Perched atop Mount Pagos in the heart of İzmir, Kadifekale offers a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape and the Aegean Sea. Also known as ‘Velvet Castle’, Kadifekale boasts a rich past dating back to various periods, including Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine times. Visitors can explore the archaeological remains while enjoying breathtaking vistas of İzmir and the coastline below. At sunset, the call to prayer echoes throughout the city, reverberating in a show of İzmir's soul. Linked to the centre by a bus line, it is also ideal for a suggestive hike.

This one-of-a-kind museum is set up in the former KGB headquarters where Soviet crimes were planned and committed over the course of fifty years. Here you can go see modern expositions acquainting their visitors with the loss of independence, repressions of Soviet authorities, and information about the genocide victims.

Once a prayer hall, the Ribat Museum showcases a varied collection of traditional fabrics and objects such as coins, jewellery and pottery that will transport visitors back to a time when Islamic art was highly coveted the world over. It also displays an astrolabe (a device which measures the distance between stars) dating all the way back to the year 927, right at the time when pivotal discoveries in astronomy and mathematics were taking place. The museum is accessible from the south wing of the Ribat.

This branch of the Imperial War Museum opened in 1920. It is commonly known as the IWM Duxford. The airfield is deemed as the centre of aviation history in Europe today. It also offers sightseeing and pleasure flying for visitors. There are more than two hundred military vehicles housed inside the museum.