Practicalities

Transport, hospital, emergency 

Closing days and Holidays:

Shabbat. The rest day begins on Friday at dusk until Saturday evening. This means that shops close at around 3-4 pm on Friday and don’t open until Saturday night or Sunday morning. Most of the trendy restaurants are open but reservation is even more important.

Pesach. Passover is a major Jewish holiday and lasts 7 days. More importantly, on the first and the last days, no productive work can be done and most Israeli businesses are closed.

The intermediate days are half-holiday, half regular weekday. Many offices and businesses are only open half a day (usually the morning), and many Israeli families go on vacations or day-trips out of town. Besides this, it’s also a special time where kosher food laws are applied in a lot of restaurants and hotels. For instance, no leavened bread is eaten. Instead, matzo will be served.

Changing money:

Go to small licensed money changer shops (for instance, there is one close to the ArtPlus Hotel): they take no commission.

Transport:

Israel has a good public transport system (buses & trains). The taxis are safe.

The bike is a great option to tour the city.

There are some bike rental shops or you can use the Municipality rental system, which is sometimes a bit tricky to use but convenient at the same time as there are many stations. Some hotels listed will also lend you a bike (a nice perk!). Be careful bikes ride on sidewalks!

Hospital:

Ichilov hospital (official name: Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre – TASMC) is one of the biggest hospitals in Israël. It is located in the centre of Tel Aviv near Tel Aviv city hall and the law courts. It serves as the main hospital to the city’s 360,000 inhabitants and offers world class medical care. It’s located 14, Weisman Street (see the map).

Emergencies:

Police: 100

Magen David Adom is the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross. It provides 24-hour emergency medical service in most of the urban centers and ambulance service to the nearest emergency room. Tel Aviv: 03-5460111 – Jerusalem: 02-6523133. From a local phone is 101

 


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