Autumn in Izmir.

Autumn is the best season to come to İzmir, and it is not only we who say so; the locals who fled in summer come back to the city in September. The sea is still warm, the heat has dropped, the peninsula crowds have thinned and the calendar is full. Let us walk through the city's autumn programme from September to November.

September is the month of the Fair and the harvest. At the start of the month the İzmir International Fair fills Kültürpark; the park is livelier than ever with concerts, exhibitions and evening strolls. The same week the grape harvest begins in Urla; wineries hold harvest events and tastings, and at some you can join the grape-treading yourself. The sea is still 24–25 degrees; the Ilıca and Foça beaches are swimmable until the end of the month, and empty.

October is the month of the ancient sites. The best time of year for Ephesus and Pergamon; cool mornings, mild noons, no shade worries. Night visits at Ephesus end in early October, so catch them. The mandarin harvest begins in Seferihisar and the Sığacık market is at its richest. Harvest festivities and new-vintage wines in Şirince. At Karagöl and Yamanlar the forest changes colour; the finest uncrowded picnic weekends.

November is the city's month. Rain begins, but İzmir rain is short and followed by clean light. Ideal for a museum day, the Alsancak galleries and Kemeraltı; the bazaar is cool and calm, and sitting in the han courtyards is a pleasure. The olive harvest continues on the peninsula; fresh-pressed olive oil from Urla and Karaburun appears this month, bitter and green, dripped onto bread, nothing else needed. Evenings on the Kordon are still warm enough to sit out.

As for what to wear. Summer clothes and a light cardigan for evenings in September; T-shirt by day and a jacket by night in October; a raincoat is essential in November. The imbat, the afternoon wind off the bay, gives way in autumn to an evening northerly, and the seafront feels cool.

Prices are on your side too. Accommodation on the peninsula gets cheaper from mid-September; a table impossible to find in Alaçatı in summer is available without booking in October. City-centre hotels can fill during Fair week, so book ahead.

Our suggestion for an autumn weekend is this. Saturday morning by train to Selçuk, tour Ephesus, spend the evening at the harvest in Şirince. Sunday morning the Sığacık market, Teos in the afternoon, fish at Urla İskele in the evening. Two days, and the summary of İzmir's autumn.