Pamukkale tour itinerary: the day from pickup to drop-off

First: pickup in the night

The coach collects guests from hotels along the whole Antalya–Alanya resort coast. At resort and beach hotels you wait at the hotel's designated pickup point, the main entrance. In Kaleiçi, Side old town and other narrow or pedestrian-only streets, where a coach cannot get in, a meeting point close by is arranged for you instead.

It is still dark when the coach comes, and how early depends on where on the coast you are staying. Your own time and place are sent once you have booked; the pickup times page explains how they are set. Be ready a few minutes early, with your booking confirmation on your phone.

Second and third: breakfast, then Lake Salda

Once the round of pickups is done and the coach has headed inland, it pulls in at a breakfast stop. Breakfast is included, so there is no need to raid the minibar before you leave. Have a hot drink, use the washroom and stretch your legs. If you booked the version without the entrance ticket, it is a good moment to check that you have money set aside for the gate later.

Next comes Lake Salda in Burdur province, known for its turquoise water and white shores and often nicknamed Turkey's Maldives. The stop is included in both versions. Walk along the shore, look at the colours and take photographs; bathing is not on the programme, because the lake and its shore are protected. More on our Salda Lake page.

Fourth: a short stop for local onyx

After the lake, the coach makes a short stop where local onyx stone products are presented. Onyx is a decorative stone of the region, and the stop is a small outlet showing how it is worked into ornaments and souvenirs, rather than a large store.

Treat it as a chance to see a local craft and stretch your legs. Buying anything is entirely optional: nobody on the coach is expected to spend money here, and you can simply look.

Fifth: lunch at a restaurant

A restaurant along the route serves your lunch, and it is covered by the fare. Drinks are paid separately. It is a good moment to change into shoes you can slip off easily, ready for the terraces, and to put on sun cream if the afternoon is bright.

Sixth: Pamukkale travertines and Hierapolis

This is the heart of the day. Shoes come off, and you make your way over the white travertine terraces on bare feet, paddling in their shallow pools. Higher up you reach Hierapolis, where Greeks and Romans once came for the waters; look for the theatre, the necropolis, Frontinus street and the Plutonium. One entrance ticket covers both the terraces and the ancient city.

In the ticket version that entrance is already arranged. In the other version, you pay for entry yourself when you get there. Two optional paid extras are possible here: the warm-water Cleopatra Pool, the one place you can swim, and paragliding over Pamukkale, arranged through the guide if the weather allows. What the tour and its optional extras cost can vary with the date you pick and with availability, so the figures that apply now are kept on our tour price page.

Swimming is not possible on the travertines themselves; you walk them and paddle. See what Pamukkale is famous for and our Hierapolis guide before you go.

Seventh: a short stop for regional wine

On the way back, the coach stops briefly where regional wine, another local product of the area, is presented. As with the onyx stop, there is no obligation to buy; if you do not drink wine, it is simply a few minutes off the coach before the evening drive.

Eighth and last: dinner, then back at your hotel

The coach then stops for dinner at a restaurant on the way. Dinner is included, so you arrive back fed, however late it is. After that it drops you at your hotel, or at your meeting point, late the same night. Expect to be tired and happy, and plan a slow morning afterwards.

Ready to go? Departures are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, plus daily through May and October; pick yours in the booking form, then pay in euros when you travel.