King's Landing is the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, located in the crownlands on the east coast of Westeros. It is situated along the kingsroad at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush and overlooks Blackwater Bay. King's Landing is the site of the Iron Throne and the Red Keep, which is the seat of the king, Robert I from House Baratheon of King's Landing.

The main city is surrounded by a wall, manned by the City Watch of King's Landing, also known as the gold cloaks. King's Landing is the most populous city in Westeros, but unsightly and dirty compared to other cities. Poorer smallfolk build shanty settlements outside the city. The stench of the city's waste can be smelled far beyond its walls.

King's Landing, the principal harbor of the Seven Kingdoms, is rivaled only by Oldtown, which is larger in area but less populous. Nearby towns include Rosby and Duskendale to the northeast and Tumbleton to the southwest, while the kingswood is found south of the capital across the Blackwater. Driftmark and Dragonstone in the Gullet protect the bay from the narrow sea.

King's Landing is roughly square-shaped, sprawling across several miles and defended by tall walls. It is dotted with manses, arbors, granaries, brick storehouses, timbered inns, merchant stalls, taverns, graveyards and brothels. There is a fish market. Hundreds of quays can be found in the harbor. Between buildings the roads are broad, lined with trees and branching alleys and streets.

The city covers the north shore of the Blackwater Rush and covers three tall hills, named after Aegon and his two sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys. Aegon's High Hill, surmounted by the Red Keep, the royal castle located in the south-eastern corner of the city, overlooks the bay directly, whilst Visenya's Hill to the west is crowned by the marble-walled Great Sept of Baelor and its seven crystal towers. The Hill of Rhaenys in the north is capped by the rebuilt Dragonpit dome even more grand than the last time it was raised. All of the old Targaryens Dragons are hosted there as well as many New Dragons.

Behind the quays outside of the walls, there tend to be ramshackle buildings which extend to the walls. These include bait shacks, pot shops, warehouses, merchant's stalls, alehouses, and prostitution rooms.

Generally, the areas on the higher elevations of the three hills tend to be the wealthier parts of the city, while the poorer areas are the low places in between them. The worst slum in the city is Flea Bottom, a maze of narrow streets and alleys at the bottom of the east side of Rhaenys's Hill (the side facing Aegon's High Hill). There the poorest smallfolk eke out a meager existence, subsisting largely on "bowls of brown", a mystery stew that can include the meat of rats and murder victims, among other things. In contrast, the top of Rhaenys's Hill is the location of the Street of Silk, filled with expensive high-end brothels catering to lords and rich merchants.

According to semi-canon sources the richer areas of King's Landing lie near the Old Gate.

Large tourneys are held outside the city, beside the Blackwater and near the King's Gate.