Middle East - Anthony Ham [230]
EMERGENCY
Ambulance ( 101)
Fire department ( 102)
Police ( 100)
Tourist police (Map; 516 5832; cnr Herbert Samuel Esplanade & Geula St)
INTERNET ACCESS
All of the internet places listed below are open 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
Log-In (Map; 21 Ben Yehuda St; per hr 15NIS)
Private Link (Map; 529 9889; 78 Ben Yehuda St; per hr 13NIS)
Surf-Drink-Play (Map; per hr 10NIS) Dizengoff St ( 529 1618; 112 Dizengoff St); Ibn Gvirol St ( 695 8750; 65 Ibn Gvirol St); King George V St ( 629 1311; 77 King George V St)
INTERNET RESOURCES
www.tel-aviv.gov.il/english Official municipality website.
www.tel-aviv-insider.com Excellent tips on activities, dining and nightlife.
LAUNDRY
There are countless, nameless self-service laundromats (12NIS washing machine, 5NIS dryer; open 24 hours) to be found across the city, especially on Ben Yehuda St. If you’re looking for something a bit better than a neon-lit wasteland, try dizi (Map; 629 4559; www.dizi.co.il; 13 Ben Ami St/Dizengoff Sq; 8am-midnight) where you can drink a gourmet coffee, make use of free wi-fi and wash your smalls in one convenient, trendy location.
LEFT LUGGAGE
Left-luggage facilities are available at Ben-Gurion airport for US$4 per day. Most guesthouses and hotels in Tel Aviv have a left-luggage room, charging between 2NIS and 10NIS per day. For security reasons, the bus and train stations have no left-luggage options.
MEDIA
Time Out Tel Aviv, produced bi-monthly, is a great resource for what’s on in the city. It is available at the Tel Aviv Tourist Information Centre and at most hotels. Ha’aretz newspaper – particularly the weekend edition – carries events listings and can be bought at newsstands citywide. If you are in town for a longer period, consider investing in the glossy City Guide Tel Aviv (US$24.95), with sumptuous pictorial listings of all the very coolest bars, shops and cafés.
MEDICAL SERVICES
Dr Ayaldan (Map; 525 4186; Dizengoff Centre; 4-8pm Mon, 3-7pm Tue & Thu, 10am-2pm Fri) For dental services, try this reasonably priced dentist in the Dizengoff shopping centre.
Physicians for Human Rights (Map; 687 3718/3027; fax 687 3029; 52 Golomb St; 5-7pm Sun, Tue & Wed) This clinic provides free medical assistance for visitors who aren’t covered by health insurance in Israel.
Tel Aviv Medical Centre (Ichilov) Hospital (Map; 697 4000/4444; www.tasmc.org.il; 6 Weizmann St)Massive central hospital, with 24-hour emergency room, and a travellers’ clinic (the Malram Clinic) for immunisations.
MONEY
The best currency exchange deals are at the private bureaus that don’t charge commission, and there are plenty of them, especially on Dizengoff, Allenby and Ben Yehuda Sts, and there’s another with good rates at the base of the Opera Tower shopping centre (Map) escalator. Most post offices also change travellers cheques, commission-free. ATMs are widespread throughout the city; but beware that many run dry by Friday night or mid-Saturday, so if you need lots of cash for the weekend, try to withdraw it in advance.
POST
There are three useful branches of the post office (www.postil.com; 8am-6pm Sun-Thu, 8am-noon Fri); HaYarkon St (Map; 510 0218; 61 HaYarkon St); Herzl St (Map; 682 5856; 61 Herzl St); Ibn Gvirol St (170 Ibn Gvirol St; Map; 604 1109).
TOURIST INFORMATION
Tourist Information Centre (Map) City Hall ( 521 8214; 69 Ibn Gvirol St, Lobby, City Hall); Downtown ( 516 6188; 46 Herbert Samuel Esplanade)
TRAVEL AGENCIES
ISSTA (Map; 521 0555; www.issta.co.il; 109 Ben Yehuda St; 9am-6pm Sun-Thu, 8.30am-1pm Fri) Student travel agency that can sometimes come up with well-priced airline tickets. It’s on the corner with Ben-Gurion.
Mazada (Map; 544 4454; www.mazada.co.il; 141 Ibn Gvirol St; 9am-5pm Sun-Thu) Operates buses to Egypt and Jordan, as well as tours throughout the region.
Sights
It would be perfectly understandable if you couldn’t bear to tear yourself away from Tel Aviv’s beaches, shops and cafés to do anything remotely more