Daily Pamukkale Tour from Mugla – Cotton Castle & Hierapolis Ruins

Pamukkale Day Trip from Mugla to the Cotton Castle and Hierapolis

This daily Pamukkale tour from Mugla brings together the shimmering white terraces of the Cotton Castle and the ruins of ancient Hierapolis in one relaxed day tour. You are collected from your hotel in Mugla, travel in an air-conditioned, non-smoking coach, explore with a professional English-speaking guide and enjoy lunch along the way.

• Admire the terraced travertine pools of Pamukkale
• Tour Hierapolis, a thermal city of the Attalid kings of Pergamon
• Walk through a necropolis holding more than 1,200 sarcophagi
• See the Apollo Temple, the Great Theatre and the shrine of St. Philip
• Visit the Roman Baths and the gymnasium turned museum
• Optional dip in the warm Cleopatra Pool

The landscape of Pamukkale is the work of thermal springs emerging from a cliff almost 200 metres above the valley floor. Their water, close to 35°C and loaded with calcium bicarbonate, gives off carbon dioxide as it runs down the slope and deposits soft white limestone. The result is a surreal scene of stone cascades, mineral formations and stepped basins that looks like snow even in high summer.

Hierapolis was founded as a healing spa by the Attalid dynasty and flourished under Roman rule. Together with the travertines it is recorded by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site of both cultural and natural value. Highlights include one of the largest burial grounds of antiquity, with some tombs the size of small houses, the restored Great Theatre, the shrine linked to St. Philip and the remains of baths and temples. It is an easy-going daily excursion, well suited to all ages.

Good to know: entrance fees named in the programme are included, while the Cleopatra Pool requires its own ticket, so ask your guide for details. Free time to view local handicrafts follows the visit, and the return to Mugla starts in the late afternoon.