Gaziantep (Antep)

Believe us: if one day there’s a Barcelona-like movida (a hedonistic and cultural revolution) in eastern Turkey, it will happen in Gaziantep. A fast-paced and forward-looking city, Antep vibrantly accommodates its traditional Mesopotamian culture with the buzz of thriving industry. One of the most desirable places to live in eastern Anatolia, Antep’s beguiling résumé includes clusters of old stone houses sprinkled around the city centre, an imposing fortress, a row of vibrant bazaars, a burgeoning café culture, the biggest city park in eastern Turkey, active pedestrianised streets and taste-bud-tingling cuisine. The old and the new combine to form an attractive, civilised and welcoming confection.

And if all you want is to please your palate, Antep could prove to be your Shangri-la: it is reckoned to harbour more than 180 pastry shops and to produce the best fıstıklı (pistachio) baklavas you can gobble down in Turkey, if not in the world.