Türkiye's relaxed, sea-facing Aegean city — the Kordon waterfront, the Kemeraltı bazaar, and an easy base for Ephesus, Çeşme and the wine country.
Last reviewed on 3 June 2026.
İzmir is Türkiye's third-largest city, spread around a long gulf on the central Aegean coast. It has a reputation, deserved, for being more relaxed and more secular than Istanbul or Ankara — a place that faces the sea, lives outdoors, and takes its evenings slowly. The pace is set by the water: ferries criss-cross the bay, the promenade fills at dusk, and the breeze off the Aegean keeps even the hot months bearable. For travellers, İzmir is two things at once: a comfortable city worth a couple of days in its own right, and the most convenient base for the ancient sites and beach towns scattered along this stretch of coast.
The city is also very old. As Smyrna it was one of the great cities of the ancient Aegean, claimed by several places as the birthplace of Homer, and continuously inhabited for some three thousand years. A great deal was lost in the fire of 1922 at the close of the War of Independence, which is why the centre feels comparatively modern; but the layers underneath are still there, and a few of them are open to walk through.
The Kordon is the waterfront promenade that runs along the seafront of the central districts, and it is the heart of how İzmir lives. A wide pedestrian strip of grass, palms and cafés separates the road from the water, and on warm evenings it fills steadily until well after dark with people walking, cycling, sitting on the grass with a drink, or simply watching the gulf. The sunsets here, over the water with the hills of the far shore behind, are the city's daily set piece and reason enough to plan an evening around them.
The other thing the gulf gives İzmir is its ferries. Passenger boats run across the bay between Konak, Karşıyaka, Bostanlı and Üçkuyular, and taking one is both a practical way to cross the water and one of the nicest cheap pleasures in the city. A crossing at dusk, with gulls following the boat and the lights coming up along the shore, costs the same as a tram ride and shows you the city from the angle it was built to be seen from.
Konak is the symbolic centre. Konak Square opens directly onto the water and is anchored by the Saat Kulesi, the ornate clock tower from 1901 that has become the emblem of the city. From here the old commercial quarter spreads inland.
Just behind Konak is Kemeraltı, the sprawling historic bazaar — a dense maze of covered lanes, workshops, courtyards, mosques and tea houses that has been the city's trading heart for centuries. It is a working market rather than a tourist set piece, which is exactly what makes it good: spice merchants, coppersmiths, fabric stalls and small lokantas all jumbled together. Set inside it is the Kızlarağası Han, a beautifully restored 18th-century caravanserai built around a courtyard, now full of antique and craft shops and a fine place to stop for coffee.
South of Konak, in the old quarter of Karataş, the Asansör is a historic public elevator built in 1907 to carry residents up the steep cliff between the lower street and the houses above. It still runs, and the terrace at the top gives one of the best free views over the gulf, particularly at sunset. Above the whole city sits Kadifekale, the hilltop fortress whose foundations go back to the Hellenistic period; the walls are modest, but the panorama over İzmir and the bay is the point.
Back down in the centre, the Agora of Smyrna preserves the marketplace of the Roman city — colonnades, vaulted basement galleries and inscriptions, sitting incongruously among modern blocks. It is a quiet, low-key site that rewards an unhurried hour.
For evenings, Alsancak is where the city eats and drinks. The grid of streets behind the northern Kordon — especially the restored old houses around Kıbrıs Şehitleri and the side lanes off it — is full of bars, meyhanes and restaurants, and stays busy late.
İzmir's food is distinctly Aegean: lighter, more vegetable-forward and more olive-oil based than the cooking of the interior. Several things are local institutions. Gevrek is the İzmir name for the sesame ring sold everywhere else as simit, eaten for breakfast on the move. Boyoz is a flaky, savoury pastry of Sephardic Jewish origin, almost unique to the city and traditionally eaten with a boiled egg. Kumru is a stuffed sesame-bread sandwich — cheese, sausage and tomato in the classic version — that is the city's standard quick lunch.
The deeper tradition is zeytinyağlı, the family of vegetable dishes cooked slowly in olive oil and served cold or at room temperature: artichokes, green beans, stuffed vine leaves, fresh herbs gathered from the hills. A long meal in an Alsancak or Kordon meyhane runs the other way — cold and hot meze brought in waves, grilled fish, and rakı poured over ice, drawn out across the evening rather than rushed.
İzmir's real advantage is what lies within an easy reach of it. The ancient Aegean coast is unusually rich, and several of its set pieces are comfortable half- or full-day trips.
The great Roman city — Library of Celsus, terrace houses, theatre — about an hour south, near the town of Selçuk. The headline trip from İzmir, and one that genuinely needs most of a day.
A hillside village above Selçuk of old stone-and-plaster houses, vineyards and fruit wines. Easily combined with Ephesus for a slower afternoon.
The beach end of the peninsula, an hour or so west. Çeşme has the coast and the Genoese castle; Alaçatı has restored stone houses, cobbled lanes and some of the country's best windsurfing.
The dramatic clifftop acropolis and the Asklepion healing sanctuary above the town of Bergama, to the north. A full day, but a remarkable one.
Further afield, Sardis — the capital of ancient Lydia and, by tradition, the birthplace of coinage — lies inland to the east, with a striking reconstructed gymnasium and the remains of a temple of Artemis. It sees far fewer visitors than the coastal sites and makes a quieter day out for anyone who has already done Ephesus.
İzmir has a long, warm season. Spring and autumn — roughly April to early June, and September into October — are the most comfortable windows, with warm days, sea swims still possible at either end, and the day-trip sites pleasant to walk. Summers are genuinely hot, but the city is saved by the meltem, the steady afternoon breeze off the Aegean that takes the edge off and keeps the evenings on the Kordon pleasant. Winters are mild and often wet rather than cold; the beach towns largely close down, but the city itself carries on, and it is a fine time for the museums, the bazaar and the food.
Adnan Menderes Airport (ADB), south of the city, is well connected to Istanbul and a growing number of European cities. Its great convenience is the railway: a commuter line runs directly from the terminal into the centre, so you can reach the heart of the city without a taxi. Within İzmir, transport is genuinely easy by Turkish-city standards.
One card covers all of it. The İzmirim Kart is the rechargeable transport card used on the metro, İZBAN, ferries, trams and buses; buy and top it up at machines in stations, and tap on as you go. Day trips to Selçuk and the wider coast are also doable by intercity bus or, for Selçuk, by İZBAN; for Çeşme, Şirince and Pergamon a car or an organised tour gives more freedom.
For most visitors the choice is between two central districts, with a third option if the coast is the real draw.
Yes, both in its own right and as a base. The city itself offers the Kordon waterfront, the Kemeraltı bazaar, the Konak clock tower and a relaxed, sea-facing atmosphere that many visitors prefer to the bigger cities. It also sits within an hour or two of Ephesus, Çeşme, Şirince and Pergamon, which makes it one of the most useful places to stay on the whole Aegean coast.
Two days is enough to see the city itself unhurried — an evening on the Kordon, a morning in Kemeraltı and Konak, and time for the Agora and the Asansör. If you want to use İzmir as a base for the surrounding sites, add a day for each major trip: Ephesus and Selçuk easily fill one, and Çeşme or Pergamon another. Four to five days lets you combine the city with two or three day trips comfortably.
Ephesus is near the town of Selçuk, roughly an hour south of central İzmir by road. You can reach Selçuk by intercity bus, by car, or by the İZBAN commuter rail, and then cover the short remaining distance to the site by taxi or local minibus. Many visitors also join an organised day tour that handles the transport and guiding.
Spring and autumn — roughly April to early June and September into October — are the most comfortable, with warm days, walkable ancient sites and the sea still pleasant at either end. Summers are hot but eased by the meltem breeze off the Aegean, and they are the liveliest time on the coast. Winters are mild and often rainy, good for the city itself but quiet at the beach towns.
Adnan Menderes Airport (ADB) has a commuter rail line running directly from the terminal into the city, which is the simplest and cheapest way in. The İZBAN network links the airport to the central stations, where you can change to the metro, trams or ferries. Taxis and shuttle buses are also available if you are arriving late or carrying heavy luggage.