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Aegean Turkey (Turkish: Ege Bölgesi) is the western part of Turkey bordering the Aegean Sea. It's bounded to the north by Marmara Region which includes Istanbul, to the south by the long coastline of Mediterranean Turkey, and east inland by the plateau of Central Anatolia which includes Ankara the capital. To the west and within sight are the East Aegean Islands of Greece.
Izmir and its vicinity with lots of history and beautiful seaside towns
milder climate than the south with olive groves everywhere
crystal clear turquoise sea, verdant citrus plantations
See also Istanbul to Izmir, a series of itineraries via historic sites such as Gallipoli and Troy. By plane: the region’s airports are Izmir (ADB), Bodrum (BJV) and Dalaman (DLM).
Read in the guideBuses connect the towns, but some major sites are at a distance from public transport. Consider hiring a car at your arrival airport.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Gaziemir · International · ADB
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Behramkale or Behram is an attractive little village in the Northern Aegean Region of Turkey, with a population of 652 in 2021. The main village sits at the foot of the ancient city of Assos, the big draw, so this is the name used in tourist literature.
Ayvalık is a city in the Northern Aegean region of Turkey, with a population of 71,063 in 2018. It's on the south coast of the Gulf of Edremit, an inlet of the Aegean Sea, and connected by bridges to the resort of Cunda island, also described on this page.
Bergama is a city in the Northern Aegean region of Turkey, 120 km north of Izmir and with a population of 104,980 in 2021. It's best known for the extensive ruins of Pergamon, a World Heritage site.
İzmir is a port on the Central Aegean coast of Turkey, known in antiquity as Smyrna. It's the country's third-largest city, with a population of 3.12 million in 2024.
Çeşme (pronounced chaysh-may) is a beach resort in the Central Aegean region of Turkey. It's at the tip of a peninsula 85 km west of Izmir, but only 10 km from the Greek island of Chios.
Kuşadası is a beach resort in the Central Aegean region of Turkey, 95 km south of Izmir. It has a resident population of 113,580 (as of 2018), which doubles in summer with tourists and seasonal workers.
Denizli is a city in the Southern Aegean region of Turkey, which most visitors simply transit to reach Pamukkale 20 km north. It's a typical modern Turkish city, far from picturesque, but does have enough sights of its own if your schedule allows.
Bodrum is a tourist resort on the Southern Aegean coast of Turkey. It's a budget, mass-market destination with facilities to match, and in 2020 the Bodrum metropolis had a population of almost 182,000.
Datça is the main town of the Datça or Reşadiye Peninsula, a scenic 70-km neck of land that forms the boundary between the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas. It's here considered as part of the Southern Aegean region of Turkey; it's rugged, forested, and in 2020 had a population of 23,711.
Aphrodisias is the ruin of a Roman city in the Southern Aegean region of Turkey, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its wealth of remains. Geyre is the small modern village next to it, deriving its name from Caria an early Grecian state absorbed by the Roman Empire.
Kuşadası is a beach resort in the Central Aegean region of Turkey, 95 km south of Izmir. It has a resident population of 113,580 (as of 2018), which doubles in summer with tourists and seasonal workers.
Ephesus (Turkish: Efes) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with magnificent Roman ruins. It's in the Central Aegean region of Turkey 4 km west of Selçuk and 19 km northeast of the beach resort of Kuşadası.
Pamukkale is a village in the Southern Aegean region of Turkey, famous for its hot springs, Roman spa town of Hierapolis, and white terraced pools: the village name means "cotton castle". It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the country's top sights, mobbed in summer.
Didim is a resort town on the Southern Aegean coast of Turkey. It's the most northerly of the resorts served by Milas-Bodrum Airport so in tourist brochures it's often described as "Bodrum region", and attracts a budget mass-market.
Sart is a small farming village in the Central Aegean Region of Turkey, better known as Sardis the ruined capital of Lydia.
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