What to do in İzmir in 24 hours: A complete 1-day itinerary
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It’s never simple to get to know a city when you’re packed for time. But that does not imply you should throw in the towel if you have only 24 hours in İzmir.
İzmir is a city that cannot be fully experienced in a single day; you will not be able to acquire the complete experience of İzmir in a single day. The list of activities in İzmir appears limitless. And the nicest parts of your İzmir itinerary will not always be found in a guidebook.
Uncertain about how to arrange a single day in İzmir?
Start your first 24 hours in İzmir exploring one of Turkey’s most captivating cities with this comprehensive 1-day itinerary.
In complete candor, I do not suggest staying in İzmir for only one day. İzmir is an essential stop on every Turkish itinerary. It is certainly one of the must-see cities in Turkey. It would be unjust to deny you the love that results from getting to know it at a more relaxed pace.
A day full of taste and shopping
Kemeraltı Bazaar is one of the places in Izmir where you will enjoy walking around, leave with happiness and want to come back again. It dates back 500 years and is one of the largest open-air bazaars in our country. More than 200 businesses serve in the 270-hectare bazaar.
The bazaar, where you can meet every conceivable need, is home to many historical inns, fountains and fountains. In Kemeraltı, where customers can communicate directly with the seller, you can eat Izmir-specific dishes in artisan restaurants and find everything you are looking for from needle to thread. You can find modern gold jewelry at the Jewelers Bazaar, textiles at the Arab Inn, a thousand different kinds of souvenirs at the Kızlarağası Inn in Hisarönü, and meet antique dealers.
When you get tired of wandering around, you can have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee at the cafeterias in Kızlarağası Inn.
Meet Flavors at Kemeraltı Bazaar
The place where you can find the unique flavors of Izmir cuisine together is the historical Kemeraltı Bazaar. In the inns and narrow streets, small artisan restaurants, where you often have difficulty finding a place, offer delicious Izmir dishes.
The restaurants are dominated by light vegetable dishes with olive oil and meat, roasted herbs, and stews with sour. It should be noted that spices obtained by drying natural herbs also have a special place in Izmir’s food culture. Thyme, indispensable for meat dishes, is also frequently used with olive oil and lemon for breakfast. Cacık is unthinkable without mint. If mint is added to yogurt, it becomes haydari; together with garlic, it frequently takes its place in appetizers and salads, soups and stuffed with olive oil.
Explore Beyler Street
Beyler Sokakları, which gives its name to three streets in a row on the right at the entrance of Anafartalar Street, is the area where prominent families and gentlemen of Izmir lived in the 19th century. In the first years of the Republic, the streets were home to doctors’ offices, but today they are lined with business inns, opticians, shops selling shoes, clothes, hobby materials and eating and drinking places.
See the colorful stalls of Kestanepazarı.
In the area where Kestanepazarı Mosque is also located, there are mainly spice shops, sugar sellers, grain sellers, pulses companies, snack sellers, wooden decoration materials, underwear companies, textile companies, pita shops. In the colorful spice stalls, you can find a thousand and one kinds of herbal mixtures, dried vegetables, fruits, rose water, herbal oils, herbs, which are said to be a cure-all.
Experience the glitter of the Jewelry Bazaar
Kuyumcular Çarşısı (Jewelers Bazaar), one of the central points of Izmir for jewelry and gold, is an area consisting of dozens of tiny shops in different passages in Mezarlıkbaşı district. In the glittering shops of the bazaar, where you will find the most beautiful examples of gold embroidery and handcrafted jewelry products, there are also many jewelry decorated with precious stones.
Buy fresh fruit and vegetables on Synagogue Street
The other name of 929 Street in the Mezarlıkbaşı section of Kemeraltı is Havra Street. The street, where the freshest vegetables and fruits of Izmir are sold, takes its name from the synagogues around it. Famous for its taverns until recently, this street is home to greengrocers, halvaciers, cheese sellers, pickle sellers, fishmongers and offal sellers selling the freshest products of the season.
Drink Coffee in Kızlarağası Inn
Kızlarağası Han, one of the most well-kept and beautiful of the inns in Izmir, is one of the most important stops in Kemeraltı. The two-story and courtyard inn was built by Hacı Beşir Ağa in 1744. There are two covered bazaars named Çuha Bedesteni, Cevahir Bedesteni and Bakır Bedesteni on 902 Street just outside the inn. There are antique dealers, silver jewelry dealers, silver jewelry repair shops, souvenir shops, shops selling local products such as evil eye beads, pottery, carpets, rugs, needlepoint, saddlery, handcrafted metals, silk and marbling, eating and drinking places and cafeterias.
Meet Local Flavors in Mirkelamoğlu Inn

Located near Fevzipaşa Boulevard in Kemeraltı, the inn is estimated to have been built towards the end of the 18th century. The inn, which attracts attention with its arched entrance, has an old record store, a cafeteria and an artisan restaurant famous for Izmir cuisine.
Meet different flavors at Abacıoğlu
There are cafeterias, artisan restaurants serving local dishes, watchmakers, leather shops and souvenir shops in the inn. The artisan restaurant serving authentic Izmir and Bosnian dishes is very famous.
See Sherbet Shops
One of the stops in Kemeraltı that we can say “don’t pass by without stopping” is the sherbet shops. Especially don’t pass by without tasting the black mulberry sherbet.
Don’t Go to Kemeraltı Full
When you come to Kemeraltı, we recommend you to go to the bazaar full as you will meet the street flavors and local tastes of Izmir. From Konak Square along Anafartalar Street, you will find historical confectioners, doner shops, pastry shops that have been serving for two or three generations from father to son, Cretan restaurants where you can taste the herbs of Aegean cuisine, pide shops, pickle sellers, fish, mussel, kokoreç sellers, sherbet sellers, shambal sellers, dessert shops, dibek coffee, and places where you can drink brewed tea.
Shop on Kıbrıs Şehitleri Avenue
Kıbrıs Şehitleri Street in Alsancak is another popular destination for shoppers. The shops here sell many affordable products ranging from handmade bags with ethnic patterns to leather shoes, various clothes and accessories. In the side streets of the street, where world brands also meet their consumers, there are forensic shops, bars and cafes. You can read a book from a bookstore while sipping your coffee or a drink alcohol and relieve the sweet tiredness of the day.
Karşıyaka Bazaar
The wide street that greets you when you get off the Karşıyaka Ferry and cross the street is the famous street of Karşıyaka. Here, shops, cafes, bookstores, jewelry stores, in short, whatever you are looking for, are waiting for you with friendly shopkeepers. You can safely taste kokoreç, döner, stuffed mussels, fried mussels, fish bread or many other delicacies that suit your taste in this bazaar.