Escape the City
A slow day in Foça
Fishing-town Izmir: a stone harbor, a long fish lunch, and a boat out to the islands in summer.
Not yet checked by the Smileys team — prices and hours may have moved.
Why do it?
North of the city, Foça — ancient Phocaea — is what Aegean towns looked like before the boutiques arrived: a working fishing harbor ringed by stone houses, cats on the quay, fish restaurants along the water. In summer, wooden boats run day trips out to the rocky islands and swimming coves off the coast. It's the unpolished counterweight to Alaçatı, and many of us prefer it.
The Smileys Take
The whole point is to not have a plan: coffee on the harbor, a slow walk around both bays, then the longest fish lunch you can manage. If it's boat season, take one — the island coves are the swim of the summer. Foça doesn't perform for visitors, which is precisely its charm; go before it learns to.
Explore nearby
Do it with people
Nothing is scheduled around this in Izmir yet. When a host plans it, it shows here — the calendar and hangouts are the places to look meanwhile.
More like this
There's always more Izmir.