Kemer: Pamukkale & Hierapolis Full-Day Tour with Lunch

No holiday in Turkey is truly complete without witnessing the wonder of Pamukkale! This full-day tour from Kemer takes you to one of the world's most extraordinary natural and historical sites — the dazzling snow-white travertine terraces of Pamukkale and the magnificent ancient city of Hierapolis — all with a delicious open buffet lunch and professional guiding included.

Your Pamukkale adventure begins with a very early morning pickup from your hotel in Kemer in a modern, air-conditioned vehicle. As your coach heads northeast through the stunning Turkish countryside, your professional guide provides fascinating background information about Pamukkale, its geological wonders, and the remarkable ancient city of Hierapolis that crowns the hillside above. The journey takes approximately 3 hours, with brief comfort stops along the way.

Upon arrival, the sight that greets you is one of the most extraordinary in the entire natural world. Pamukkale — meaning "Cotton Castle" in Turkish — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where mineral-rich thermal waters have cascaded down a hillside for tens of thousands of years, depositing brilliant white calcium carbonate to create a landscape of dazzling snow-white terraced pools that look almost too beautiful to be real. Walking barefoot across the warm white terraces — a requirement to protect the formations — and paddling in the naturally heated thermal pools as you look out over the surrounding plains is an experience that is genuinely unlike anything else on earth.

Above the travertines lies Hierapolis — a magnificent ancient Greco-Roman city founded in the 2nd century BC as a thermal spa resort, where wealthy Romans and Byzantines came to take the healing waters. Your guide leads you through the remarkably well-preserved remains of this once-great city, including the spectacular ancient theatre — one of the best preserved in Turkey — the vast and eerie necropolis stretching along the city walls, ancient bath houses, and the sacred Plutonium cave.

For those seeking an extra special experience, the optional Cleopatra's Pool offers the extraordinary opportunity to swim among ancient Roman columns that tumbled into the thermal spring during an earthquake — lounging in naturally warm mineral water surrounded by 2,000-year-old marble is as surreal and memorable as it sounds (entrance fee payable on site).

A generous open buffet lunch at a nearby restaurant gives you the chance to enjoy a wide variety of delicious Turkish dishes before the afternoon's free exploration time. Short shopping stops for local textiles and regional products are included along the return journey. Your comfortable transfer returns you to your hotel in Kemer in the early evening, leaving you with memories of one of Turkey's most remarkable days out.