Izmir
📷 BerkeKayalarr· CC BY-SA 4.0Ege'nin incisi | Pearl of the Aegean
About
İzmir is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. As of 2025 end of year estimate, İzmir Province has a total population of 4,504,184 while İzmir city is home to around 3.5 million inhabitants. It extends along the outlying waters of the Gulf of İzmir and inland to the north across the Gediz River Delta; to the east along an alluvial plain created by several small streams; and to slightly more rugged terrain in the south. İzmir's climate is Mediterranean.
Wikipedia →Summary excerpted from the Wikipedia article Izmir, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Text may be clipped or paraphrased to fit this page.
Why visit
Visit Izmir for museums, galleries, and collections, music, theater, and performance, archaeology and older urban layers. For Izmir, the useful material is practical and visible: museums, streets, religious buildings, markets, performance spaces, food, and nearby landscapes. A good itinerary should stay selective. The strongest plan in Izmir usually starts with one main stop and treats the surrounding streets as part of the visit. For Izmir, this usually reveals more than adding one more distant sight. When Izmir opens onto beaches, hills, rivers, gardens, or nearby towns, add them only when they sharpen the trip.
When to avoid
Do not visit Izmir expecting every useful stop to be close together or easy to improvise. In Izmir, a good plan starts with the constraints, not with the number of sights. Crowds, sales pressure, traffic, and summer heat can wear down a cultural itinerary. Book major sights where possible and keep important walks for cooler hours.
Summer (June to August)
June through August are the period when heat, daylight, crowds, or humidity most affect a visit to Izmir. Summer in Izmir works best when the day starts early and slows down through the hottest hours. In Izmir, heat management is part of cultural planning: walk early, pause indoors, and return outside when the light softens. The season is strongest in Izmir when the itinerary can make room for outdoor time and local calendars. Do not assume Izmir is busiest culturally when it is busiest with visitors.
Winter Season (Dec-Feb)
December through February are the cooler or wetter period in Izmir. In Izmir, the cooler season usually improves walking conditions, though rain is more likely. In Izmir, comfort depends less on temperature alone than on rain, wind, snow, daylight, and whether services are reduced. In Izmir, this is often a season for interiors, short walks, and slower observation rather than ambitious routing. In Izmir, keep outdoor plans shorter, check hours carefully, and use a taxi or rideshare when weather or late returns make transit less attractive.
The next week in Izmir
7-day forecast from Open-Meteo. UV badges flag days when sun protection matters (3 and above is moderate; 8 and above is risk territory for unprotected fair skin within 30 minutes).
Today
Partly cloudy
25° / 13°
UV High
Sat
Rain
28° / 13°
UV High
Sun
Overcast
26° / 16°
UV High
Mon
Partly cloudy
26° / 13°
UV High
Tue
Partly cloudy
27° / 12°
UV High
Wed
Partly cloudy
25° / 13°
UV Moderate
Thu
In May 16
JFMAMJJASOND
Air quality
No monitoring station within 25 km.
Weather
38° / 6°
Typical high / low
1 mm rainfall this month
Daylight
14.2h
06:00 – 20:14local
Year-round climate
Monthly highs, lows, and rainfall (long-term averages, NASA POWER).
Airports near Izmir
4 commercial airports within 100 km. Closest is Adnan Menderes International Airport (ADB) at 15 km.
Getting around Izmir
Public-transit operators within 8 km of the city center. Click through to each operator’s site for routes, fares, and tickets.
Local transit operators
Operators and modes aggregated by TransitLand from individual transit-agency GTFS feeds. Route classifications (subway / tram / rail / bus / etc) come from each feed’s GTFS route_type codes.
Sister cities
Saved on my Izmir list
9 pins · 9 visited
✓%100 Steakhouse Konak Pier
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
$$$
✓Best pizza izmir
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
Fix Döner
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
Key Restaurant
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
KimChikin
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
Küçük Ev Mantı Cafe
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
$NEDOLAR ALSANACAK
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
ÖZAK NATUREL RESTAURANT
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
Sardin Balık Restaurant
BeenRestaurant · Izmir · Türkiye
See these as a focused list: Things to do in Izmir →
Sources
This page blends public reference data, climate/elevation services, and personal notes. Travel requirements can change, so visa and entry details should be checked again before booking.
- Wikipedia →
Summary, canonical article, and some image fallbacks.
- Wikidata →
Population, area, image, coordinates, and linked identifiers where available.
- NASA POWER →
Monthly temperature and rainfall climatology.
- Open-Meteo historical weather →
1991-2020 temperature and precipitation cross-check for compact climate fields.
- Open-Elevation →
Coordinate-based elevation backfill.
- tz database →
Coordinate-based IANA timezone lookup.
- Site credits →
Global source notes, map tiles, flags, licenses, and attribution policy.