Walking to the airport in Izmir.

I have a weird little hobby called “walking to the airport”. Today I went walking to Izmir Airport. I walked 18 kilometers from central Izmir to Izmir Airport.

Starting my airport walk in Alsancak.

I have been walking to and from airports all over the world for the past many years. And have walked to more than 20 airports around the world so far. Today it went to Izmir Airport. I started by the sea in central Izmir. In the part of the city called Alsancak. I had stayed in a nice little hotel for the past few days. Having checked out the route on google maps and could see that it should be fairly simple to navigate. I could catch a big road around 1 kilometer from my hotel. That road would take me to the airport. That is if there was any pavement of course. As I could see that it was a rather big road. There was a pavement though. I had pavement almost all the way to the airport on that road.

Walking through some scruffy parts of Izmir.

Walking through a working class part of Izmir on the way to the airport.

As I left the seafront of Izmir and joined the big road to the airport, I walked through some  neighbourhoods that were quite industrial and depressed. Small houses were sitting on the nearby hills and I felt a little like I was in Latin America, where you often see these city structures. But unlike Latin America I did not really feel as if it was dangerous to walk through. There were many abandoned buildings with graffiti on. A lot of it about the local football club Goztepe. Who despite being in the third Turkish league at the time of my walk, has one of the biggest fan groups in Turkey. Only beaten by the 3 big Istanbul clubs, Besiktas, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.

Low income part of Izmir.

Slowly things became more upmarket.

Taking a break at an Izmir shopping mall.

As I walked past the two hills I had on each side of me, the scene changed. It became a busy road with lots of shops on both sides and a lot of traffic As well. As I got out of the city and closer to the airport I came past a big shopping mall, where I took a break and had a coffee at a Starbucks, while I was resting my feet. From the shopping mall I had around 4 kilometers left to walk. It was a little more tricky as the pedestrian areas were a little less organised. But with a bit of jumping over road barriers, I managed to get to the airport. At the airport I checked in to an excellent airport hotel called TAV Airport Hotel. Very nice hotel that was not too badly priced. And the service was very friendly and helpful at the reception.

Arriving at Izmir Airport.

My room at the TAV airport hotel in Izmir.

So Why am I walking to Izmir airport?

I am doing my airport walks purely cause I like to walk long distances. I do not need a mapped out walking trail with signs in order to enjoy a walk. Doing this I get to see some neighbourhoods of the city that I would otherwise never see. I also like to see the places in between the famous tourist sights.

It has nothing to do with saving money when I do this. I constantly have people telling me how cheap I can go to and from the airport with the bus or the metro. But I am not walking to save money. It’s for the sake of walking. I also spend more money along the road than I would do on a metro ticket. Trust me guys, I am enjoying it.  And walking to the airport is just such a silly idea for most people that I am ready to do it purely for that reason. I love being silly and going against the flow. Only dead fish flow with the stream.

Now I am sitting at my airport hotel and enjoying a cold beer before going to bed. So that I can catch my early morning flight to Hamburg in Germany. I might just walk from the airport too. If there is time for it. 🙂

I will keep walking to the airport.