See Pamukkale Experience The Travertine Terraces And Nearby Sites

We were looking forward to Pamukkale as one has read so much about the Travertine Terraces, also known as the Cotton Castle located in Pamukkale. We hope Pamukkale and the Cotton Castle live up to all the hype. Located next to the Travertine Terraces are the ruins of Roman’s spa resort city of Hierapolis. We are spending two nights in Pamukkale, so we have one full day to “See Pamukkale Experience The Travertine Terraces And Nearby Sites.”

Getting To Pamukkale From Kusadasi

Since our stay in Kusadasi has ended, we need to get to our next destination Pamukkale. Several transportation options are private transfer, bus (mini or otherwise), or the train from Selcuk. You will still need to get to Selcuk from Kusadasi if you decide on the train. We choose to take the train from Selcuk to Denizli as we enjoy travel by train. Besides, train travel is so inexpensive in Turkey compared to Canada. The train would take a little over 3 hours to get to Denizli at the cost of 30 TL each, a bargain and an experience. After arriving in Denizli, we caught a taxi to our accommodations, the Cotton House in Pamukkale; the taxi cost 120 TL.

Checking Out Pamukkale

After an early check-in into our room, we ventured out to see Pamukkale, get acquainted with our new surroundings, and find the Travertine Terraces along with the Roman ruins of Hierapolis. Once we discovered how to get to our destinations for the next day, it was off to look around the town. We needed to pick up a couple of things (beer) and more phone minutes as we are using a Turkish SIM card. Another item that we had to look into was travel arrangements from Pamukkale to Fethiye, our next stop in a couple of days. While the women were off buying beer, I located a tour operator ITT Group Turkey that advertised bus transportation to Fethiye.

Getting To The Travertine Terraces Or Hierapolis Ruins

There are a couple of ways of getting to the ruins or the travertine terraces, one better than the other. Firstly, just past the pond (lake) close to the main street, there is a ticket booth where you can purchase your ticket and walk up to the top of the Travertine Terraces. Taking this route is not the best choice because once you reach the travertine terraces, pools, and waterway, you must walk barefoot, not very comfortable, and a long walk.

One of the shopkeepers suggested that we hire a taxi to get to the south gate and enter from there. The cost of entry is 110 TL; this includes Travertine Terraces and the Hierapolis Ruins. Entering here, you walk through the ruins, then onto the pools, logical flow. Not included in the cost of swimming in Cleopatra’s pool, this is a separate fee of 100 TL. Cleopatra’s pool looks inviting; unfortunately, we did not partake, but I think one should as it looks very relaxing. More so than the travertine pools turned out to be.

Pamukkale Guided Tour Package

Entering the store, you could see that this tour operator, ITT Group Turkey, could offer so much more to the traveling tourist. While talking to one of the agents about our transportation to Fethiye from Pamukkale, they suggested a tour package to see Pamukkale and all that it is known for. The tour package included visiting Travertine Terraces and the Ruins of Hierapolis, red springs, plus lunch, transportation, and a guide for 250 TL each. We thought this to be a good deal, so we purchased. We had no regrets as we enjoyed the tour, and it was nice having a guide along the way to explain all the history behind what we were looking at.

See Pamukkale Hierapolis Ruins (map)

The ancient city of Hierapolis was founded as a thermal spa in the 2nd century BC, and it is said that Telephos, the emperor, named Hierapolis after his wife, Hiera. Earthquakes continually destroyed Hierapolis city but were repeatedly rebuilt. However, the buildings that are standing today were built after the great earthquake in AD 60. After the Roman period, Hierapolis continued to be a significant center in the Byzantine period.

Hierapolis’s continued importance was St. Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples, who was crucified here in AD 80. After the Byzantine conquest of the 4th century, an octagonal church called Martyrium was built in memory of St. Philip. Therefore, the city gained fame, and it got the title “Metropolis.” The city was destroyed again by an earthquake in the 7th century AD, and following the earthquake in the 14 century, it was abandoned entirely.

Our tour guide Meral is very knowledgeable about the ruins and allowed us the time to view areas that interested us. One of the most exciting places to visit is the theater that held 12k people, simply incredible to see. Our tour guide Meral took the time to take a group picture with everyone’s phone; our guide went out of her way to make the visit memorable. Just past the theater and up on the hill, you will find St. Philip church; we did not make it there. We were told that many believers do walk up there to pray.

See Pamukkale’s Travertine Terraces (thermal pools)

In Turkish, Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle,” is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing of thermal spring water. When the water, supersaturated with calcium carbonate, reaches the surface, carbon dioxide de-gasses from it, and calcium carbonate is deposited. The water deposits calcium carbonate as a soft gel which eventually crystallizes into travertine.

People have visited this area for thousands of years due to the attraction of the thermal pools. As recently as the mid-20th century, hotels were built over the ruins of Hierapolis, causing considerable damage. When the area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the hotels were demolished and replaced with artificial pools in a neighboring town. Some of the travertine terraces are off-limits, having suffered damage, erosion, and water pollution due to tourism.

If you do research and read about visiting these pools, they’re made out to be a life-changing experience; well, they are not. We found this particular part of the whole experience somewhat disappointing. It may have been the time of year as we visited in March, not the perfect time to visit I’m sure. I would recommend visiting these terraces, but I would temper your expectations somewhat. The water is directed to the pools or terraces, whichever area needs it most. When the pools are receiving the water, they look nice, but the water itself is far from warm, and it is uncomfortable to walk on the hardened travertine. When the pools are empty, they are just not that impressive, again the day we were there it was a cool overcast-type day. The blue color might be more visible on a bright sunny day. It isn’t easy to distinguish the outlines of the pools as everything is white or off-white. Water in the pools would make the pools stand out more. Sorry, this is but our observations when we visited.

I would still recommend visiting as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Maybe bring along a bathing suit and towel and enjoy Cleopatra’s pool; I’m sure this would be more comfortable and enjoyable.

Red Springs, Pamukkale’s Cousin

The Red Springs are located approximately five kilometers away from Pamukkale, a natural hot spring pool in the village of Karahayit. Unlike Pamukkale’s white, these springs are a red color because of their high iron content. Today the area around the springs has a cafe, hotel, and places to relax. The water is hot at the source 60 C degrees; they say drinking the water has health benefits, we did give it a try. Interesting to see; we recommend stopping at it as the colors are unusual.

Ballon Rides

Balloon rides are available at Pamukkale to give you a birds-eye view of both the Travertine Terraces and the Hierapolis Ruins. We did not book a ride as we plan to experience this in Cappadocia. We were told that the rides here are 1500 TL for a 1-hour ride.

Transfer From Pamukkale To Fethiye

After completing our tour for the day, we finished up back at the office; at this point, we discussed our options on getting to Fethiye. We were told that the bus would be a minibus, not ideal but would work. Then we were told that they could offer us a private transfer with a guide that would see us stop at several ruins plus lunch included. The price was 3100 TL; after some discussion, we went ahead with this option. Comfort, more sightseeing with our guide Meral sounded good to us, besides we were in Turkey to see as much as possible.

You will have to read our next post to see how the ride to Fethiye, to say the least, was eventful.

How To Apply For Turkey eVisa

The Electronic Visa (e-Visa) Application System allows visitors traveling to Türkiye to quickly obtain their e-Visas online (www.evisa.gov.tr) in approximately three minutes. It is possible to obtain e-Visa 7/24 everywhere with an internet connection. After filling in the necessary information concerning their identity, passport, and travel dates, the applicants can obtain their visa and pay the visa fees online. It truly is that easy; We would recommend having a printed copy as well, just because.

Our Thoughts “See Pamukkale Experience The Travertine Terraces And Nearby Sites”

We did enjoy our time in Pamukkale and would recommend visiting; we stayed two nights. I think a day visit would be enough time but the travel time getting there and back would make for a very long day.

Our Positives

• The Hierapolis Ruins were worth seeing especially the Theater, a beautiful structure.
• Seeing Cleopatra’s pool was beautiful, a special and unusual piece from days gone by.
• Finding the tour operator ITT Group Turkey, they are responsible for making our Turkey visit that much more interesting.

Our Negatives

• I guess the negative that we found when we visited Pamukkale was the Travertine Terraces, there is so much hype that they just can’t live up to these expectations. The colors and beauty are just not present everywhere you look when looking at the Travertine Terraces, and the water is cold.

Would have, Could have, Should have

• We wish we would have visited Cleopatra’s pool, but in the tour, time can be limited and you need to make choices. Some turn out better than others. Ultimately this is your choice and you may disagree, just want to give you another perspective. No matter, a visit to these sites is recommended.

Next Stop

Our next stop is in Fethiye, where we hope to go Paragliding if everything works out. Paragliding is not something that we have thought about before, but after reading about Fethiye, this is something that we are very interested in trying.

Support Our Blog And It’s Unique Travel Content

You can support our site by using the links through our travel Essential. If you purchase items using our links, we will receive a small commission. There are no extra or hidden costs to you. These commissions assist us in our travel, so we can provide unique content to you through each blog post. If you enjoy our blog and find it interesting and informative please share it with friends. Subscriber, so you never miss a new post. Thank you.

Recommended Travel Essential

Cindy and I call ourselves nomadic, so we use certain essentials to make this way of life easier and more comfortable with our lifestyle. With this in mind, we have composed a list of what we feel are essentials and some tips you might use to plan or take your next travel adventure.

• Travel Packing Essentials to help organize and make this task less stressful
• Travel Safety Essentials to make your life on the road a little safer, giving you peace of mind
• Living essentials to make life a little more comfortable, be this resting, working, or playing.

Accommodation Options While Traveling The World

• Booking.com is one of our go to’s when we are looking for a place to stay for a couple of days or longer
• Agoda.com we find is best to use when in Southeast Asia, but hey you never know what you might find
• Airbnb.com used to be our go-to but some of their cancelation policies are reasonable, give them a try as well

Travel Insurance

We always travel with travel Insurance, just medical or complete trip coverage. We use Heymondo as we find their costs reasonable. Remember, don’t travel, and without coverage, the savings are not worth the possible costs.

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning if you buy a product using our link, we may earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Disclaimer.