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Few Mediterranean cities carry as much layered history as Antalya. Founded as Attaleia by the Pergamon king Attalos II in the second century BC, it passed through Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman hands before becoming modern Turkey's most visited coastal city. That succession of rulers left visible marks: the triumphal Hadrian's Gate still stands in the old quarter, the Yivli Minaret rises above the harbour on a skyline that has barely changed in silhouette for centuries, and the compact lanes of Kaleiçi wind between Roman-era foundations and Ottoman timber houses. The Mediterranean is not a backdrop here but a constant presence, with the Taurus Mountains pressing close from the north and the Gulf of Antalya stretching south towards Cyprus.

Kaleiçi is where most first-time visitors find their footing, and reasonably so. The old city sits on a limestone bluff above the Roman harbour, its streets narrow enough that two laden donkeys would once have struggled to pass. Boutique hotels occupy restored mansions, and the harbour below is lined with gulets and day-cruise boats. Beyond Kaleiçi, the Konyaaltı district stretches westward along a long pebble beach backed by the Beydağları mountains, while Lara Beach to the east draws a different crowd with its broad sandy shore. The city itself is large and modern, home to well over a million people, with a functioning port, a university, and a commercial life that continues regardless of the tourist season.