Kocaeli (İzmit) walking tour & city guide

İzmit city center

The heart of İzmit is its clock tower, built in 1901 in an ornate late Ottoman style and still the city's favorite meeting point. From here the long pedestrian Hürriyet Avenue runs east, shaded by plane trees and lined with shops, patisseries and benches, and in spring it is hung with rows of red flags.

Behind the main streets, Fethiye Avenue and the old bazaar lanes hold small shops of spices, nuts and household goods. Up the hill, the Pertev Paşa Mosque is a work of the great architect Sinan, and the Kasr-ı Hümayun, a 19th-century Ottoman hunting pavilion, sits beside the Kocaeli Museum with finds from Roman Nicomedia.

SEKA Park and the gulf

İzmit's shoreline was once lined with factories. The largest, the SEKA paper mill, was the first paper factory of the Turkish Republic; after it closed, its grounds became SEKA Park, a long green promenade along the water with lawns, palm trees, cycle paths and views across the gulf. Part of the old mill now houses a paper museum.

The seaside path continues for kilometers in both directions, toward Başiskele on the southern shore and past the city center to the east. On clear days the slopes of Kartepe and the long Osmangazi Bridge, which crosses the gulf further west, are both in view.

Kartepe and Maşukiye

South-east of the city, Kartepe is a mountain of beech and pine forest with a ski area in winter and a cable car up from the valley. At its foot, the village of Maşukiye is a popular weekend escape, with streams, small waterfalls and garden restaurants serving fresh trout under the trees.

A classic walk: clock tower to SEKA Park

Start at the clock tower and walk the length of Hürriyet Avenue, then turn down toward the water and pick up the seaside promenade. Follow it west into SEKA Park and continue along the gulf as far as you like, ending at sunset by the water. The route is flat and about four kilometers, and buses and the small city tram run back to the center.