İzmir

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İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

İzmir Clock Tower, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

İzmir Clock Tower, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

İzmir Clock Tower, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Kemeraltı Bazaar, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

About İzmir

Turkey's third city curves around a deep gulf on the Aegean, its waterfront promenade lined with palm trees, cafes and ferries criss-crossing the bay. İzmir has a reputation as the most easygoing and outward-looking of Turkey's big cities, with a mild climate, sea breezes and a lively evening scene along the Kordon.

As ancient Smyrna, it has been a port for well over two thousand years. The Roman agora and the hilltop citadel of Kadifekale survive from antiquity, while the Ottoman centuries left the bustling Kemeraltı bazaar, caravanserais and mosques. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries a cosmopolitan trading city grew up here, remembered in the Clock Tower and the old lift of Karataş.

İzmir is also the gateway to the Aegean coast, with Ephesus, Pergamon and the seaside towns of Çeşme and Urla within day-trip range. Do not leave without trying boyoz pastries, kumru sandwiches and fish by the sea.

Best seasonApril-June and September-October

Ideal stay2-3 days, plus day trips along the coast

Arrivingİzmir Adnan Menderes Airport, linked to the city by the İZBAN suburban train

11 Places Locals Love in İzmir

Landmarks 1

İzmir Clock Tower, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

İzmir Clock Tower

Standing in Konak Square since 1901, this ornate Ottoman clock tower was built to mark the 25th anniversary of Sultan Abdülhamid I...

Shopping 2

Kemeraltı Bazaar, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Kemeraltı Bazaar

Spreading inland from Konak Square, this huge historic market district is a maze of streets and covered passages filled with shops...

Kızlarağası Han, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Kızlarağası Han

Within the Kemeraltı district, this Ottoman caravanserai was built in the 18th century as an inn and warehouse for travelling merc...

Neighborhoods 1

Kordon İzmir, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Kordon İzmir

The long waterfront promenade between Konak and Alsancak is İzmir's favourite place to be outdoors, with wide lawns, cycle paths a...

History 1

Agora of Smyrna, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Agora of Smyrna

The ruins of ancient Smyrna's marketplace lie in the old centre, rebuilt in the Roman period after a major earthquake in the secon...

Viewpoints 3

Kadifekale, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Kadifekale

On Mount Pagos above the old city, the walls of this ancient citadel date back to the Hellenistic refounding of Smyrna, with later...

Asansör İzmir, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Asansör İzmir

Built in 1907 by a local Jewish merchant to help residents climb the steep slope of Karataş, this brick tower houses a lift that c...

İzmir Gulf Ferries, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

İzmir Gulf Ferries

Public ferries cross the inner gulf between piers such as Konak, Pasaport, Alsancak, Karşıyaka and Bostanlı, and they are one of t...

Museums 1

İzmir Archaeology Museum, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

İzmir Archaeology Museum

Close to Konak, this museum gathers finds from the ancient cities of the Aegean region, including Smyrna, Ephesus, Teos and Klazom...

Temples and Shrines 1

Hisar Mosque İzmir, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Hisar Mosque İzmir

Completed in the late 16th century in the heart of Kemeraltı, Hisar Mosque is the largest and one of the oldest historic mosques i...

Parks 1

Kültürpark İzmir, İzmir, İzmir Province, Turkey

Kültürpark İzmir

Laid out in the 1930s in the centre of the city, this large park is İzmir's green lung and the traditional home of the İzmir Inter...

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Photo credits

Photo: Rəcəb Yaxşı, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Rəcəb Yaxşı, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Rəcəb Yaxşı, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Rəcəb Yaxşı, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: HALUK COMERTEL, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: HALUK COMERTEL, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: HALUK COMERTEL, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: HALUK COMERTEL, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

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Photo: Brfnztvl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Brfnztvl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Brfnztvl, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

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Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Photo: Chansey, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Haluk Comertel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

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Photo: Dosseman, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0