The city centre is marked by the Manara, from which six main streets radiate. With each street finally leading back to this point it is hard to get lost in Ramallah. However take care not to confuse it with the Clock Manara, Dawar a-Saa' which is something different. The area is full of the usual assortment of food, clothes and shoe shops, however there are also glittering gold shops and several traditional embroidery and pottery shops. The busy fruit and vegetable market, souq, is a good place to walk around for a flavour of life here. People come into Ramallah from the villages with their produce and set up stalls or sit by the road side with bundles of fruit, vegetables and herbs. A number of buses and services also run from just beside the market. As you get further out from the Manara you reach suburban areas, both old and modern. There are some very beautiful parts and it is well worth walking around to get a feel for the place.
Shari' a-Nahda has an excellent juice stall on the corner next to the Arab Bank, ask for any combination of fresh fruit or vegetable juice. This street leads to the police station and then down to Al-Bireh. Catch services to Nablus from here.
Sacks of pulses, herbs, spices and locally made pasta spill out onto the pavements of Shari' Al-Quds (Jerusalem Road), also the location of a number of meat and fish shops. The market leads off from the left hand side as you walk away from the Manara. This is also the place to catch services to Jerusalem.
Shari' Yaffa (Jaffa Street), leads to the Clock Manara which is marked by a tall column displaying the time and temperature. Around it are a couple of late night shops and an excellent bakery. The road then leads down hill to a number of popular outdoor chicken restaurants and the Ramallah Muntaza, a park where local families go to eat and drink in the evenings. Services to Bethlehem and Hebron are found part way down this street, before you reach the Clock Manara.
Shari' Ra'eesy (Main Street), is basically shoe and clothes shops galore, though there are also a large number of cafes, Arabic sweet shops, a bakery, two ice-cream parlours, a couple of good restaurants and cafes and one of Ramallah's embroidery shops. The road then leads down to lower, or old Ramallah (Ramallah tahta).
Ein Misbah is locally known as chicken street for the simple reason that it has little but chicken shops and a UN office to offer.
Shari' Irsaal (Radio Boulevard), has a couple of good humus, felafel, shwarma and chicken places, a bakery where you can watch the puffed up bread coming out of the oven and buy steaming hot and deliciously fresh pitta bread and a selection of biscuits. The best stationary shop in town is in the basement of the first shopping centre on your left as you walk down this road. Services to Birzeit leave from top of the street.
Ramallah Tahta (The Old City or Lower Ramallah) This was the original village of Ramallah and so has many older and more traditional houses and buildings. To get here walk down Main St. and keep going until you reach the petrol station. This part of the city also has several churches and a bus station.