Free printable guide · A3+
Tahana Merkazit TLV Travel Guide and Map
Where is my bus? Where is the exit? Where am I?! Tel Aviv’s New Central Bus Station can be very confusing for an unprepared visitor. This unofficial guide fits the whole station on one two-sided sheet.
Version 2.05 · 11.05.2026 EN / HE A3+
Why it exists
The station is one of the most confusing buildings in Israel. A few things visitors run into:
- A maze on 8 floorsIt was designed as a “city under one roof”: a huge brutalist shopping mall with buses. Floors 0–3 are underground, some are abandoned.
- The entrance is on floor 4Unexpectedly, the main entrance is on floor 4, and the buses leave from floors 6 and 7.
- Two buildings in oneSections A and B are built as separate buildings. On some floors the only way from one to the other is through floor 6.
- Same numbers, different platformsFloor 7 has two sets of platforms with the same numbers, in different sections.
- Signs you can’t trustMost of the signage is outdated or just wrong, and many elevators and escalators don’t work, or work unpredictably.
- Doors that closeSome entrances have limited hours and are closed in the evening.
What it’s for
The goal is simple: you arrive, find your bus, and find the way out — without getting lost and without needing the internet. Everything a first-time visitor needs is on one sheet: every floor, every platform, every line and every exit.
- One sheetThe whole station: a map of floors 3–7 on one side, a guide and every bus line by platform on the other.
- Works offlinePaper doesn’t need a signal — and there isn’t much of one inside the concrete.
- English and HebrewEvery text is in both languages, side by side.
What’s inside
Side A — the guide
How the station is built, what to know before you go, and every bus line by platform on floors 6 and 7, with the stop numbers for navigation apps.
Side B — the map
Floors 3 to 7 drawn on top of each other, so you see how they connect: routes to the platforms and to the exits, stairs, escalators, restrooms, entrances with their hours, and wayfinding tips.
Three tricks from the brochure
- Entrance numbersEvery entrance, store and restroom has a number. The first digit is the floor: Entrance 45 is on floor 4.
- Store numbersStore 5008 is on floor 5. Handy when a signpost is missing or outdated.
- Half floorsThere are levels between floors. A restroom coded 4½-20 is between floors 4 and 5, by tower 20.
The paper
- Format
- A3+ (329 × 483 mm), one sheet
- Sides
- Two: the guide and the map
- Folded
- Pocket size, with the cover on top
- Languages
- English and Hebrew
- Version
- 2.05 · 11.05.2026
Get a copy
Download
Both sides as PDF files, free. Keep them on your phone or print them.
All files on Google Drive →Print it yourself
Any print shop can do it — see how below.
How to print
- Download both sidesSide A and side B are separate PDF files.
- Print double-sided on A3+Use one A3+ sheet (329 × 483 mm). On A3 it works too: choose “fit to page”, the margins just get a little smaller.
- Fold itFold along the panels so the cover with the blue “התחנה” pattern ends up on top.
How it was made
The brochure grew in versions. The first one had a photo on the map side; version 2.0 got a real drawn map of floors 3–7 and a Hebrew translation. Since then every version fixes what visitors and readers point out — including a round of feedback from r/Israel on Reddit.
Who it’s for
- First-time visitors and tourists
- Travellers changing buses in Tel Aviv
- Anyone who has ever been lost in the station
- People curious about the building itself
Versions
Current version: 2.05
-
Brochure v2.05: line 405 removed
Line 405 Tel Aviv – Jerusalem was cancelled, so it is gone from the brochure.
-
Brochure v2.04: doors, shelter stairs and a floor 7 fix
Door icons, more accurate walls, and a serious fix for the platforms on floor 7.
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Brochure v2.03: fixes from Reddit feedback
Thanks to readers on r/Israel: floor 7 sections, platform notes and legend wording.
-
Brochure v2.02: proofreading and new QR sections
Proofread by Yotam Nachum, a new version numbering and a link to @hatahana_project.
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Brochure v2.0: a real map and Hebrew translation
The second version: new side A, a real map on side B and Hebrew translations.
Help and links
Made by Mikhail Korotkov. Hebrew translation by Avigal, proofreading by Yotam Nachum.