24 Hours in Pamukkale – Travel Guide

Welcome to Pamukkale

Ever wanted to visit a cotton castle? Well according to Turkish legends, the giants of Pamukkale would leave their cotton harvest outside to dry and it solidified forming a gigantic cotton castle that you can visit today.

And while I’m one for legends, Pamukkale is actually an incredibly rare geological phenomenon being one of only two petrified waterfalls that exist on planet Earth!

In fact, this geological wonder fascinates tourists so much that it often overshadows another amazing part of this historical site – the ancient Greek city of Hierapolis.  Built on top of Pamukkale, this town was founded in 2nd Century BC and is said to be home to Cleopatra’s thermal pool of choice, which you can still swim in.

So if you haven’t already, it’s time to add Pamukkale to your travel bucket list, and here’s my guide on how to easily visit it all in just 24 hours.

 

Getting to Pamukkale

Plane

The best and no fuss way to travel to Pamukkale is by plane.  The flight only takes one hour, airport to hotel transfer is super easy and it’s incredibly cheap with a one way ticket only costing $68AUD.  I flew one way to Denizli Cardak Airport from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport with Turkish Airlines.

There’s not a lot of info online about shuttle transfer from Denizli Airport to Pamukkale – but you don’t need to worry.  The Airport’s shuttle company BayTur is easily found right outside the airport exit and times align with Turkish Airline and Anadolu Jet arrivals.  Make sure you don’t take your time exiting the airport, if you miss the bus you will have to wait until the next flight arrival is scheduled to catch the next one.  This could be 2hrs+ of waiting.  Most buses go to Denizli city centre, so tell the driver you want to go to Pamukkale to ensure you get on the right bus.

I’ve read online that drop off is at BayTur’s office near Pamukkale gates, however there were only a few of us on our bus and we were kindly dropped off at our hotels.

Bookings are not needed, but you can contact the company here for more details or extra peace of mind.

You can also arrange a shuttle with a private company – I initially arranged with DenizliAirport.com but no one turned up.  When I called wondering where they were, they basically said something went wrong and they wouldn’t be able to come to pick me up.  Kinda disappointing.    In the end I caught the next airport BayTur shuttle (as mentioned above) which I highly recommend – it’s cheaper and MUCH more reliable.

Bus

Overnight buses from Istanbul to Denizli run everyday and drop you off at Denizli Otogar bus station.  The following bus operators have daily services:  Pamukkale, Kamil Koc and Metro Turizm.

Make sure you book in advance as buses can fill up quickly.

Once at Denizli Otogar, you need to catch a minibus (Dolmus in Turkish) to Pamukkale.  Ask one of the bus company operators for help if you can’t find the gate number.

Car

It’s approximately an 8 hour drive from Istanbul to Pamukkale.  Now I spent most my time driving in Europe, but even I was scared to drive through Istanbul so I opted for a plane.

 

Where to stay

I stayed at Melrose House Hotel which is about a 20 minute walk from the travertine town entrance. I loved it here, I thought the place was beautiful, staff were nice and breakfast was generous and delicious! The best part?  It only cost me $36AUD per night!

The Dolmus/minibus to the Otogar also stopped just down the street from the hotel, making getting my overnight bus to Cappadocia super easy.

When to Visit:

I visited Pamukkale in May (12-13th) and while it was outside peak season, the travertines themselves still got pretty packed with people (mostly tour groups).  By 10am, there was no space on the travertines to have a quiet area to yourself.  In saying that, the town, restaurants and hotels were very quiet.  I found May a good time to visit, because there are less people, but the temperature is still warm enough to have a dip in the travertines.  If you’re looking for instagram-worthy photos of yourself in the travertines with no one around, you will probably need to visit in winter.

Your Itinerary – What to do:

So this is why Pamukkale is so easy to visit in 24 hours – all the major sites are so close to each other!  Pamukkale/Hierapolis is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so you need to pay to visit it.  There are 3 entrances into the park – Pamukkale Town Entrance, North entrance and South entrance.

Entrance Times and Costs:

From April 15 till October 2 – Open from 08:00 to 21:00 every day
From October 3 till April 14 – Open from 08:30 to 17:00 every day

Entrance Cost for Pamukkale Travertine (B on map) and Hierapolis Ancient City (1-16 on map): 35 Turkish Lira

Entrance Cost for Cleopatra/Antique Pool (A on map): Free inside the complex, to swim you need to pay  32 TL (Adults) 12 TL (Kids 6+) Kids (<6) Free.

Of course, feel free to mix around the itinerary below to suit your schedule.  This is just what I did.

1. Visit the ancient city of Hierapolis first

I give this advice for a few reasons.  The first is that majority of people swarm to the travertines first. As early as 10am I would say the travertines were crowded – and this isn’t even in peak season!  Starting at Hieropolis Ancient city means you will skip all the crowds – there were only a handful of people around when I was exploring at this time.  The second is that Turkey can get quite hot and the last thing you want to be doing is walking around ancient ruins in the heat and direct sun.  It’s best to start early to avoid the heat and to ensure you allow plenty fo time to cover the entire site.

2. Lunch Break

There are two places you can buy food within the site.  The first are the food stalls right at the top of the travertines, next to the seating area or you can also find a number of fast food shops inside the Antique Pool Complex.  Food is a lot pricier here than down in town.

3. Heirapolis Archaeological Museum

I didn’t get a chance to visit here, but if you have some extra time it would be worth checking out.  The museum holds most of the sarcophagi and artefacts excavated from Hierapolis and surrounding towns in the valley.  Artefacts are well preserved and a visit here will provide the missing key to much of the references you’ll read on the plaques as you’re walking through Hierapolis.  I.E References are made to certain sarcophagi and decorations, however a lot of these are actually in the museum and can’t be seen on the Hierapolis site.

4. Swim in the Antique Pool

I loved relaxing in the Cleopatra Pool after a long day walking around Hierapolis.  It’s rumoured that Cleopatra is said to have swum in an earlier version of this pool, especially as Hierapolis had a reputation for being a health centre back in the day.  The pools are known to have healing properties against many skin diseases, circulation problems, rheumatism, heart diseases and many more.  The water is a lovely warm temperature that’s very comfortable to swim in, and there’s something really idyllic about swimming amongst the roman columns in this pool.  I didn’t want to get out!

5. The Travertines

Leaving the best until last, the travertines are quite amazing – I didn’t expect them to be as large as they were, but they go on for ages!!

In May, the sun didn’t start setting until about 8:30PM.  This means that from 6PM there was heaps of time to get photos in daylight with the pools, swim and walk around the site.  The travertines really become magical though at sunset. The pools mirror the pastel colours of the sky which is amazing to watch and great to photograph!

Enjoy!  Got any questions?  Let me know below.  Also I’d love to hear your experiences in Pamukkale!