Daily Sagalassos & Salda Lake Tour from Kemer – Ruins & Crater Lake

Daily Sagalassos & Salda Lake Tour from Kemer — A City in the Clouds and Turkey's Maldives

This full-day trip from Kemer climbs into the Taurus Mountains to explore Sagalassos, an exceptionally well-preserved ancient city at about 1,700 metres, and then continues to Salda Lake, one of the deepest crater lakes in Turkey. Hotel transfers, a professional English-speaking guide and entrance fees are included, offering a refreshing change from the beaches of the Antalya coast.

The first part of the day is dedicated to Sagalassos Ancient City, set on a mountain slope so high that it often seems to float above the clouds. The earliest traces of settlement here date back around 12,000 years, and the city grew into a prosperous centre in Hellenistic and Roman times. Sagalassos is famous for how complete its monuments are: almost all of the original building blocks have been found on site, allowing archaeologists to piece its fountains, colonnaded streets and public buildings back together. Your guide leads you through these structures and explains the long history of the mountain city.

The tour then drives on to Salda Lake near Burdur, a crater lake about 184 metres deep, renowned for water that shifts between turquoise and deep blue. Its shores of brilliant white mineral deposits create a Mars-like landscape that scientists have compared with the surface of the Red Planet, and you can take as many photographs as you like while admiring the view. In the late afternoon you return to Kemer and are dropped back at your hotel. This daily excursion from Kemer is a relaxed choice for photographers, history enthusiasts and nature lovers; lunch is not included, so you may wish to bring snacks or buy a meal along the way.