WEARY Tube travellers in London will be familiar with the posters: a girl in a skimpy white bikini stares smoulderingly from the shallows of a vast beach fringed with skyscrapers. An urban paradise, where the women are hot and the sun is hotter, is the clear message.

On some level, this is a fair description of Tel Aviv. But the seediness of this campaign undersells what is, without doubt, a first-rate city.

The ubiquitous security personnel are unsettling at first, but the apprehension soon fades away. First-timers to Tel Aviv always come back with a look of wide-eyed disbelief that has nothing to do with a sense of danger.

What they cannot believe is how this place - with a nightlife as varied as New York's or Miami's, great cuisine and a beach warm enough to lie on ten months of the year - has passed them by until now.

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Tel Aviv is shamelessly urban in a way that can be tough on Western eyes. But is also contains architectural delights, with more than 5,000 Bauhaus buildings, the highest concentration of this style in the world. Over a dozen prominent students of the German school arrived in Tel Aviv in the 1930s, shortly after the Bauhaus School in Dessau was forced to close. The Cinema Hotel on Dizengoff Square and Zlotopolski House on Gordon Street are two neat examples of the style.

The key to Tel Aviv is leisure. Nightlife is the heart and soul; the beach the natural counterpoint to nights on the tiles. Locals take enjoyment seriously, and the bar scene is one of the most pervasive and alluring in the world, forcing the typical bed-time well past 1am on weeknights. Everywhere from ratty, hipster beer joints such as the Rif Raf on Gruzenberg Street to the futuristic pale marble planes of Messa, a bar and gourmet restaurant, encourages lingering, sipping, seeing and being seen.

The number of excellent eateries and range of fresh local ingredients means Tel Aviv's residents spend a lot of time eating, and you should, too. There is no “Israeli” cuisine, but most street food is certainly Middle Eastern - fabulous hoummos and falafel, Turkish bourekas (cheese, meat or vegetable-filled pastries) and sabikh (pitta filled with fried aubergine and egg).

There is also great sushi, Italian (Pronto on Nachmani Street was deemed the best Italian restaurant outside Italy by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture), French and even Chinese food. Choosing where to eat can be a dizzying process, but on the plus side, it is hard to go wrong.

All the delights of eating, drinking and scene-scoping are combined in the southern neighbourhood of Neve Tzedek. This area hums with gentrified commerce. Jewel-like boutiques, cafés and bars dot the tiny streets.

Stop in at Nina or Dalal for excellent coffee, fresh juice and heavenly cakes. Or try Nanutchka, an absolutely awesome Georgian restaurant and bar, with enormous dishes (think goose dumplings and tomato salad). Time, then, for a drink at Jajo, a tiny but beautiful, high-ceilinged box of a bar. At night, take a walk to Abraxis, an arty, pumping bar, or further south, in Florentin - Tel Aviv's answer to Hoxton - to Bugsy, a mellow bar that draws an oh-so-hip crowd.

It doesn't all have to be hedonism. There is excellent dance showing at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Neve Tzedek and great productions at the Cameri, Beit-Lessin and Habima theatres, some of which have English subtitles. There are dozens of galleries, from tiny, smoke-filled rooms in Jaffa side-streets to the internationally recognised Noga Gallery on Achad Ha'am. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art has a serious collection of modern art, as well as exhibitions by Israeli photographers and artists.

This is not a city to ignore any longer. Now that low-cost airlines have started flying to Tel Aviv for as little as £190, you might well forget about New York. You'll get everything and more - bar jet lag - by flying east.

Need to know

Getting there Zoe Strimpel flew to Tel Aviv with Thomsonfly (0870 1900 737, www.thomsonfly.com), which offers flights from London Luton or Manchester from £89.99 one way.

Staying A standard double room at the Sheraton Moriah (00 972 3 5216666, www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton) in Tel Aviv costs £127 a night, including breakfast.

Hotspots in Tel Aviv

Must eat restaurants

Carmella Banachala Glorious, shockingly fresh food (from herb salad to sweet potato gnocchi) in an elegant, tiled room that harks back to Tel Aviv's earliest days, close to the Carmel market. Not cheap. Dinner with wine for two £75. 46 Ha Tavor St (972 3 516-1417).

Dalal Everything tastes good here, from the burgers to the yellowfin. Gorgeous bread basket. Dinner for two with wine, roughly £40. Shabazi St

Food a budget

Joz Vey Loz Intimate, dark and funky like a cool 1970s house, wine in beakers and yummy local food using lots of eggplant. Dinner for two with wine: £10. 51 Yehuda HaLevi St (03 560-6385)

Best cafes

Orna and Ella Can be tricky even getting in it's so popular, but it's always worth the wait for munching the world's best yam pancakes and heavenly cakes among the beautiful people. 33 Shenkin St (03 620-4753)

Cafe Mia Everything looks and tastes good at this pretty cafe primed for people watching. 55 Shabazi (03 516 8793)

Best museum

Tel Aviv Museum of Art Top-drawer permanent collections of modern art and unparalleled exhibits of Israeli photography, painting and sculpture. 7 Shaul Hamelech Blvd (03 607 7020, www.tamuseum.com)

Best galleries

Noga Internationally acclaimed gallery working with 24 of Israel's best and brightest artists, including star of the video installationist world, Keren Cytter. Always something challenging on display. 60 Ahad Ha'am St (www.nogagallery.co.il)

Sommer Another contemporary art heavyweight, always worth a look. 13 Rothschild Blvd (www.sommercontemporaryart.com)

Best Theatre

Suzanne Dellal Center for Dance and Theater First rate venue, particularly for dance. 6 Yechieli Street (03 510 5656, www.suzannedellal.org.il)

Best Club

The Griffin You might as well go the whole hog: join the thumping bodies in this huge room done up like a church, with pews to dance on, stained glass windows, and the bar as the altar. 23 Menachem Begin Street (03 560 0001)

Best Spa

Coola Whitewashed space offering expertly executed spa treatments, as well as special therapies for women recovering from cancer; belly dancing and yoga. Hanger 26, Tel Aviv Port (03-5444462)

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