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A photograph of İzmir

City guide · Türkiye

Theme: History, Up to 1 hour in İzmir, Türkiye — page 3

İzmir begins in Konak, where the İzmir Clock Tower stands beside Konak Square and the gulf waterfront. From here, Kemeraltı’s historic market streets lead inlan...

Photograph · Anonymous · CC0

2,764 Places
30 Districts
Suggested stay
Not recorded
Getting around
İzmirim Kart, İZBAN, İzmir Metro, trams, ESHOT buses and İZDENİZ ferries

Turn this list into a plan

Set your days, your pace and the hours you actually want to be out. The planner works around closing days and travel time, and leaves room to eat.

Plan İzmir

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

İzmir begins in Konak, where the İzmir Clock Tower stands beside Konak Square and the gulf waterfront. From here, Kemeraltı’s historic market streets lead inland through hans, shops, mosques and food stalls, while the coast opens into the broad Gulf of İzmir and the Kordon promenade. The city is also the natural base for western Türkiye’s major excursions: Selçuk and Ephesus to the south, Bergama and Pergamon to the north, and Çeşme, Urla and the peninsula coast to the west. İzmir therefore works as both an urban destination and a launch point for archaeology, villages, beaches and Aegean coastal landscapes.

Checked 2026-09-02

Practical information

Language spoken
Turkish
The official language of the Republic of Turkiye
Dialling code
+90
The international dialling code for Turkiye
Currency
Turkish lira (₺, TRY)
The official currency; one lira is divided into 100 kurus
Emergency number
112
One number for ambulance, fire and police
Plug type
European two-pin · 220 V
The national living guide records 220 V and European-style two-pin plugs
Tap water
Not recorded
No verified national source in the dataset

Planning a visit

September · The Turkish State Meteorological Service records a 29.3°C mean high and 18.8°C mean low for İzmir in September; this is among the most comfortable periods for long outdoor sightseeing days.

  1. January: viable with meaningful trade-offs
  2. February: viable with meaningful trade-offs
  3. March: good time to visit
  4. April: best time to visit
  5. May: best time to visit
  6. June: good time to visit
  7. July: viable with meaningful trade-offs
  8. August: viable with meaningful trade-offs
  9. September: best time to visit — current month
  10. October: best time to visit
  11. November: good time to visit
  12. December: viable with meaningful trade-offs

Sources

Top things to see

Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.

Filter the list

65 places match

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Category

Historic monuments 55 Museums 0 Places of worship 10 Nature sites 0 Viewpoints 0 Food and drink 0 Markets and shopping 0 Entertainment 0 Nightlife 0 Family attractions 0 Art and culture 0 Activities 0

Typical visit duration

Up to 1 hour 65 1 to 2 hours 18

Interests

History 65 Art 10 Museums 0 Nature 14 Sea and beach 10 Viewpoints 4
  1. Belevi Mausoleum Belevi Mausoleum
    32 45 min

    Belevi Mausoleum

    Belevi Mausoleum is an Early Hellenistic monumental tomb on a hillside near Belevi, in Selçuk district of İzmir.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Selçuk
  2. Bet Israel Synagogue Bet Israel Synagogue
    33 30 min

    Bet Israel Synagogue

    Bet Israel Sinagogu

    Bet Israel Synagogue is an active historic place of worship in Karataş, within Konak, İzmir. Construction began in 1905, and the synagogue opened for worship in 1907.

    • High
    • Place of worship
    • Konak
  3. Teleferik
    34 45 min

    Teleferik

    Teleferik is Balçova’s enclosed cable-car attraction, with its lower facility on Sakarya Caddesi opposite İzmir University of Economics.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Balçova
  4. Temple of the Emperors (Ephesus) Temple of the Emperors (Ephesus)
    35 45 min

    Temple of the Emperors (Ephesus)

    Domitian Tapınağı

    The Temple of the Emperors is an imperial-cult monument within ancient Ephesus, standing on the west side of the State Agora. Its large terrace and altar identify a ceremonial complex set directly into the city’s civic landscape.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Selçuk
  5. Yeşilova Mound Yeşilova Mound
    36 45 min

    Yeşilova Mound

    Yeşilova Höyüğü

    Yeşilova Mound is an archaeological settlement in Bornova, İzmir, where evidence of human occupation reaches back about 8,500 years, to around 6500 BCE.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Bornova
  6. Çandarlı Castle Çandarlı Castle
    37 45 min

    Çandarlı Castle

    Çandarlı Kalesi

    Çandarlı Castle is a compact fortified landmark in Çandarlı Mahallesi, within İzmir’s Dikili district.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Dikili
  7. Battle of Chesma
    38 45 min

    Battle of Chesma

    Çeşme Deniz Savaşı

    Battle of Chesma is a historical display within İzmir Çeşme Museum, set inside Çeşme Castle and specifically located on the lower floor of Umur Bey Tower.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Çeşme
  8. Colophon Colophon
    39 45 min

    Colophon

    Kolophon

    Colophon is an archaeological settlement landscape in Menderes, İzmir, between present-day Değirmendere and Çamönü. It was one of the oldest and most important cities of Ionia, but it is not a compact museum or a single monumental ruin.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Menderes
  9. Lebedus Lebedus
    40 45 min

    Lebedus

    Lebedos

    Lebedus is a small open-air archaeological landscape on the Kısık Peninsula beside Ürkmez, between Gümüldür and Ürkmez on İzmir’s coast.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Seferihisar
  10. Atatürk Mask Atatürk Mask
    41 45 min

    Atatürk Mask

    Atatürk Maskı

    Atatürk Mask is a monumental outdoor portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk built directly into the Yeşildere hillside in İzmir’s Çaldıran area, between Buca and Konak.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Konak
  11. Atarneus Atarneus
    42 45 min

    Atarneus

    Atarneus is an ancient settlement at Ağılkale, on a hill near Dikili in İzmir. Local heritage information dates its history to approximately 4000 BCE.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Dikili
  12. Başdurak Mosque Başdurak Mosque
    43 30 min

    Başdurak Mosque

    Başdurak Camii

    Başdurak Mosque is a functioning Ottoman-era mosque at the meeting of Anafartalar Caddesi and Kemeraltı 863 Sokak in Konak, İzmir.

    • High
    • Place of worship
    • Konak
  13. Temple of Trajan Temple of Trajan
    44 45 min

    Temple of Trajan

    Trayan Tapınağı

    The Temple of Trajan occupies the highest terrace of the Pergamon Acropolis on Kale Hill above Bergama, İzmir.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Bergama
  14. Magnesian Gate
    45 45 min

    Magnesian Gate

    Gate of Magnesia

    Magnesian Gate is the surviving city gate identified within the ancient city of Ephesus at Selçuk.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Selçuk
  15. Karabel relief Karabel relief
    46 45 min

    Karabel relief

    Karabel Kaya Kabartması

    Karabel relief is a Hittite-Luwian rock monument carved into the south-facing slope at Karabel Pass near Kemalpaşa.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Kemalpaşa
  16. Ayasuluk Citadel Ayasuluk Citadel
    47 45 min

    Ayasuluk Citadel

    Ayasolouk

    Ayasuluk Citadel occupies the summit of Ayasuluk Hill in Selçuk, where the town’s central heritage landscape rises into a defended archaeological enclosure. Its surviving walls belong to a layered setting associated with Byzantine, Aydınoğlu and Ottoman periods.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Selçuk
  17. Larissa
    48 45 min

    Larissa

    Larisa

    Larissa is an ancient settlement near Buruncuk in Menemen district, north of İzmir. It belonged to the Aeolis region and occupied an elevated landscape rather than surviving as one compact monument.

    • High
    • Historic monument
    • Menemen
  18. Kızlarağası Han Kızlarağası Han
    49 45 min

    Kızlarağası Han

    Kızlarağası Hanı

    Kızlarağası Han is an eighteenth-century Ottoman commercial inn in İzmir’s Konak district, embedded in the working lanes of Kemeraltı rather than set apart as a museum.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Konak
  19. Acropolis of Erythrae [Erythrai] Acropolis of Erythrae [Erythrai]
    50 45 min

    Acropolis of Erythrae [Erythrai]

    The Acropolis of Erythrae, also written Erythrai, is the elevated part of the ancient settlement associated with modern Ildırı in Çeşme, İzmir.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Çeşme
  20. Teuthrania
    51 45 min

    Teuthrania

    Teuthrania is an archaeological site identified with Kalerga Tepe, also written Kalarga Tepe, in İzmir’s Bergama district. The remains occupy an elevated rural hill rather than a formal museum building or a compact visitor complex.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Bergama
  21. Atatürk Monument Atatürk Monument
    52 45 min

    Atatürk Monument

    Atatürk Anıtı

    Atatürk Monument is the equestrian civic sculpture in İzmir’s Cumhuriyet Meydanı, on Kordon at Atatürk Bulvarı, in front of Swissôtel. Its subject is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as a commander, giving the waterfront square a distinctly republican and military memorial character.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Konak
  22. Asklepion Asklepion
    53 45 min

    Asklepion

    Asklepion is a healing sanctuary near Bergama, arranged as a connected landscape of approach, worship, public gathering and treatment. The long Via Tecta leads towards the monumental propylon and the principal sacred area.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Bergama
  23. Yıldıztepe Military Cemetery Yıldıztepe Military Cemetery
    54 30 min

    Yıldıztepe Military Cemetery

    Yıldıztepe Şehitliği

    Yıldıztepe Military Cemetery is a small memorial site in İskele Mahallesi, within İzmir’s Urla district.

    • Notable
    • Place of worship
    • Urla
  24. Atatürk, His Mother and Women's Rights Monument Atatürk, His Mother and Women's Rights Monument
    55 45 min

    Atatürk, His Mother and Women's Rights Monument

    Atatürk, Annesi ve Kadın Hakları Anıtı

    Atatürk, His Mother and Women's Rights Monument is a landmark in Anayasa Meydanı, Tuna, on Karşıyaka’s İzmir waterfront. Its present structure reopened in 2018 after the original 1972 monument was rebuilt.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Karşıyaka
  25. Neonteichos Neonteichos
    56 45 min

    Neonteichos

    Neonteikhos

    Neonteichos is an archaeological settlement in the mountainous landscape around Yanıkköy, within İzmir’s Menemen district.

    • Notable
    • Historic monument
    • Menemen
Show 9 more places

Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·

Where to base yourself

District boundaries come from OSM administrative relations, so a district page holds exactly the places inside it — plus, for the islands and the coast, the nearest district by proximity.

How the city is laid out

Use Konak as the central reference point. The Clock Tower, Konak Square, Yalı Mosque, government buildings and the entrance to Kemeraltı are concentrated here; the market continues inland and north-east, while the waterfront route runs towards Konak Pier, Alsancak and Kordon. The Gulf of İzmir divides the metropolitan area, with districts such as Karşıyaka on the northern shore and Balçova, Narlıdere and Güzelbahçe along the western shore. The province extends much farther than the centre. Selçuk and Ephesus lie south, Bergama lies north, and Çeşme and Urla lie west on the peninsula. Treat these outlying places as separate day-trip areas rather than neighbourhoods of the centre.

Checked 2026-09-02

Getting around

İzmir’s integrated public-transport system combines İZBAN suburban rail, İzmir Metro, trams, ESHOT buses and İZDENİZ ferries, with İzmirim Kart used across the network. The Clock Tower, Konak, Kemeraltı and the central waterfront are easiest to experience as a walking circuit, with buses, rail and ferries extending the journey around the gulf. İZBAN is particularly useful for the airport and the southern corridor towards Selçuk; Ephesus itself is then reached from Selçuk using current local connections. Bergama, Çeşme, Urla and peninsula beaches require separate intercity or municipal transport planning. Check the relevant operator before travelling because routes and service frequencies can change.

Checked 2026-09-02

Nearby districts and related places

Nearby places

Common questions

What should I see first in İzmir?

Begin at the İzmir Clock Tower in Konak, look across Konak Square towards the gulf, then walk through Kemeraltı and continue north along the waterfront towards Kordon. This route introduces İzmir’s principal historic, commercial and seaside settings in one connected visit.

Is İzmir a good base for visiting Ephesus?

İzmir is a practical base for a southern excursion to Selçuk and Ephesus. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism lists Ephesus as an archaeological site in Selçuk, İzmir Province. Check the current İZBAN and local transport information before travelling, and confirm the site’s current visitor information on the Ministry page.

Can Bergama be visited as a day trip from İzmir?

Bergama is a substantial northern excursion centred on Pergamon. UNESCO describes the acropolis as the capital of the Hellenistic Attalid dynasty and part of a wider cultural landscape that includes the Asclepieion and later layers around modern Bergama. Plan it as a separate outing and verify current transport and site information before departure.

Which coastal places can I visit from İzmir?

The main western options are Çeşme and Urla, together with the peninsula’s smaller coastal settlements and beaches. İzmir’s official destination material presents the province as a destination for Aegean coast, swimming and relaxation as well as history. Choose one coastal area for a day rather than trying to cover the entire peninsula.

How do I get around İzmir without a car?

Use İzmirim Kart with the city’s integrated buses, metro, suburban rail, trams and ferries. Walk between the central Konak sights, then use rail or sea transport for longer gulf-side journeys. For Bergama, Çeşme, Urla and beach areas, check the current intercity or municipal connection separately.

How many days should I spend in İzmir?

No official recommended stay length is recorded. Your duration depends on whether the plan covers only Konak, Kemeraltı and the gulf waterfront or adds separate excursions to Ephesus, Bergama, Çeşme or Urla. Those destinations are spread across the province, so each requires its own travel time and itinerary space.