Izmir Travel Guide

Introduction

560km (348 miles) south of Istanbul; 70km (43 miles) north of Selçuk; 90km (56 miles) north of Kusadasi; 325km (202 miles) south of Çanakkale; 279km (173 miles) north of Marmaris

Izmir has come a long way since the late 1800s when the Ottoman elite christened the port city Kokaryali (Smelly Waterfront). Today the city has earned the nobler designation of Güzelyali (Beautiful Waterfront), and with the completion of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan that includes a green waterside park, a promenade called the Kordon, and the restored customs house (or Konak Pier) built by Gustave Eiffel, the name is more than appropriate.

Little was left after the fire ignited at the tail end of the War of Independence destroyed all traces of the cultural melting pot that was once Smyrna -- and there's that perilous but dormant fault line to contend with. Eighty-two years after the reconstruction began, Izmir has been reinvented as a prosperous, cosmopolitan, commercial city, more livable...