What's a good 3-day itinerary for Tel Aviv?

Day 1 belongs to Jaffa. You'll likely land at Ben Gurion Airport mid-morning, and a taxi south to Jaffa runs about 120 ILS (roughly $40 at current rates). The drive takes 25 minutes without traffic, 45 with it. Start late. If you flew from the US East Coast, you crossed 7 time zones and your body thinks it's 3 AM. Head to Abu Hassan on Ha-Dolfin Street 1 for hummus. The place has been open since the 1960s, serves maybe four dishes, and closes when the hummus runs out, usually by 2 PM. A plate of msabbaha costs 38 ILS. The chickpeas arrive warm, the tahini loose and nutty. From Abu Hassan, walk south into Old Jaffa's stone alleys. The Ilana Goor Museum sits above the port in a restored 18th-century house, entry 30 ILS. By late afternoon, find a spot at Jaffa Port. Fishing boats creak against the docks and the air smells like salt and grilled corn from the vendors near the clock tower. Dinner at Dr. Shakshuka on Beit Eshel Street runs 70-110 ILS per person.

Day 2 covers central Tel Aviv, all walkable within a 3-km strip. Start at Shuk HaCarmel by 8:30 AM, before the afternoon heat drives everyone indoors. Vendors call prices in Hebrew and Arabic. The aisles smell like ground cardamom and fresh-cut watermelon. Buy a 10-ILS glass of pomegranate juice near the Allenby Street entrance and a 25-ILS bourekas from the Yemenite Quarter side. By 10 AM, walk north on Rothschild Boulevard to Independence Hall at number 16, where David Ben-Gurion declared statehood on May 14, 1948. Entry is 30 ILS. Continue past the Bauhaus buildings of the White City, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2003. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, founded in 1932, sits on Shaul HaMelech Boulevard 27. Tickets cost 50 ILS, and the Israeli art wing on the third floor is the strongest collection in the building. Lunch at Miznon on King George Street, where a roasted cauliflower pita runs 52 ILS. End the afternoon at Habima Square. Habima Theatre has stood here since 1917. Late-afternoon light turns the brutalist concrete warm and golden.

Day 3 heads north. Take a bus from central Tel Aviv to the Eretz Israel Museum in Ramat Aviv, about a 20-minute ride on a Rav-Kav transit card. The museum, opened in 1958, spreads across pavilions built around the Tel Qasile archaeological mound. Budget 2 hours, entry 52 ILS. From there, walk 15 minutes to the Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot on the Tel Aviv University campus, founded in 1978 and fully renovated in 2021. Entry is 55 ILS. By early afternoon, head to the old Tel Aviv Port, where wooden boardwalk planks flex underfoot and the Mediterranean breeze smells like brine. Walk the promenade south along the coast, past Metzitzim Beach to Gordon Beach. The sand is coarse and golden, the water warm enough in August to stay in for an hour. Dinner at Port Sa'id on Har Sinai Street 5, back in the center, runs 80-130 ILS. The lamb kebab is the thing to order.

A few logistics about Tel Aviv that catch first-timers off guard. Shabbat starts Friday at sundown and lasts until Saturday night. Buses stop, most restaurants in central Tel Aviv close, and the usual hum of Dizengoff Street drops to near silence. If your three days include a Saturday, swap Day 2 to a weekday because Shuk HaCarmel is shuttered on Shabbat. The beaches still work, and Jaffa's Arab-owned restaurants stay open. August temperatures hover around 30°C with 70% humidity, which feels closer to 34°C by mid-afternoon. Stay indoors or at the beach between 1 PM and 4 PM. Tipping at sit-down restaurants is 10-15%, and tap water is drinkable from every faucet. If you see a cafe advertising breakfast for 55-75 ILS, that's the Israeli breakfast, a spread of 8-10 small plates. Eggs, salads, labneh, bread, olives, coffee. Benedict on Rothschild Boulevard serves it 24 hours.