The morning in Izmir begins with a boyoz and a glass of tea facing the Aegean Sea. The boyoz — a flaky sesame oil pastry, round and slightly rich, invented by Izmir's Sephardic Jews in the 15th century, served warm in a paper bag — is how three million Izmirites start their day. It's a city where the Kordon terraces never empty, where women swim in the sea in bikinis without being told what to do, where bars serve local beer until 2 AM, and where the entrance to a contemporary art exhibition sits next to an Ottoman mausoleum on the same street. Izmir is Turkey at its most Mediterranean, its most relaxed, its most defiantly itself.

Izmir in 2026 — Turkey's freest city

Izmir is Turkey's third city — 3.3 million people in the metro area — and by far its most liberal. This is a documented, claimed fact: Izmir consistently votes for secular, Kemalist and progressive parties with scores that frequently exceed 70% in municipal and legislative elections. This political identity is not incidental for an expat — it translates directly into daily life. In Izmir, fewer women wear headscarves than in Istanbul or Ankara, restaurant terraces stay open during Ramadan, couples kiss in parks without hostile stares, and Sunday morning on the Kordon looks like an ordinary Mediterranean promenade.

Izmir is also a thousand-year-old port city that was successively Greek (Smyrna), Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Turkish — and carries that multiplicity more lightly than Istanbul. Its historic bazaar (Kemeraltı) is one of the country's oldest and most authentic. Its seafront promenade (Kordon) is one of the finest in the Eastern Mediterranean. And its proximity to the most important archaeological sites in western Anatolia — Ephesus, Pergamon, Miletus, Priene — makes it an unmatched base for exploration.

The city — identity & soul

Izmir stretches some forty kilometres along the Gulf of Izmir (formerly the Gulf of Smyrna), framed by the hills of Aegean Anatolia. Its geography is that of an open coastal city — none of Istanbul's oppressive density, none of Ankara's dryness. The Kordon, the Alsancak seafront, is the city's outdoor living room: a palm-lined promenade where Izmirites jog, cycle, drink their morning coffee and watch ferries cross the bay. It's one of the few urban waterfronts in the Eastern Mediterranean where you don't fight for a sea-view terrace.

The Alsancak neighbourhood concentrates the city's most lively bars, restaurants, art galleries and nightlife. The Kemeraltı bazaar, which stretches across several kilometres of covered alleyways, blends spices, herbs, jewellery, leather and traditional cafés in a remarkably well-preserved Ottoman architectural framework. And the Karşıyaka neighbourhood, on the north shore of the gulf (reachable by 20-minute ferry), is the coastal residential alternative most favoured by Izmirites who want to escape Alsancak's buzz without leaving the sea.

Neighbourhoods — where to live?

Daily life & housing

Izmir's rental market is cheaper than Istanbul but pricier than Ankara. A quality studio in Alsancak or Bornova rents for between $320 and $500 per month. A 2-bedroom apartment with sea view in Karşıyaka or on the Kordon starts at $500–800. Prices have risen since 2021 (+25–35%) but remain very competitive for a 3-million-plus coastal metropolis.

Izmir's gastronomy is distinct from the rest of Turkey — it's more Levantine, more Greek-Ottoman in its influences, with a strong emphasis on vegetables, olive oil and fresh herbs. Boyoz (the Sephardic morning pastry) is non-negotiable. Kumru (a hot sandwich with cured meat, cheese and grilled tomatoes, the city's street food staple) is the most popular lunch on the go ($3–4). Midye dolması (mussels stuffed with spiced rice, sold by street vendors on the Kordon for $0.50 each) are one of the great street pleasures of the city. And the fish restaurants along the Kordon, while they can reach $40–60 per person at weekends, offer a freshness and quality that fully justifies the price.

Transport is good. Izmir has a metro (3 lines), a tram network and above all a ferry service that links both shores of the gulf every 15–20 minutes — one of the city's most pleasant logistical advantages. The Izmir Kart covers all modes of transport for $0.40–0.80 per journey.

Working from Izmir

Fibre is well deployed (Türk Telekom, Superonline, Vodafone TR) with speeds of 100 to 300 Mbps in modern residential areas. The coworking scene is growing: Kolektif House Izmir, IZTO Teknoloji and several coworking cafés in Alsancak and Bornova offer monthly memberships between $60 and $120. The international nomad community is smaller than Istanbul's but growing fast since 2022.

Izmir is a regional economic hub for the Turkish Aegean. Its port, its organised industrial zone and its annual international trade fair make it a serious operational base for companies active in foreign trade, agri-food (olive oil, figs, grapes), textiles and business tourism. Adnan Menderes Airport (ADB) provides direct links to most European capitals — which partly offsets the smaller hub size compared to Istanbul.

Health & safety

Izmir has a good private hospital system. Kent, Medifema and Medicana Izmir hospitals offer quality care with English-speaking doctors for most specialities. Dokuz Eylül University Hospital is the best public establishment in the region. Private consultation costs are very competitive ($50–90 for a specialist). Private international health insurance is recommended as for all Turkish private healthcare.

Izmir is one of Turkey's safest cities for expats. The liberal and cosmopolitan atmosphere creates a particularly welcoming environment for foreigners. Violent crime is rare in expat neighbourhoods. Standard large Mediterranean city risks apply (pickpockets in busy areas, caution at night in parts of Kemeraltı), nothing more. Izmir is also exposed to seismic risk — a magnitude 7 earthquake in October 2020 (Turkey's deadliest in years) was a stark reminder — but the city has accelerated its seismic compliance programmes since that event.

Anecdotes & History

In September 1922, at the end of the Greco-Turkish War, Turkish forces entered Smyrna (modern Izmir). On 13 September, a fire broke out in the Armenian quarter and spread for four days, destroying the Greek and Armenian districts of the city — the two communities that had been its founders since antiquity. The death toll reached tens of thousands, and 300,000 refugees were crowded onto the waterfront awaiting international evacuation. The event, known in Greece as the Catastrophe of Smyrna, marked the end of Greek presence in Anatolia after three thousand years of coexistence. The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) that followed organised the largest population exchange in modern history: 1.5 million Greek Orthodox Christians left Anatolia, 500,000 Muslims left Greece. The city that existed before the fire no longer exists — Izmir is the reconstruction of Smyrna on its ashes, which is partly why it looks like a newer city compared to Istanbul.

Ephesus (Efes in Turkish), 80 km from Izmir, is one of the best-preserved ancient cities in the world — better preserved than Pompeii in the view of some archaeologists. In the 1st century AD, it was the Roman Empire's second city (after Rome), with 200,000 inhabitants, a monumental library (the Library of Celsus, whose restored facade is one of antiquity's iconic images), a 25,000-seat theatre, temples, public baths and a sewage system. It's also one of the earliest cities where Saint Paul preached (the New Testament's Epistle to the Ephesians is addressed to its community). And tradition holds that the Virgin Mary ended her days there, in a house on Bülbüldağı hill — a pilgrimage site still visited by believers from around the world. Living in Izmir means having all of that 80 km away — and weekends to visit it.

Who is Izmir right for?

Frequently asked questions

WiggMap — Indicative data: Hepsiemlak / Sahibinden.com Jan. 2026, TÜİK 2024, Speedtest Ookla 2025. Rents in USD (reference TRY/USD rate). This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, real estate or legal advice.