Where to stay in Izmir: the 4 neighborhoods to know in 2026

Konak is the heart of the city, and it fits between the sea and the hill: the square, its pigeons and the clock tower of 1901, offered to the sultan for his twenty-five years on the throne, the tiny Yalı mosque covered in tiles, Konak Pier, the customs house of 1890 turned shopping mall, and the pier from which the ferries leave for the north shore. Behind, Kemeraltı, the bazaar that has run down to the sea since the seventeenth century: the Kızlarağası han of 1744 and its cafés in the courtyard, the Hisar mosque of 1597, the largest in the city, the street of synagogues, the shops of wedding dresses and copperware, and the counters of kumru and boyoz where you lunch standing up. Higher up, the Roman Agora, rebuilt after the earthquake of 178, and Kadifekale, Alexander's fortress from which you see the whole bay; to the south, Bahribaba park, the archaeological and ethnographic museums, and, in Karataş, the Asansör of 1907, the lift that climbs to the Jewish quarter. To the east, Basmane, the station of 1876 and its lanes of cheap hotels, where backpackers have slept for fifty years. You sleep here for the bazaar and the ferries on foot, and for the price. The downside: streets that empty after the bazaar closes, around eight, and station hotels whose reviews speak of noise and wear.

Alsancak is the neighborhood where the city goes out: the Kordon, the promenade of lawns and cafés on the sea that runs from Konak to the station, where the whole city sits facing the sunset with a beer and sunflower seeds, Cumhuriyet square and the equestrian statue of Atatürk of 1932, the Atatürk museum in a Kordon mansion, the Levantine houses with bay windows in the back streets, the church of Saint Polycarp of 1625, the oldest in the city, the Beth Israel synagogue, and Kıbrıs Şehitleri street, pedestrian, a hundred bars and restaurants serving until two in the morning. To the south, Kültürpark, forty hectares of park laid out in 1936 on the quarter burned in 1922, where the Fair is held every September, with the city's history and archive museums; to the east, the stadiums, Halkapınar and Alsancak station of 1858, from where the suburban train runs to the airport in twenty-five minutes and to Ephesus in an hour and a quarter. You sleep here to walk in the evening, for the Kordon and for the train. The downside: noisy nights around Kıbrıs Şehitleri, and the most expensive hotels in the city.

Karşıyaka, the shore across, is a city within the city, which says it is going to Izmir when it takes the ferry: twenty minutes of crossing from Konak or Alsancak, and you land on a quay of cafés, with its own Kordon, its pedestrian Çarşı, its pastry shops, its football club and a tram that follows the sea to Bostanlı, the neighborhood of families, of its Wednesday market and its open-air theater. This is where you watch the sun set behind Konak, and not the other way round. To the east, Bayraklı, the new business district, its twin glass towers, the courthouse, the Salhane metro, and, on the hill, the mound of the first Smyrna, founded five thousand years ago. Further, in Çiğli, the Sasalı wildlife park, for children. You sleep here to live like the city, for grand hotels at four-star prices and for the hot springs of Bayraklı, the only ones in the middle of town. The downside: twenty minutes by ferry or forty by car to the bazaar and Alsancak, and the last boat before midnight.

West of Konak, the coast runs toward Çeşme along the sea: Göztepe and Güzelyalı, the neighborhoods of Sunday strolls and the tram, Üçkuyular and its pier, then Balçova, where the hot springs of Agamemnon have come out at sixty degrees since antiquity, captured by two thermal hotels and a hospital, and where the cable car of 1974, rebuilt in 2015, climbs in five minutes to the pine forest of Dede Dağı, four hundred meters above the bay, for a tea facing the city. By the water, İnciraltı, the urban forest, the open-air theater, the Levent marina and its fish restaurants, then Narlıdere, the last neighborhood before the road to Çeşme, houses, pines and the sea. İstinyePark, the shopping mall of 2020, brought here the best-rated grand hotel in the city. You sleep here to bathe in hot water, for the cable car, to leave early for Çeşme and Alaçatı, an hour away. The downside: thirty minutes by bus or car to the bazaar and Alsancak, and nothing to do in the evening outside the hotels.