3 Days in Izmir: Kemeraltı, Kordon, Karşıyaka Ferry, Urla and Ephesus

This three-day itinerary gives you two full days to soak up Izmir's historic bazaar, Roman ruins, bay ferries and nearby Urla vineyards, followed by a seamless third day by train at UNESCO-listed Ephesus and Şirince. Read our transport and ferry guide before Day 1.

Day 1: Konak Clock Tower, Kemeraltı Bazaar, Agora of Smyrna & Asansör Sunset

• Morning: start with warm flaky boyoz, a slow-baked oven egg and tulum cheese at Dostlar Fırını in Alsancak or at Konak Pier, then photograph the 1901 marble Konak Clock Tower and tiled Yalı Mosque on Konak Square.
• Morning: enter Kemeraltı Bazaar along Anafartalar Caddesi; pause for copper-pot Turkish coffee brewed in hot embers inside the 1744 courtyard of Kızlar Ağası Hanı, admire 1592 Hisar Mosque, and walk through the spice, cheese and olive stalls of Havra Sokağı and the Sephardic synagogue quarter.
• Midday: lunch on traditional İzmir köfte, söğüş or olive-oil dishes inside Kemeraltı's Abacıoğlu Hanı, topped with a warm slice of clotted-cream şambali cake.
• Afternoon: walk ten minutes uphill to the Ancient Agora of Smyrna to explore the vaulted Roman basilica arches and underground spring-water channels.
• Evening: ride the Konak Tram west to Karataş and take the free 1907 Historical Asansör cliff lift up 58 metres for a sweeping sunset panorama over the Gulf of Izmir, finishing with an Aegean wild-greens meze and grilled sea bream dinner in Alsancak.

Day 2: Alsancak, Kordon, Karşıyaka Ferry & Afternoon in Urla (or Alaçatı)

• Morning: visit the new Archaeology and Ethnography Museum inside the restored 1884 gardens of the Izmir Culture and Arts Factory in Alsancak, then wander the 19th-century Chios stone row houses off Kıbrıs Şehitleri Caddesi.
• Midday: walk along the waterfront lawns of the Kordon to Pasaport or Alsancak Pier and board an İzdeniz ferry across the bay to Karşıyaka, strolling pedestrian Karşıyaka Çarşısı and riding the coastal tram to the Bostanlı Sunset Terrace.
• Afternoon: head 35 minutes west to Urla to visit the 6th-century BC Klazomenai Olive Oil Workshop at İskele, browse Urla Art Street, and enjoy a sunset vineyard tasting of Bornova Misketi and Urla Karası along the Urla Wine Route (or continue 25 minutes further to the stone windmills of Alaçatı).

Day 3: UNESCO-Listed Ephesus, Terrace Houses, Selçuk & Şirince Village

• Morning: catch the morning TCDD train from Basmane (or İZBAN via Tepeköy) to Selçuk to walk downhill from the Upper Gate through Ancient Ephesus (Library of Celsus, Curetes Street, the mosaic-filled Terrace Houses and Great Theatre) before midday heat, followed by lunch and fruit-wine tasting in the hillside Greek-Ottoman village of Şirince.