Carmel Market Food Tour
A guided grazing walk through Shuk HaCarmel: sabich, hummus, pickles, halva, fresh juice and the bakeries of the Yemenite Quarter, with a local explaining what you are eating and where it came from.
Tel Aviv Food Tours: Carmel Market, Jaffa & Levinsky
Photo: Simon Mannweiler · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
By The Visit Israel Editorial Team · Last updated
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Old Jaffa Food & Flea Market Walk
Hummus in a stone room, ka'ak from a 24-hour bakery, Libyan shakshuka and a finish at the port with the sea in front of you. The most layered food walk in the city.
Tel Aviv Street Art & Graffiti Tour
The non-food alternative that visits the same neighbourhoods: Florentin's murals and the political and playful street art of south Tel Aviv, on foot, in small groups.
Tel Aviv eats in markets. The city’s cooking is a layering of Yemenite, Iraqi, Moroccan, Libyan, Persian, Balkan and Arab traditions, and the fastest way to make sense of it is to walk through the stalls with someone who knows which counter does the sabich properly and why the Yemenite bakery next door only opens on Fridays. This guide compares the three main food-tour circuits, Carmel Market, Old Jaffa and Levinsky, explains what tours include and cost, and lists the non-food alternatives that cover the same streets.
Food tours compared
| Circuit | Duration | Character | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carmel Market (Shuk HaCarmel) | 2.5–3 hrs | The main market; street food and produce | First visit; widest range |
| Old Jaffa and the flea market | 3–3.5 hrs | Arab, Libyan and port cooking; open on Shabbat | Depth; Saturday visitors |
| Levinsky Market | 2–2.5 hrs | Spice and deli district; Balkan and Persian | Repeat visitors; specialist interest |
| Market visit + cooking class | 4–5 hrs | Shop at Carmel, then cook and eat | Hands-on learners |
| Private food tour | Flexible | Custom route across neighbourhoods | Families; dietary requirements |
Carmel Market
Shuk HaCarmel runs for about a kilometre from Allenby Street down to the Yemenite Quarter and is the loudest, cheapest and most complete market in the city. Produce, olives, pickles, nuts and spices fill the main lane; the side alleys and the streets of Kerem HaTeimanim next door hold the eateries. A guided walk typically covers eight to twelve stops: a sabich (fried aubergine, egg and amba in pita, an Iraqi-Jewish import that has become the city’s sandwich), hummus with ful, bourekas from a Balkan bakery, halva cut from a wheel, fresh pomegranate juice, and something from the Yemenite quarter such as malawach or a bowl of soup. Guides explain the communities behind each dish, which is the point of the tour: you can eat all of this alone, but you will not know what you are eating.
Carmel is best on Tuesday and Friday mornings, when the Nahalat Binyamin craft market opens on the parallel street and the shuk is at its busiest. It closes Friday mid-afternoon and all of Saturday.
Old Jaffa
Jaffa predates Tel Aviv by several thousand years, and its food reflects an unbroken Arab tradition plus the Libyan, Moroccan and Bulgarian Jewish communities who settled around the port after 1948. A Jaffa food walk is slower and more layered than Carmel: a bowl of hummus in one of the old stone hummus houses near the clock tower, sesame ka’ak rings from the 24-hour Abouelafia bakery on Yefet Street, a Libyan shakshuka near the flea market, knafeh from a sweet shop, and a finish at the renovated port where the fish restaurants face west over the Mediterranean. The flea market (Shuk HaPishpeshim) is usually folded into the route.
Two practical advantages. Jaffa’s Arab-owned businesses are open on Saturday, which makes it the only food walk that runs on Shabbat. And the port at sunset is the best place in the city to end a tour with a drink.
Levinsky Market
Ten minutes south of Carmel in Florentin, Levinsky Street is not a market in the covered-lane sense but a district of spice merchants, Balkan and Persian delis, dried-fruit and nut shops and tiny counters, many of them run by families who arrived from Thessaloniki and Tehran two generations ago. Tours here are shorter and more specialised: bourekas and Bulgarian cheese, Persian herb stews, pickled vegetables from barrels, a gazoz (house-made syrup soda) at a counter that has become a small institution. It is the circuit for people who have already walked a shuk and want to go deeper. The neighbourhood’s street art means several operators combine Levinsky with a Florentin graffiti walk.
Cooking classes
Several operators run a half-day format that starts with a guided shop at Carmel Market and continues in a kitchen, where you cook a multi-course Israeli meal and eat it together. It is the best option if you want to take something home beyond photographs; the trade-off is that you see less of the market. Classes generally run four to five hours and cost more than a walking tour, typically between US$100 and US$160 per person as of 2026.
What tours cost and include
Small-group food walks of two and a half to four hours generally cost between US$60 and US$110 per person as of 2026, and the price covers all tastings, which add up to a full meal. Groups are usually capped somewhere between eight and fifteen people. Private tours are priced per group. Tips for the guide are customary but not compulsory. Tell the operator about dietary requirements at booking; vegetarians and vegans are easily accommodated, strictly kosher travellers less so, because most market stalls and all of Jaffa’s Arab restaurants are uncertified.
Book Friday morning slots a week or more ahead; they sell out first.
The alternatives
Not everyone wants to eat for three hours, and the same neighbourhoods support other walks worth knowing about.
- Graffiti and street-art tours of Florentin and south Tel Aviv, usually two to two and a half hours on foot, explaining the political and playful murals that cover the area. Several operators combine them with Levinsky tastings.
- Bauhaus and White City walks along Rothschild Boulevard and the streets around it, for the architecture that earned Tel Aviv its UNESCO listing.
- Pub crawls starting on Allenby or Rothschild in the evening, aimed at younger travellers and hostel guests; typically four bars and a club, with a first drink included.
- Jaffa history walks that cover the same alleys as the food tour but stop at the harbour, St Peter’s Church and the flea market rather than at counters.
- Bike tours along the beach promenade to Jaffa, which suit a first morning in the city.
Practical details
When. Mornings, from 9 or 10 am, are the standard slot for market tours; Jaffa walks also run in the late afternoon to end at the port at sunset. Come hungry and skip lunch.
Shabbat. Carmel and Levinsky are closed from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. Jaffa is open. See first time in Israel for how Shabbat shapes a Tel Aviv weekend.
Cash. Most market stalls now take cards, but several of the best hummus places and bakeries in Jaffa do not. Carry some shekels.
Getting there. Carmel Market is a 15-minute walk from most central hotels; see best hotels in Tel Aviv. Jaffa is a 30-minute walk along the promenade or a short taxi ride. Levinsky is a 10-minute walk south of Carmel.
Weather. Summer mornings are humid and the market lanes are only partly shaded; between June and September, take the earliest slot. Winter tours run in light rain.
Planning the rest of your trip
A food tour is the best first morning in Tel Aviv, before you have found your own favourites. For the days after, the north-coast trip to Caesarea, Haifa and Akko and the other day trips from Tel Aviv cover the country within two hours of the city. If you are continuing to Jerusalem, Mahane Yehuda market there deserves the same treatment.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Tel Aviv food tour cost? +
As of 2026, small-group food tours of two and a half to four hours generally cost between US$60 and US$110 per person, with all tastings included. That usually adds up to a full meal spread across eight to twelve stops, so plan a light breakfast and no lunch. Private tours are priced per group and become competitive for four or more people. Cooking classes that begin with a market visit cost more, typically between US$100 and US$160.
Which is the best food tour: Carmel Market, Jaffa or Levinsky? +
Carmel Market is the introduction: the widest range of Israeli street food in the smallest area. Jaffa is the deepest: Arab hummus houses, Libyan-Jewish cooking and the port. Levinsky is the specialist's choice: Balkan and Persian delis, spice merchants and small counters that most visitors never find. If you have one morning, take Carmel; if you have already been to a shuk, take Jaffa.
Do food tours run on Shabbat? +
Carmel Market and Levinsky close on Friday afternoon and stay shut on Saturday, so market tours run Sunday to Friday morning. Jaffa is the exception: its Arab-owned bakeries, hummus houses and port restaurants are open on Saturday, and several operators run Jaffa walks on Shabbat for that reason. Friday morning at Carmel Market is the busiest and most atmospheric session of the week.
Are food tours suitable for vegetarians, vegans or kosher travellers? +
Most of Israeli street food is vegetarian by default: hummus, falafel, sabich, salads, breads and pastries. Operators routinely accommodate vegetarians and vegans if told at booking, and Tel Aviv has one of the largest vegan scenes anywhere. Strictly kosher travellers should ask in advance, because market stalls and Jaffa's Arab restaurants are generally not certified.
How long do the tours last and how far do you walk? +
Carmel Market tours cover about two kilometres in two and a half to three hours. Jaffa walks are similar in length but include the hill up to Old Jaffa and back down to the port. Levinsky tours are shorter and flatter. All are on foot with frequent stops; comfortable shoes and a small bag for purchases are the only requirements.
What are the alternatives to a food tour in Tel Aviv? +
The graffiti and street-art walks of Florentin cover the same southern neighbourhoods with a different lens, the Bauhaus architecture walks explain the White City, and the evening pub crawls start on Allenby and Rothschild. A cooking class that begins in the market combines the food tour with a hands-on kitchen session. For a day out of the city, see our day trips from Tel Aviv guide.