a few girls worth pursuing, but nothing I'd brag about. From there, it's about a 10 min walk to the beach, and five min walk to a bunch of fun bars in Florentine. There is also a great bar in the inner courtyard of some building off of Eilat St, but I forget the name. I guess that bar scene was more my type as I could chat people up. Went to a few clubs, but can't say I had an amazing time. Clara Club is right on the beach, lots of open space and giant bar area. As mentioned earlier it's pricy, I made sure I was nice and tipsy beforehand, riding in on my rented bicycle. The ratios were pretty bad, but I did come across some of the most stunning women I've encountered. Came close to bagging an older Danish flight attendant, but got CB'd in the end. The TLV girls were easy to chat up, but didn't show me much love, even while telling me how they disliked the typical Israeli guy. Very beautiful women in Tel Aviv, though not easy to crack. Zero foreign status to be had.

I wouldn't spend more than one night in Jerusalem, as there are way too many religious groups from all sides taking the fun out of chasing and partying. Having said that, the old walled city is a must see.

Eilat is fun for a weekend, lots of tourists (ie Russians) coming through to shop and chill on a shitty beach. There are a few night spots where you can pull, and one decent beach you can take a local bus to close to the Egyptian border, do some snorkeling. I went down to Eilat cross the border into Jordan, and drive up to explore the ruins of Petra. Another must-see.

Have fun!

[eduardo2]

For Hummus, you have all kinds of cool spots.
in Jaffa I can recomend "Merkaz Ha-Hommus" (The Center of the Hummus) & Haj Kahil, right next to the clock.
plenty of good "branches" of all around israel hummus joints in TA called "Abu Adham" (which is actually a place from another area of israel)

Alchohol is the Achilles heelof Israel. it's dead expensive and not worth the cash especially in Clubs.
you can't really get your kicks on a bar trip in town without shelling out at least 25$.
there are a lot of local breweries today that sell their liquer but it's not that cheap as well.
now there are some "low cost" joints like "Drink point" and others in the city that specifically lower the prices for specific beverages.
one of them is the "22" in Nahlat binyamin+rothschield.

another area which is becoming trendy is the Jaffa port that was renovated extensively and hosts a mix of hipster joints+great luxury food places.

[rishboy77]

I pretty agree with people are saying. Tel Aviv is great "beach town" of the Middle East but expensive not just for the booze but food prices in general. Despite seeing a lot Ethiopian Jews, Indians, Chinese and others and yet I hardly saw any interracial couples.

Walking round the city with a my Ukrainian girl who is nearly 20 years younger then me, I would say we definitely got a lot of looks.

[eduardo2]

dude, it was becasue she's probably hot, that's why (women in israel look too)
Tel Aviv is a very mix-races place
also foreigners with locals.

[pizdets]

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