Daily Pamukkale Tour from Belek – Travertines, Hierapolis & Cleopatra Pool (Private)

Pamukkale Day Trip from Belek: White Travertines and the Ruins of Hierapolis

Our daily Pamukkale tour from Belek takes you inland from the Antalya coast to one of the most extraordinary landscapes in Turkey, where snow-white mineral terraces spill down a hillside above the Denizli plain. This guided day tour combines a natural wonder and a Roman-era city, both protected together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with hotel transfers and lunch included.

• Pamukkale travertines – the famous Cotton Castle of white calcium terraces and shallow pools
• Hierapolis Ancient City – an open-air museum of baths, temples and Greek and Roman monuments
• The great necropolis – one of the largest ancient cemeteries, with more than 1,200 sarcophagi
• Great Theatre and the Tomb of St. Philip – highlights of the hillside ruins
• Cleopatra Pool – the antique thermal pool with submerged marble columns (optional, separate ticket)

Pamukkale, Turkish for Cotton Castle, was created by warm springs rising from a cliff nearly 200 metres high. The water, around 35 degrees and rich in calcium bicarbonate, releases its carbon dioxide as it flows and leaves limestone behind, slowly building petrified cascades, mineral forests and terraced basins. Above them lies Hierapolis, a spa town founded by the Attalid kings of Pergamon. Walking through it, you see the Roman baths, the Temple of Apollo, the gymnasium now used as a museum, the Great Theatre and the tomb associated with St. Philip, as well as a vast necropolis where some tombs are as large as small houses.

This daily excursion is relaxed in pace and suits all ages. Entrance fees for the sites in the programme are included; a swim in Cleopatra Pool requires an extra ticket, and your guide can help you arrange it. Later in the day there is time to browse Turkish handicrafts such as leather, textiles, onyx, jewellery or Turkish delight before the drive back. Bring sunscreen and comfortable shoes; visitors walk barefoot on the travertines.