Actor Ekin Koç called seaside Antalya home before conquering the world of Turkish film. Here are his picks, from hiking the Lycian Road to catching a concert at the Aspendos Theatre.

Though its name may be less familiar to overseas travellers than Istanbul, the Turkish resort city of Antalya is no stranger to visitors. Founded by the Ancient Greeks as Attalia in the 2nd Century BCE, Antalya has since been occupied by the Romans, the Seljuk Sultanate and the Ottomans; even withstanding a brief Italian occupation after World War One before Turkey claimed independence. Today, Antalya – the crowning jewel of the Turkish Riviera and, along with Istanbul, one of the world’s most visited cities in 2023 – attracts both families and A-list celebrities with its 2,000-year-old Old Town and stunning turquoise waters.
Sometimes, the celebrity strolling Antalya’s spectacular seashore is actually a native. We caught up with Antalya-born film star Ekin Koç (best known to English-speaking audiences as Turkish business advisor Kadir in HBO’s Succession) to get his take on his beautiful hometown, studded by the Taurus mountains and cradled by the Mediterranean sea.
“If you’re from Antalya, you have a special connection with the sea,” says Koç. “The sea is everywhere. We eat from the sea, we swim, we sit next to the sea. I’ve always loved being in connection with the sea.”

As the world turns its gaze to Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo as one of the hosts of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, veteran Olympic skier Kristian Ghedina shares his hometown picks.

Nestled between the jutting spires of Italy’s Unesco-listed Dolomites mountain range, the small town and ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo (altitude 1,224m), is often called the “Queen of the Dolomites”. Located in a valley near the rainbow-hued Cinque Torri mountain, Cortina’s distinctive Tyrolean architecture has remained mostly untouched by modern developments.
This jewel-like ski resort is also one of Italy’s favourite wintertime destinations, luring local jet setters and professional skiers for the settimana bianca, or “white week” – the Italian custom of taking a weeklong winter ski retreat. The resort has become so synonymous with style that designer and athletic labels like MC2 Saint Barth and Kappa have used its name to sell a myriad of clothing items. And yet, Cortina d’Ampezzo has been largely unknown overseas – until now.
This sleepy ski town is about to attract a global audience as one of the hosts of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. But 2026 will hardly be its first Olympic foray; Cortina d’Ampezzo was also the host of the 1956 Winter Olympic Games. It’s further known for being the birthplace and home of retired Olympic downhill skier Kristian Ghedina.
“In Cortina, every youngster skis,” says Ghedina. “I’ve travelled the world… but I’m attached to my land, my town. It’s a very strong bond that [you have] with snow and skiing.”

From Colombia’s upcycled sewer pipes to spheres suspended in the sky in Canada, capsule hotels have been reinvented for a new generation of travellers.

By night, the world’s first capsule hotel (founded in Osaka, Japan in 1979) must have looked like a morgue, with neat rows of narrow sleeping capsules each containing a recumbent body. But the following day, the occupants – mostly businessmen who had worked late – would rise up and head back to the office, grateful for this efficient sleep solution that had saved them a commute home in the early hours.
As the concept spread, tourists happy to sleep in a room no bigger than its bed began to bunk up alongside them, eager to sample this unusual aspect of Japanese culture. Fast-forward to today, and high hotel room rates, fuelled by years of rising real estate prices, have supercharged this typically low-cost concept, which offers budget travellers priced out of traditional hotels more privacy than a hostel dormitory and more comfort and connectivity than camping. The capsules, which are predominantly single-occupancy, also answer the current boom in solo travel, with single-sex capsule hotels providing additional security.
With the global capsule hotel market projected to reach $327m by 2031, curious hybrids have emerged to sustain the trend and attract new customers. They’re tempting the TikTok generation with increasingly outlandish forms, from upcycled sewer pipes in the Colombian desert to space-age pods with a dashboard of ambient controls in downtown Sydney, Australia – all promising a unique experience and shareable stories for social media. Meanwhile capsule-cum-bookstores invite book lovers to snooze among the shelves, and boutique versions bring luxury to a traditionally no-frills market with fancy decor or promises of fluffy duck-feather duvets.
As the concept continues to reinvent itself, here are eight of the most extraordinary examples.