Ephesus Ancient City

Ephesus was a port city of a quarter of a million people, and it still reads that way on the ground: you walk down a marble street with the drainage still beneath your feet, past the shopfronts, into a theatre built for 25,000.

The Library of Celsus is the photograph everyone takes, but the stretch of Curetes Street above it — with its fountains, latrines and mosaic pavements — is where the city feels lived in.

The Terrace Houses are a separate ticket and worth it: six Roman apartment blocks under a modern roof, with frescoes and floor mosaics still in place. Allow an extra hour.