Pamukkale Travel Guide

In Turkish, Pamukkale means "cotton castle", and seen from afar the hillside looks just like one. Spring water full of minerals, about 35°C where it rises, flows down the slope and deposits calcium carbonate as it goes. Over thousands of years this has formed white terraces and shallow pools. At the top of the hill is Hierapolis, a Roman spa town that grew around the same springs. UNESCO lists the terraces and the city together as a single World Heritage property.

Why go

One ticket covers two very different sites. You climb the travertines barefoot as warm water flows around your feet, and at the top you reach a ruined city with a big theatre, a colonnaded main street, gates and one of the largest ancient cemeteries in Anatolia. Hierapolis was an early Christian centre too, and the Martyrium of St Philip stands on the slope above the theatre. Few places put a natural wonder and a Roman city so close together.

How long to spend

Allow 3 to 4 hours for the terraces and the main areas of Hierapolis. Swimming in the Antique Pool, a thermal pool with toppled marble columns lying on the bottom (separate ticket), adds an hour, and the Hierapolis Archaeology Museum in the Roman baths adds another. Plenty of visitors come for the day, but spending a night means you can see the terraces at sunset and go up in the morning before the coaches. Our one-day private Pamukkale tour aims for those calmer times whenever it can.

Best time to go

The most pleasant months are April to June and September to October. In July and August the white surface throws back the sun and midday is very hot, so arrive early or after 4 pm for the evening light. Winter is quiet with mild days, but in the wind the water feels cooler underfoot. The pools are not all full at once: the water is sent to different sections in turn to protect the travertines, so some parts may be dry when you visit.

How to get there

Pamukkale lies around 20 km from Denizli city. From Istanbul, take the roughly 1 hour 10 minute flight to Denizli Cardak airport (DNZ), then drive about an hour. Our Pamukkale day trip from Istanbul by air covers all of this in one day. From Ephesus or Kusadasi the drive takes about 3 hours, which explains why the two are so often combined. From Antalya it is about 3.5 hours through the foothills of the Taurus; see the private full-day Pamukkale tour from Antalya. Night buses from Istanbul take around 10 to 12 hours to Denizli.

Things to do

• Climb the travertines barefoot from the lower entrance.
• See the Roman theatre of Hierapolis and the carved reliefs on its stage building.
• Walk Frontinus Street to the northern gate, then on into the necropolis and its hundreds of tombs.
• Swim among the sunken columns of the Antique Pool.
• Look at the sarcophagi and statues in the Archaeology Museum.
• Visit Laodicea, one of the Seven Churches of Revelation, a short drive away.
• Go to Karahayit, a village nearby where iron-rich springs leave red and orange deposits.
• Fly over the terraces on a tandem paraglider, if you have a head for heights.

Where to stay

Pamukkale village, right below the travertines, has basic family-run hotels within walking distance of the lower gate. Karahayit, about 5 km away, has bigger thermal hotels with pools fed by the springs. Denizli offers business hotels and a wider choice of restaurants. Pamukkale is small, so there is less choice than in Cappadocia or Istanbul.

Food

Denizli's speciality is oven-roasted lamb, Denizli kebabi, served over thin bread with onions. In Pamukkale village the restaurants offer gozleme, grilled meatballs and the familiar Aegean vegetable dishes. Grapes grow across the region, and it is worth trying wines from the Denizli area.

Practical tips

• You may not wear shoes on the travertines, so bring a small bag to carry them.
• Where the water is thin some patches are slippery, and others feel rough on bare feet; take your time. The upper part gets most crowded at midday.
• Pack swimwear for the Antique Pool and take sunglasses, as the white rock is dazzling.
• The south (upper) gate is nearer the ruins and the museum; the lower gate, in the village, is the one for walking up the terraces.

Ephesus and Pamukkale go well together, and our two-day private Ephesus and Pamukkale tour is the usual way to see both. Browse all our Pamukkale tours.