Nachlat Binyamin Promdenade
By: Amir Yarkoni
You have probably seen such places before, but none is really the same. And the Nachlat Binyamin outdoor pedestrian mall certainly has got a special character. Just off Tel Aviv's biggest market (Shuk Hakarmel) and the bustling Alenbi and Shinkin areas, the promenade is a vivid walking trail and shopping center.
Shopping in Nachlat Binyamin
While the place is active all week long, on Tuesdays and Fridays there is a special fair with many small stands in the middle of the mall with artists, semi-artists and other characters selling their goods. Here you can find all sorts of oil paintings and air-brush images, self-portrait artists who will be happy to draw your image for a few bucks, ornaments and candles with special scents. Wood sculptures, glass works, jewelry of all sorts are abundant. Price-wise the place is generally not a bargain, but the atmosphere and some of the works are great!
Traditionally, this street was a small textile center selling mainly raw wholesale material for shops. Today still, most of the permanent stores on both sides of the promenade are traditional textile and sewing shops where you can buy raw cloth by meter, and get a sewing shop to cut and design it for you. A few diners are also spread along the street.
Live Street shows
On fair days and mostly on Fridays, there are live music street shows in the mall. Israeli performers, South American nomad bands and others are playing street shows which are pretty good. Come on a sunny Tel Aviv Friday and enjoy the many colors, smells, interesting people and music.
How to get there
From the beach stretch (Hayarkon/Herbert Samuel area), go south along Hayarkon till the crossroad with Alenbi, then take a left to Alenbi and keep going until you hit the crossroads of the market/Shinkin/Nachlat Binyamin. The promenade starts off of Alenbi to your south west.
If you are coming from Neve Tzedek or the Rothschild area, proceed west on Nahmani or Maze streets till you hit Alenbi, and then make a right (north). You will come across Nachlat Binyamin on your left.
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