The town is enclosed by the Waal river and the Linge river on the south and the north side, and the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal on the east side. It is the biggest town in the area called Betuwe, which is famous for being one of the centres for Dutch fruit production (apples, pears, some plums and cherries). It once housed a famous Dutch jam-factory called 'De Betuwe' (now torn down for the most part) and still retains a jam-factory-museum.
Every year somewhere in September, a festival called fruitcorso is held, to celebrate the harvest of the fruit of all the villages in the Betuwe area. It includes a parade of cars which are decorated with fruit.
Tiel has also been known for its tin industry. It still has a tin factory which mainly produces curiosities for tourists.
Other than this, there is not much to attract tourists. Tiel can be a good starting point to explore the rest of the Betuwe, particularly in May when all the fruit-trees in the surrouding areas are in bloom.
The municipality of Tiel also includes the following towns, villages and townships: Kapel-Avezaath, Wadenoijen.