If you need to get around Tel Aviv, consider biking.  It is fast, easy, efficient, and enjoyable. With wide, sweeping streets, warm, sunny weather, and a lack of hills, Tel Aviv offers the perfect conditions for bikers.  Many locals prefer biking because it’s faster than driving. You’ll glide through the many avenues and parks for biking, making the experience not only convenient but an enjoyable way to get around Tel Aviv.        

Rent a Bike

If visiting Tel Aviv, try renting a bike.  Bike shops offer affordable hour, day, week, and month-long rentals.  In the rental shops, you’ll find all that you need for your biking adventure.  Whether you want a city bike, mountain bike, or folding bike, you’re sure to find the perfect vehicle to get around Tel Aviv in one of the city’s many bike stores. You can also rent kids’ bikes and baby seats for riding with your smallest ones.

If you’re unsure where to go to rent a bike, stop by O-fan (197 Ben Yehuda St.,03-54442292) or Cycle (147 Ben Yehuda street, next to Arlozorov St.).  Both shops provide great bikes at a fair price.  If you need to rent bikes so your entire family can get around Tel Aviv, go to Cycle because they deal with family rentals often and have everything from kids’ bike to baby seats.  You may also want to ask your hotel clerk of a good bike rental place if you prefer to rent from a shop near your hotel.

If biking by yourself, ask for a map and suggestions of good places to bike.  Usually shops have special advice and insider biking tips.

Take a Bike Tour

If you want someone to take care of the hassle around renting a bike and figuring how to get around Tel Aviv, take a bike tour. You’ll be fitted with a bike, helmet and water bottle.  An experienced guide and EMT will accompany the tour with a first aid kit, just in case anything were to happen.  Tour companies are experienced in biking with any level of cyclist from children to teenagers to adults. They also provide baby seats for families with very little ones.

Tel Aviv has a few fantastic bike tour companies with friendly, experienced guides.  Remember to bring your camera because your guide will take you by many beautiful sights that you’ll want to remember long after you’ve finished your tour.  You’ll also want sunscreen because, even in winter, you’ll be exposed to the sun’s stray rays.

On a bike tour, you’ll see such places as Gordon Beach and Neve Tzedek, the old city of Jaffa as well as the Pishpeshim (”flea”) Market, Rothschild Boulevard (the White City), Yitzhak Rabin memorial, Yarkon Park, and Tel Aviv’s old port.  Feel free to ask questions.  Experienced guides often have great background stories of the area and can tell you stories about local customs.  What a great way to get around Tel Aviv!

Even if you haven’t biked in a while, you won’t really notice because of the low elevation and flat terrain in and around Tel Aviv.  If you do worry about the difficulty of a tour though, try a short tour, which lasts about 2 ½ hours.  For a longer tour, take the full 5-hour tour.

Extra Information 

Since Tel Aviv has a highly active bike community, they also, unfortuantly, have a highly active bike thief community.  Many locals purchase cheap bikes to get around Tel Aviv because they know that nice bikes get stolen.  Try to rent an understated bike that won’t catch the attention of a potential bike thief.  Also, take all possible measures to lock your bike up well and remove all personal belongings from bike.  Use common sense and be aware.