Izmir

On the Aegean coast, Izmir is a city that we have heard a lot about and had been wanting to experience since we moved to Turkey. We finally made it over a long weekend last month. With it’s delicious seafood, beautiful coast, and exciting nightlife, Izmir lived up to the hype. We didn’t go to too many clubs, but we did find that almost all of them had a cover charge when we went out on Friday night. Our friend told us this is pretty typical, and the cover usually includes a free drink of some sort.

Like the rest of Turkey, the Turkish Lira is the currency used, but we were able to use credit cards at most of the restaurants. Also, a ton of people spoke English and every restaurant had English translation. Turkey is a country full of history and Izmir has a great location to visit many of these historical places on day trips.

How to Get Around

To get to Izmir, the easiest way is to fly. Most people will be coming from Istanbul, which is less than an hour flight and insanely cheap. You can also take a ferry from Istanbul or, of course, rent a car and drive about 5 and a half hours from Istanbul. We flew from Adana and rented a car at Izmir airport.

The rental cars are very cheap compared to the US, but they are almost all manual. If you prefer automatic, you can easily rent one, you just have to work it out with the rental company ahead of time. Driving in the cities in Turkey can be a little crazy and Izmir was no exception, but the highways are much more open and the driving is on the right side of the road just like in the US. Some highways do have tolls, so ask the rental company about a pass or make sure you have some Turkish Lira with you. We definitely recommend renting a car so you can get out of the city and see the area around Izmir. Also, we wanted to experience the beaches near Izmir. Since there were none in the city, we had to drive farther out to find some.

If you don’t want to rent a car, there are multiple companies offering day trips to nearby attractions. Taxis are also affordable to get around the city.

Things to do

Walk along the Kordon

The first thing we did when we arrived in Izmir was head to the Kordon. It is basically just a pedestrian path along the waterfront that you can walk on. Most of the sites we wanted to see were just a few minutes off this path too. We did find that there was virtually no shade and just a few benches so we were super hot during the day. There were a few little stands with people selling water, mussels, or other things, but there were way more people on the Kordon in the evening when it cooled down. People also fish right off the side.

Konak Square

Just a few minutes walk off the Kordon, the center of activity in Izmir seemed to be Konak Square. When we visited, there were people everywhere feeding the birds, socializing, and drinking tea. It was not as large of as area as I had imagined and in the center is a small mosque and the Izmir Clock Tower. There were a few benches, but not much shade to escape the heat at all. Some school groups were around and had a nice art display also. Around Konak Square, there are many places selling various drinks and Turkish foods.

Izmir Clock Tower

In the middle of Konak Square, you will see Izmir Clock Tower. Built in 1901, it is one of the historic buildings you will see around town. It also was much smaller than I thought, and it happened to be under construction during the time we were there. I wasn’t overly impressed, but the pictures look beautiful and I’m sure it is much nicer when it isn’t covered in construction signs.

Kemeraltı Bazaar

Just a block or so away from Konak Square, you will find Kemeraltı Bazaar. In case you are unfamiliar with a bazaar, it is basically just several streets full of shopping stalls. The prices are usually cheaper than you will find out in the city, and you can literally find almost anything here- souvenirs, jewelery, luggage, pet supplies, clothes, shoes, etc. As you can expect, it was also very hot during the day and the crowds of people didn’t allow for much of a breeze, but we really enjoyed looking around.

Asansör Tower

While we didn’t make it to Asansör Tower, we were told it has the best views from the top and is another great place to see the sunset and have a drink. If you do plan to go for sunset, we were told to get there early because it gets very crowded. If you are feeling ambitious and it’s not too hot, it is possible to walk there from Konak Square area. If not, a taxi would be fairly inexpensive.

Konak Pier

Right on the water off the Kordon, we stopped at Konak Pier to have some seafood for lunch. There were many restaurants to choose from from fast food to more high end places. We were there on a Friday and it seemed to be much more popular once people got off work and headed out for dinner and drinks. Sitting outside, we had a wonderful view of the sunset over the sea. There are several stores if you wanted to get some shopping in as well.

What to Eat

Seafood

Of course right along the sea, you can expect the seafood to be delicious and fresh. They had a large variety to choose from on display, but we prefer the grilled sea bass which is what we had in Izmir also. Before you sit to eat, the waiter will also show you a display of mezes (basically appetizers) and you can choose which ones you would like to try. Most restaurants bring fresh bread as well. Our other favorites are the grilled calamari and shrimp.

Mussels on the Street

Sold mostly along the Kordon in Izmir, there were a ton of stands selling local mussels with lemons. They are very inexpensive compared to the prices we are used to at home and seemed to be pretty fresh. It is definitely worth grabbing a few to keep up your energy while you explore the city.

Turkish breakfast

A traditional Turkish breakfast was a very pleasant surprise to me. It is basically a big feast that you share as a table. It usually includes cheese, tomato, olives, honey and jams, bread, sausage, salami, and eggs but it varies slightly depending which restaurant you go to. Many of the restaurants along the Kordon had signs advertising for breakfast. It is always accompanied by Turkish tea too!

Itinerary

Day 1- We arrived in Izmir late morning, picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel. After checking in, we walked along the Kordon to Konak Square, Izmir Clock Tower and Kemeraltı Bazaar. After exploring, we met our friend for a late seafood lunch at Konak Pier. We had drinks at a few places on the pier before walking down the Kordon to find the nightlife.

Day 2- In the morning, we drove to Ephesus. We had lunch in the area and explored. Afterwards, we drove to Pamukkale and checked in to our hotel. Since the park hadn’t closed yet, we went to take pictures of the travertines at sunset and then had dinner and went to bed early.

Day 3- We woke up early to get to the Heiropolous and Travertines when the park opened to avoid the crowds. After we saw everything, we had lunch and drove to our hotel in Çeşme. We relaxed by the pool and beach there for the rest of the day.

Day 4- We hung out by the beach in Çeşme for most of the day and enjoyed a seafood dinner before heading to the airport to go home.

Day Trips

Ephesus

An ancient city dating back to as early as the 7th century BC, Ephesus is a must see if you are in Turkey. The city used to be situated on the banks of a river and was a very important port city where lots of trading took place. I was very impressed by how well preserved the ruins were and just how many there were. Despite the heat, there were a ton of visitors, mostly with tour buses. I did lots of research before we drove to Ephesus and we still had a hard time finding things and figuring out what was what. It might be better to hire a guide or go with a tour group so you aren’t wandering like we were.

Selçuk is the closest city to the ruins and also has the home that the Virgin Mary was believed to live out her life. Only an hour drive from Izmir, I was so glad that we took the time to check out this area.

Pamukkale

We were most excited about this part of our trip. I had seen tons of pictures of the travertines and couldn’t wait to see them for myself. Travertines are basically limestone deposits that have been formed by the mineral water which fills them. They are bright white and almost looked like snow when we were driving up. Pamukkale means “cotton castle” in Turkish .

We drove our rental car from Ephesus to Pamukkale and it was a pretty easy drive and took around 2 and a half hours. It is also possible to drive directly from Izmir which takes about 3 hours. If you didn’t rent a car, Denizli is the nearest city and there are buses to and from most of the other major cities in Turkey.

We arrived in the earlier in the evening than we planned so we decided to head over to the park to catch the sunset. I definitely recommend this! Being one of Turkey’s most popular attractions, we knew it would be crowded but we were still able to get enjoy it and get some really beautiful pictures. We also visited when the park opened the next morning and there were hardly any people at all. You are actually allowed to walk through the many pools as long as you take your shoes off. We noticed that some of the sections were blocked off and people were only allowed on some parts. Apparently, they move around the sections of the travertines that they let people walk on to help preserve them. The deepest parts were maybe knee deep, so swimming was definitely not happening for us here. I was also surprised by how cold the water was since it is referred to as a thermal pool.

If you are interested in swimming, the antique pool is the place to go. Also known as Cleopatra’s Pool, it is full of mineral water and has parts of the ruins inside the pool as well. It is just a few minute walk through the park from the travertines and there was a small additional fee to use the pool. We didn’t swim but went inside for a look. There are souvenir shops, restaurants, and bathrooms in the area as well. If you have the time, it looks like a pretty nice way to spend the day.

Heiropolous is an ancient Greek-Roman spa city, and its ruins are directly next to the travertines. In fact, it is the same entrance for both and the admission fee also includes both of them. We chose to walk around and check out the ruins, but there were golf carts you could hire if you weren’t up for the walk. We didn’t find the walking very long or difficult even in sandles. The ancient amphitheater is by far the most impressive part of the ruins, you can’t miss it.

Çeşme

I wanted to make sure we had some beach time on our trip, so we decided to spend our last night of our trip in Çeşme. The peninsula of Çeşme has many beaches and a beautiful coastline so it seemed like the perfect place to relax and wind down before flying home. We drove here directly from Pamukkale which took us just under 4 hours, but is only a 1 hour drive from Izmir airport. We chose a hotel near old town so we could eat at one of the waterfront restaurants and get still get back to our hotel easily after some drinks. We spent most of our time at the beach at our hotel out of convenience so we didn’t get to check out any of the other ones in the area.

Sunset in Çeşme over the Greek island of Chios

Çeşme old town has a waterfront promenade and is filled with ice cream shops, restaurants, souvenir stalls, and old Greek houses. Çeşme Castle is also nearby. The fortress is over 500 years old and has been renovated and has a museum to visit inside. The Greek island of Chios is just a short boat ride away and many people will take a day trip there.

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Mar 5 Izmir, Turkey

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Mar 5 Izmir, Turkey

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