Tel Aviv and Old Jaffa Private Tour

There are a number of options which will help you to create your own tour of Tel Aviv and the environs.

Tel Aviv, as a modern city, does not have the lengthy history of most other sites in Israel. However it does have many Bauhaus building concentrated in a small area, which has made it a UNESCO protected site. It also has many museums. The Diaspora Museum, on the Tel Aviv University campus, is must for the visitor interested in learning about the dispersion of the Jewish people over the centuries. Also a must is the nearby Palmach museum, which tells of the pre-State years and Independence Hall where David Ben Gurion announced the creation of the State of Israel.

By contrast Jaffa has a long history. For centuries and millennia this was the port of entry to the Holy Land. It was here that the cedars of Lebanon, imported by King Solomon to build the Temple in Jerusalem, landed. It was here that Jonah was spat out of the whale. It was here that Perseus fell in love with Andromeda who had been tied to a rock, offered by her father as a sacrifice to appease the god of the seas. It was here that Peter stayed at the house of Simon the tanner and healed Tabitha (Dorcas).

And in more modern times, towards the end of the 19th century, it was here that the American settlers, some of whom were rescued by Mark Twain, set up their first colony as did the German Templars not long after them. One can walk through the alleys of Old Jaffa to the colonies and on to the earliest neighbourhoods built outside the city wall by Jewish pioneers. Another option is to walk through the flea market of Jaffa or the fresh fruit and vegetable Carmel market in Tel Aviv.

There are three sites less than an hour from Tel Aviv and close proximity to one another which are well worth visiting. Neot Kedumim is a large park in which biblical plants, flowers and trees have been restored illuminating the many biblical verses relating to nature. Here one can also see an operational oil and wine press. Here the poetry of King Solomon’s Song of Songs comes to life.

At the Museum and Memorial at Latrun, dedicated to the fallen of the Armoured Corps, there is a unique collection of tanks and armoured vehicles from armies all over the world, many of which were captured by the IDF (Israel Defense Force) from the various invading Arab armies during the many wars in the area.

Finally there is Mini-Israel where replicas of sites throughout Israel are displayed. These are accurate and are set out geographically and topographically and include sites you may see on your visit and many that you may not have time to see. Mini-Israel is close to the Ben Gurion airport and well worth a visit if you have spare time efore your departure flight.