Karşıyaka — "the opposite shore" — sits across the bay from central İzmir, connected by ferry from Konak and Pasaport piers. It is a predominantly residential district with a relaxed café culture, a pleasant waterfront promenade of its own, and the kind of local character that the more tourist-oriented central districts have lost. İzmiris regard Karşıyaka with particular affection.
The ferry crossing from Konak takes about 20 minutes and costs almost nothing — one of the great cheap pleasures of any visit to İzmir. The Karşıyaka waterfront has a good array of tea gardens and lokanta restaurants, and the Olaf Palme Park along the shore is popular with families. The district is also the starting point for reaching the Çamaltı Bird Sanctuary to the west.