The Ultimate Guide to Pamukkale, Turkey 2024

Pamukkale directly translates to “Cotton Castle”, getting it’s name from the famous white terraces filled with water from an ancient flowing thermal spring. The place looks like something out of a movie, and it is actually one of the most visited tourist spots in all of Turkey. We spent a few days visiting Pamukkale and have a lot to share about our experience.

In 2023, Pamukkale welcomed nearly 1.15 MILLION tourists to the ancient waters and stunning ancient city in it’s backdrop.

If you’re reading this post, you are probably one of the lucky ones that gets to visit and experience this wonder. There were a lot of little details that we didn’t know before visiting Pamukkale that we wished we had known beforehand. Fear not, this post will break down everything you need to know about visiting Pamukkale in 2024. (Hint: every other blog isn’t updated because with the massive price increases and this post is one of the few that will give you the actual numbers)

**Also, checkout our 10 Day and 2 Week Turkey Itineraries!

History of Pamukkale

The History of this fascinating place and ancient city traces back to 2nd century BC. According to the UNESCO World Heritage site “this extraordinary landscape was a focus of interest for visitors to the nearby Hellenistic spa town of Hierapolis, founded by the Attalid kings of Pergamom at the end of the 2nd century BC, at the site of an ancient cult.”

The city of Hierapolis held significance throughout numerous empires from Greek to Roman to even earning a visit from Christian Apostle Paul! They said the strange thermal waters of Pamukkale had healing powers and doctors would often travel to this city to treat their patients.

➡️ Read: 18 Turkey Travel Tips for Your Upcoming Trip ✨

The famous white terraces are travertine (hence, the name): a form of limestone deposited around mineral springs, most especially around hot springs. The rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate causes the sediment to turn into the shapes and terraces we can see today.

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Visiting the Pamukkale Travertines

Most people come to Pamukkale / Denizli to visit the famous “Cotton Castle”. What most people don’t realize is that these white terraces are actually attached to the bigger ancient city of Hierapolis. The number one thing you need to know is that the salt terraces are only a small part of your visit to Pamukkale. Make sure you budget in 3-4 hours to visit the famous “cotton castle” and wander around the ancient city.

The second thing you need to know when visiting Pamukkale is that if you’ve done your research online you’ve probably seen majestic photos of bright white terraces with bright blue water. The problem is that pretty much all of the water dried from the travertines, so it is going to look a lot different than what you see in the photos. I’ve read online that some of the most stunning photos people think of when they think of Pamukkale are 10 or more years old.

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Now that you’re acquainted with a few of the important basics, let’s go into more detail on what to expect when you visit Pamukkale👇

What should I expect when entering Pamukkale?

Entrance Gates

• You need to figure out which entrance you will take. There are THREE entrances to Pamukkale: The North Entrance, The South Entrance, and the Town Entrance (West)
  • North Gate
    • This is where some busses drop you off, and also where there are parking spaces for a fee.
    • Our Hotel gave us a free ride to the North Entrance. From there we spent our day and walked around. We ended our trip by walking down the Travertines by the Town Entrance. I would recommend this route as it was nice to avoid hurt feet and an uphill climb.
  • South Gate
    • This is where you would get dropped off if you come to Pamukkale on a guided tour. It is not accessible by Public transportation
  • Town Gate (West)
    • The public minibus would drop you off at this entrance by default. This is the best accessible pedestrian entrance where you walk along the ride of the travertines. Warning! You have to do this barefoot.

🛌 Here are all your hotel options in Pamukkale

Walking on the Travertines

• You CANNOT wear shoes while walking on the travertines. 🙅‍♂️🙅‍♂️🙅‍♂️
  • You have to carry your shoes with you or leave them at the top of the walk. If barefoot isn’t your thing, apparently, you can wear socks.

Entrance Fee Price for Visiting Pamukkale

• No matter where you enter, you will have to pay the STEEP entrance fee of 30 EUROS. Yup, You read this right. 30 EUROS to enter the park. 💶 💰💰
  • The 30 Euros includes visitng the famous Travertine Pools as well as entrance to wander around Hierapolis. We were pretty shocked when we first heard about this entrance fee amount because most ranking blogs say 10 Euro. This was true in 2023. Since then, they’ve decided to triple the price… We have no idea why but if you would like to read our thoughts on if Pamukkale was worth the visit, read our other blog here 👉

🛌 Here are all your hotel options in Pamukkale

So, do I get to actually swim?

• If you want to actually swim, you need to visit the Cleopatra Antique Pool and it costs an additional fee. About 200 TL when we visited. 🏊‍♀️
  • The Ancient Pool is actually the only real “thermal bath” in Pamukkale. You can’t really swim in the travertines. The ones that have water are more like shallow baths that you wade through.

Things to do while Visiting Pamukkale

1. Wander around the ancient city of Hierapolis

Taking time to wander the ancient city of Hierapolis is a MUST DO when you visit Pamukkale. When you purchase your ticket to enter, you are paying for both Hierapolis and the Pamukkale Travertines. There is no way to separate the two because they are right smack dab next to each other. Since you’ll be taking the time (and spending the money) to see the travertines, it is a no brainer to walk around Hierapolis.

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The city is HUGE and surprisingly well preserved. In our opinion it was almost more impressive than the cotton castle. When planning your trip, be sure to hit the Hierapolis Amphitheater which was a stunning and incredibly well preserved site. It also offers great birds eye view of the rest of the ancient city and Hierapolis.

2. Take a dip in Cleopatra Antique Pool!

Apparently Cleopatra took a dip here back in the day. As I said above, this is actually the only place in Hierapolis that is a functioning thermal hot springs. It costs 200 TL to enter and a great way to immerse yourself history.

They’ve built up a lot of restaurants and stores surrounding the pool, so it kinda feels like a community pool you can find back in the United States. It has picnic tables and burgers and everything.

If you plan on taking a dip like Cleopatra we recommend you wear your swimsuit underneath your street clothes. The bathrooms/changing rooms were quite far from the pool itself. This could be annoying if you’re trying to make the most of your time.

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3. Feeling adventurous? Go paragliding

While we were wandering around the ancient city we saw quite a few paragliders soaring above us and down into the town. If you’re into paragliding it could be a cool way to see the travertines and Hierapolis.

Our two cents is that the scenes for paragliding are much more impressive if you do this on the cliffs of Fethiye. (paragliding in Fethiye)

4. Hot Air Balloon

You’ve probably seen a picture of the famous Cappadocia Hot Air Balloons ascending into the sky enmass. If you want to experience a similar adventure at less than half the cost of a hot air balloon in Cappadocia then Pamukkale is your answer! There are numerous companies offering trips daily (depending on the weather).

They had to cancel all of the hot air balloon trips two of the days we visited because of the wind. It seems like a lot of this comes down to luck or if you are able to plan your trip here during a week where there are clear skies. But at the end of day you never know.

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5. Visiting Pamukkale means you can also visit the nearby town of Denizli

Denizli is a large city 15-20 minutes away from the town of Pamukkale. There is a lot to do and see here. If you have a vehicle and some time it could be a nice day trip to go into the city! This is especially true if you are staying in Pamukkale for a while. Since the actual town is so small, there is not much else to do besides visiting the travertines and Hierapolis.

How to get to Pamukkale

BY BUS 🚌 Since Pamukkale is such an iconic tourist destination in Turkey you will have no trouble finding a bus to take you here. We’ve met people who travelled to Pamukkale all the way from Cappadocia (10 hour bus).

Our best recommendation on busses is to travel to Pamukkale by public bus and visit Hierapolis and the travertines on your own. There are many people who choose to go in a tour group that handles everything, even taking a day trip to Pamukkale from places like Fethiye or Antalya. Our caution is that if you go with a tour group, it will be very crowded and you will not have as much freedom to take on the massive area of space at the pace you want.

🚐 Book Your Bus to Denizli (Pamukkale) Here

BY CAR 🚗 If you are renting a car in Turkey, driving to Pamukkale is very easy. We drove from Kas and it took about 4 hours with a few stops. It is not necessary to have a car in Pamukkale since the town is so small, but if you are already renting a car and doing a Turkey road trip, then it is easy to get here by car. Read our post about renting cars as foreigners in Turkey here.

🚗 We recommend to rent a car through Discover Cars. Book your rental car here!

BY PLANE ✈️ There is actually an airport in the nearby city of Denizli (Cardak Airport) and many people choose to fly in for a few days or even less, visit Pamukkale/Hierapolis, then dip out.

It is about a 20 minute car ride to the town of Pamukkale and there are also many public shuttles going back and forth between the airport and town. Most of these shuttles are medium white vans.

Where to Stay in Pamukkale

We stayed at APSAWA HOTEL and loved it. It was a great value for the price and run by a really kind family. They offered unlimited instant coffee and Turkish tea and our room came with breakfast. One of the biggest perks of the hotel is that the family actually offers a free service to drive their guests to the South Gate. This made things super convenient and we didn’t have to worry about the uphill climb and could just focus on the walk down back to the town.

🏨 View Your Options in Pamukkale Here

Where to Eat in Pamukkale

Since Pamukkale is such a small town, there are limited food options. We found most to have decent food, but high prices targeting tourists. Nevertheless, here are a few that we enjoyed and would be happy to recommend to you.

Lunch/Dinner — ONUR RESTUAURANT — This had really great value for being in the center of town and is a cute family run joint. There are very few tables so just try to eat here on the off hours. Offers traditional Turkish plates like kebab and doner or if you want to be fancy with it you can get their famous lamb chops.

Dessert — BAKLAVACI CÜNEYT TURKISH BAKLAVA — Really the nicest service we had in Turkey and delicious Baklava! Run by a sweet couple this place is right around the corner from Onur.

Something a little nicer Lunch/Dinner — White House Restaurant & Bar — We ate here the first night we came to Pamukkale per recommendation of our hotel. It was a bit pricier than we had wanted, but the service was great, the food tasted awesome and the restaurant is very spacious. This is a good place to come if you’re looking for a nicer meal.

Summary – Complete Guide to Pamukkale

We hope this guide helped plan your trip to Pamukkale! It is definitely a unique and fascinating place. If you want to know our thoughts on if visiting Pamukkale is actually worth it, read our post here.

Write a comment below if you have any questions!

Thanks for reading and see you soon!