Izmir (Historical Smyrna)

• Izmir, known in the ancient world as Smyrna, surrounds a large bay and is working city that serves as a convenient base to explore the Aegean coast: many  prime archaeological sites are relatively close to Izmir. 

• The city has limited attractions of its own, but offers a number of reasonable hotels and good food (including local dried figs).  The city has an interesting archaeology museum (the Izmir Archaeology Museum) and another dedicated to Ataturk, the "Father of Modern Turkey."