Private Tour | Pamukkale and Hierapolis

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. Hierapolis was an ancient Greek city located on hot springs in classical Phrygia in southwestern Anatolia. Its ruins are adjacent to modern Pamukkale in Turkey and currently comprise an archaeological museum designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site has the Tomb of Philip the Apostle. The hot springs have been used as a spa since the 2nd century BC, with many patrons retiring or dying there. The large necropolis is filled with sarcophagi, most famously that of Marcus Aurelius Ammianos, which bears a relief depicting the earliest known example of a crank and rod mechanism. The great baths were constructed with huge stone blocks without the use of cement and consisted of various closed or open sections linked together. There are deep niches in the inner section,[clarification needed] including the bath, library, and gymnasium. What We See Here: (150 Minutes) • Travertines (45 minutes) • Hieropolis Archaeology Museum (15 minutes) • Hieropolis Ancient Pool (30 minutes) • Ancient Theater (30 minutes) • Temple of Apollo (10 minutes) • Streets and Gates (20 minutes)

   2.5 h

2. Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli in southwestern Turkey. The area is famous for a carbonate mineral left by the flowing water. It is located in Turkey's Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes valley, which has a temperate climate for most of the year. The ancient Greco-Roman city of Hierapolis was built on top of the white "castle" which is in total about 2,700 metres long, 600 m wide and 160 m high. It can be seen from the hills on the opposite side of the valley in the town of Denizli, 20 km away. Known as Pamukkale (Cotton Castle) or ancient Hierapolis (Holy City), this area has been drawing the weary to its thermal springs since the time of Classical antiquity. The Turkish name refers to the surface of the shimmering, snow-white limestone, shaped over millennia by calcium-rich springs. Dripping slowly down the vast mountainside, mineral-rich waters foam and collect in terraces, spilling over cascades of stalactites into milky pools below. Legend has it that the formations are solidified cotton (the area's principal crop) that giants left out to dry.

   4 h

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 1 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in İzmir

• Its from-price is 46% above the median of the 148 day trips we list in İzmir.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 81 of 148.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About İzmir

İzmir is Turkey's third-largest city, an Aegean port with an old bazaar, a seafront promenade and the ancient ruins of Ephesus and Pergamon within reach.

İzmir, known to the ancient Greeks as Smyrna, lies at the head of a deep gulf on the Aegean coast. Konak Square has an ornate clock tower from 1901 and the small Konak Mosque, and the Kemeraltı bazaar sprawls behind it with workshops, mosques and old caravanserais. The Asansör, a historic lift in the Karataş district, rises to a terrace overlooking the gulf, and a long promenade, the Kordon, runs beside the water.

Top-ranked sights in İzmir: Pergamon (Pergamum), Sardis (Sart), Bergama Asklepion (Pergamon Asclepeion).

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