İzmir is the easygoing pearl of the Aegean, a port city draped along a sweeping bay where palm-lined promenades, fish restaurants and modern art galleries fill streets that have been alive since antiquity. Once known as Smyrna, it neighbors some of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the world, from the marble avenues of Ephesus and the Library of Celsus to the temples of Pergamon and the white travertine terraces of Pamukkale. In the city itself, the historic Kemeraltı Bazaar, the breezy Kıbrıs Şehitleri shopping street and the cafes of Alsancak offer a relaxed, cosmopolitan side of Turkey that is perfect to combine with day trips along the coast.
