Meze, markets and monk seals: the best of Turkey’s Aegean coast

Many visitors overlook less familiar resorts around the city of İzmir in favour of hotspots further south. They’re missing out

It was on a trip to Cunda island that I realised the big difference between Turkey’s Aegean region and the glittering Mediterranean coastline of the south. The Med resorts are filled with foreign holidaymakers, flooding in through Bodrum and Dalaman.

Farther north, most visitors are Turkish, so instead of adapting to the needs and desires of European holidaymakers, the towns and villages that dot the coastline offer an authentic slice of Turkish life.

The Aegean region is different in other ways too: waves of immigration, a westerly facing aspect and the proximity of several Greek islands gives it a more cosmopolitan feel, with the city of İzmir often referred to as Turkey’s San Francisco. Not all of the places below are somewhere to stay for a week, but knitting together two or three offers the chance to really get under the skin of this extraordinary country.