LES QUARTIERS CENTRE

This historic district is home to a bustling commercial and cultural life, with architectural treasures, quiet alleyways, trendy boutiques and restaurants, nightlife and vibrant markets. It is criss-crossed by the diagonal of Allenby Street, not very pleasant but often used as a landmark in the center. The entire neighborhood is within walking distance.

Neve Tzedek is located at the southwestern tip of the center, north of Jaffa. Tel Aviv's oldest district is a maze of alleyways leading down to the sea, bordered by the new HaMesila pedestrian and bicycle promenade, a former railroad line that leads to the old HaTachana station, now converted into modern boutiques and cafés.

Boulevard Rothschild is the center's main thoroughfare. From south to north, it links Independence Hall, where David Ben Gurion officially proclaimed the birth of the Hebrew state on May 14, 1948, and Habima Square, home to the National Theatre. A symbol of Tel Aviv's modern development.

Nahalat Benyamin and Lev Hair. Partly pedestrianized, Nahalat Benyamin is a quiet stroll during the day and a festive street in the evening. It's also the street of cloth merchants. The streets parallel or perpendicular to Rothschild, which make up the beautiful Lev Hair district, are home to numerous designer boutiques and trendy cafés, whose terraces are home to Tel Aviv's bohemian chic.

The Yemenite district seems to have stopped in time. Stroll through its winding alleys, where the slightly decrepit stone houses are home to many excellent oriental restaurants. In addition to the original Yemenite community, the neighborhood also attracted young artists and students, before gentrification did its job of gentrifying the area. Nearby, Carmel Market is Tel Aviv's main market. Fruit and vegetable stalls are gradually being replaced by street-food stalls where you can meet up with friends. On Shabbat eve, prices drop as stocks are cleared.

Around Meir Garden. To the north of Allenby, between the waterfront and Meir Garden, lies a small, historic residential area with a very different, much less hectic and more middle-class feel. Here, you can wander through streets named after early Zionist intellectuals (Bialik, Chernichovsky and Pinsker), amid magnificent mansions. We'll pass through the small Bialik square, where Tel Aviv's former City Hall was located, before visiting the home of the most important poet in the Hebrew language.