While Tel Aviv is mainly known for its vibrant nightlife, its café and bar culture and its bustling beaches and streets, sometimes you may want to escape the crowds and settle down with a good book. Luckily, there are many places which offer the quiet and solitude needed while still allowing you to get out the house.
In the heart of the city on King George Street is a café called The Little Prince. A great feature of this place is that there are hundreds of books on offer (in Hebrew and English) which you can read there which means that if you’re running out of literature you’re sure to find something new. Add to this the oversized leather chairs and the top quality coffee and you are in a bookworm’s paradise.
If you prefer to add a bit of people watching and natural light to your reading experience then take a look at Café Castel on Ibn Gabriol Street. Here you will find reclining beach chairs outside which allow you to enjoy a bit of alone time while still feeling as if you’re in the heart of the city. Best of all, once you’ve had enough of the people you are just a few minutes’ walk away from the Yarkon Park.
The park offers a huge amount of space for you to enjoy along the river. There are plenty of benches around so you are sure to be able to find somewhere to sit and thanks to the many trees there is also plenty of shade. You could even rent a boat and enjoy your novel while floating down the river and enjoying the wonderful views.
The obvious choice though is the café called Tola’at Sfarim which is the Hebrew for Bookworm. It is located on Rabin Square and is a must visit for any booklover. You can sit by the large windows with a glass of fresh juice or a cup of coffee and you’ll feel as if you’re sitting on the veranda of a beach house. Alternatively, in winter you can find a cosy table and enjoy a bowl of homemade soup to warm you up. Best of all, the café is attached to a bookshop that is packed with titles in both English and Hebrew ranging from cookbooks to graphic novels and more.
Tel Aviv’s largest public library, Beit Ariela, is also a great place to find reading material. It is based on Sderot Sha’ul HaMelech and offers plenty of space to settle down with a book, from oversized beanbags to quiet tables. Here you can find all manner of literature in English, French, German, Russian and more. Best of all, after finishing your book you can pop next door to have a wander around the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
You’ll soon realise that the book scene in Tel Aviv is in its own way as vibrant as the nightlife and there ae plenty of opportunities to escape and enjoy some quality reading time.
