Tired of the city’s concrete? Want to relax in a non-beach atmosphere? Care for a family picnic? Maybe a stroll, a jog, a bike or a boat ride? Head on to the  Yarkon Park  (Park Ha’Yarkon).

Compared to other urban centers around the world, Tel Aviv has very few green areas. The only major park is this one, so you better make the most out of it. It is 3.8km square in size, and is frequented by more than 16 million every year.

It might be “a poor man’s” Central Park, but it does allow one a change of pace right in the north end of the city. Sitting by the Yarkon River, seeing families enjoying some quality time together, hearing the birds chirping  – it’s the countryside within the city. There is much to do there,  you can find sporting facilities, a water park, big lawns, the Yarkon River, artificial lakes, botanical gardens, a bird park,??? bicycle lanes, playgrounds and more.

The park’s official name is Ganei Yehoshua (Yehoshua Gardens), honoring Tel Aviv’s mayor between 1969-1974, Yehoshua Rabinovich. Because the Yarkon River runs through the park, it’s universally known by the unofficial name in the title. The river runs from the east to its western end, the Mediterranean Sea, next to the Reading Power Plant. It has been heavily polluted for some time, so don’t take a swim in its waters.

The park is dominated by Eucalyptus trees, originally brought here to help dry the swamps and have since become an integral part Israeli and Zionist history. Thanks to the fact that Israel sits on the intersection of three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa, it is an important migratory station for many bird species (storks, herons and more). They spend the winter months in Africa and on their way to Europe, for the spring months, they cross here. You can see many of them in the bird park, the Zapari.

Park Ha’Yarkon stretches from Tel Aviv’s north east (Ibn Gabirol) all the way east (Bavli Neighborhood, Rockach Boulevard), across Ayalon Highway to Bnei Brak and Ramat Gan. The more you go east the broader park becomes, with more facilities, sights and activities. They started planning of the park in 1969, 18 years after the first park tree was planted, and it officially opened in 1973.