Once you’ve visited the beach, ridden your bike down Rothschild Boulevard, meandered in Jaffa, shopped in the Carmel Market and drunk so much coffee that you’re buzzing, what is there left to do in Tel Aviv? Well…what about learning something? Here are a few museums we’d recommend that you visit, when you’re in the White City..

Tel Aviv Art Museum

The Tel Aviv Art Museum was originally established in 1933, in what is now Independence Hall; it moved to its current location on Shaul HaMelech Boulevard in 1971. A sprawling museum with a Department of Israeli Art, it holds an an impressive collection of local art from the last 100 years.

Pic, courtesy of Preston Scott Cohen – Arch2O.com

Additionally, there is a Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, a Department of Prints and Drawings, a the Department of Photography, a Department of Architecture and Design and the ‘Old Masters’ Department, with art from the 16th to 19th century.  The Israel Museum also hosts a wide range of activities, concerts, and lectures, and is a wonderful place to spend a few hours, either in the winter or summer.

Rabin Museum

The Yitzchak Rabin Center is located close to Tel Aviv University in the north of the city, and is actually a national institute with the aim of advancing real engagement between the various sectors of Israeli society. A major part of the institute is the museum, which follows not only Yitzchak Rabin’s fascinating life but, simultaneously, the development of the state of Israel.

Pic. courtesy of givemyregardstoisrael.tumblr.com

With the use of hundreds of short films, the museum gives its guests an opportunity to engage with every turning point the State of Israel went through. Visitors can struggle with the dilemmas Rabin and other heads of state faced, envisage existential crises and ponder contemporary issues. This museum is a must-visit for anyone who is willing to grapple with the complexities of this young, vibrant and very modern State.

Eretz Yisrael Museum

Located close to Tel Aviv University, this museum can be easily coupled with a visit to the Palmach Museum or the Rabin Museum itself. Museum Eretz Israel incorporates many permanent exhibitions including which look at coins, glass and ceramics from thousands of years ago, as well as displays relating to ethnography (and religious rituals) and spheres of daily life (e.g. agriculture and crafts).

Pic. courtesy of www.eretzmuseum.org.il

The museum also features a planetarium, which kids and adults alike can delight in. The Land of Israel Museum (Eretz Yisrael Museum) is a must for anyone wishing to understanding Israel’s history and its peoples’ connection to it.