Tel Aviv ranked #3 by Lonely Planet 2011

Lonely Planet, the world's premier traval guide, has ranked Israel's Tel Aviv city as the third hottest place on earth, for the year 2011.

In a recent article, New York has been ranked #1, while Algiria's Tangier is second. Tel Aviv gets a great tag line as a "modern Sin City", a "total flipside" of Jerusalem".

Tel Aviv's lively club scene is described as "truly diverse 21st-century Mediterranean hub". But the biggest surprise is the comparison to San Francisco, because of the Tel Aviv large gay community.

Culture and entertainment-seeking tourists will probably find Tel Aviv a more attractive detination, as Lonely Planet's recommends the city for being a "greenhouse for Israel’s growing art, film and music scenes".

New-Zealand's Wellingon is ranked #4, Spain's Valencia is #5, Peru's surprising Iquitos is ranked #6 although you can't reach the place by road (boating by the Amazon is the way to get there).

Belgium's city of Ghent is also a surprise at #7 (you'd expect to see Brussels, Bruges or Antwerp). Upgraded Delhi city, both old and new, reached the #8 spot for India.

Newcastle is a famous British city, but Lonely Planet's staff chose Australia's Newcastle for #9. Closing the interesting city list is Thailand's well-known Chiag Mai, also a favorite destination for Israelis.

We, the Vital Tel Aviv Hotel staff, always knew that Tel Aviv was one of the hottest places on earth. Now Lonely Planet just re-affirms our gut feeling.

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