Türkiye's easy-going Aegean city
İzmir, the ancient Smyrna, is Türkiye's third-largest city and its most relaxed, with a long seafront promenade, the Kordon, where locals gather at sunset. The Kemeraltı bazaar winds back from the clock tower in Konak Square, and the Agora of Smyrna survives in the centre. Aegean cooking here leans on olive oil, herbs and seafood, and boyoz pastries are a local breakfast. It makes a natural base for Ephesus, Pergamon and the beaches of the Çeşme peninsula.