{"id":31483,"date":"2018-12-18T01:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T14:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?p=31483"},"modified":"2025-06-19T13:39:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T03:39:24","slug":"pamukkale-turkey-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you should visit Pamukkale in Turkey (and what to know)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I still remember the first time I saw a photo of Pamukkale, Turkey\u2019s famous white \u201ccotton castle.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was late 2014 and a friend of mine suggested we meet in Turkey<\/a><\/strong>. I\u2019m based in the US and she lived in China<\/a> at the time, so it was the perfect halfway point. I was already familiar with both Cappadocia and Istanbul, but what really caught my eye while researching Turkey was a photo of Pamukkale: a collection of bright blue pools of water amongst a pristine, all-white landscape.<\/p>\n

Much to my dismay, I wasn\u2019t able to visit Pamukkale on that trip. Little did I know, I\u2019d be back in Turkey again a few years later, this time on the Turkey Encompassed<\/a> <\/strong>tour with Intrepid Travel. It was on this trip that I realized my wish of visiting the spectacular cotton castle.<\/p>\n

\"Pamukkale<\/p>\n

I admit I\u2019ve occasionally visited world famous sites that were a tad\u2026 underwhelming. It\u2019s not necessarily due to the site so much as to how I\u2019ve built the experience up in my head. Sometimes after seeing hundreds of photos and videos of a destination, I unintentionally create these unrealistic expectations of what it will look like. Of course, I\u2019m inevitably disappointed.<\/p>\n

I was worried that Pamukkale would be a victim of the images online. Thankfully, that wasn\u2019t the case. Pamukkale in real life was everything I imagined and more. I completely understand why it\u2019s Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: 6 AMAZING DESTINATIONS IN TURKEY (THAT AREN’T ISTANBUL OR CAPPADOCIA!)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

What is Pamukkale exactly?<\/h2>\n

Over thousands of years, calcite-filled waters have created the UNESCO World Heritage Site Pamukkale, part of the larger ancient city of Hierapolis. Pamukkale, which translates to \u201ccotton castle,\u201d comprises of natural mineral basins formed amongst bright calcium bicarbonate deposits, resulting in an unreal landscape. The petrified white deposits stand out in contrast to the natural bright blue pools formed in layers, almost as if on purpose. It will truly take your breath away.<\/p>\n

\"PamukkaleTempted? Inspired? Here\u2019s what you need to know before visiting:<\/p>\n

It will be crowded<\/h2>\n

Before visiting, I had no idea that Pamukkale is Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction. I did the Turkey Encompassed tour in the middle of July, so I half expected Pamukkale to be empty, especially considering we went in the middle of the day. I was astonished to encounter hundreds of people in the pool area. July is definitely a popular month to visit, despite the summer heat.<\/p>\n

That being said, the crowds are all inside the pools themselves. If you\u2019re looking for a good photo op, walk around the side, where you\u2019ll find plenty of empty spots to enjoy the views of the pools as well as the surrounding landscape.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE VISITING TURKEY SOLO ON A GROUP TOUR<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Pamukkale

Busy but beautiful<\/p><\/div>\n

To avoid the crowds almost entirely, plan to arrive to Pamukkale as soon the site opens. Better yet, visit during the winter. You may encounter a snow-dusted version of the pools instead.<\/p>\n

You should pack lightly (and bring your bathing suit)<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no place to store your belongings at the pools, so you\u2019ll have to carry whatever you bring with you. Leave the fancy camera at the hotel and bring just the essentials in a waterproof day bag. Sunglasses, sunscreen, water and flip-flops are a must! If you\u2019re interested in taking a dip in one of the pools, you\u2019ll want to bring your swimsuit and a change of clothes along as well.<\/p>\n

VISIT BEAUTIFUL PAMUKKALE ON A SMALL GROUP ADVENTURE WITH INTREPID TRAVEL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t wear shoes at the pools<\/h2>\n

\"Pamukkale<\/a>In order to minimize damage at the pools, visitors must walk barefoot, so be sure to bring shoes you can remove easily. I admit, this rule almost made me reconsider entering the pools. I\u2019m clumsy and the pools are incredibly slippery and have plenty of areas with sharp limestone.<\/p>\n

Plus, I had my camera and phone with me, since I really wanted to get good photos. Word to the wise: take your time walking up the cliffside and tread carefully. Thankfully, I managed to make it in and out without falling.<\/p>\n

SUBSCRIBE TO INTREPID’S NEWSLETTER FOR DEALS, GIVEAWAYS, TRAVEL TIPS AND STORIES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The water has healing powers\u2026<\/h2>\n

\u2026at least, that\u2019s what the locals say. The minerals in the pools, formed by underground hot water sources, are said to help with all sorts of ailments, especially digestive and circulation problems. \u00a0Be sure to don your swimsuit and dip your entire body in to take full advantage of this! At the very least, your skin will feel like you just came back from a luxury spa.<\/p>\n

\"PamukkaleThe surrounding ruins aren\u2019t to be missed<\/h2>\n

Did you know that Pamukkale is adjacent to the ancient city of Hierapolis? I didn’t either, but thankfully our Intrepid guide, Fatih<\/a><\/strong>, gave us the inside scoop on Hierapolis and the must-visit areas.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: 4 MUST-VISIT DESTINATIONS IN TURKEY, ACCORDING TO LOCAL LEADER FATIH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Hierapolis was once a large city, but now boasts plenty of well-preserved ruins, many of which are virtually empty. I wasn\u2019t kidding when I said all the crowds are at the pools.<\/p>\n

The recently restored amphitheater is easily one of the most impressive I\u2019ve seen \u2013 ever. It stands alongside an extensive necropolis. Nearby, there\u2019s also an archaeological museum for those that are particularly interested in the history of the area.<\/p>\n

\"Pamukkale

Hierapolis, with some of my Intrepid group!<\/p><\/div>\n

Don\u2019t spend all your time in the pools. The ruins of Hierapolis are included in the entry fee and are truly not to be missed!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so thankful that despite the numerous photos I\u2019ve seen online, Pamukkale turned out to be even more spectacular than I expected.<\/p>\n

It was precisely my visit to Pamukkale this past summer that reminded me that there are plenty of unmissable and magical places out there in the world. I\u2019m fortunate to be able to continue exploring them.<\/p>\n

Ready to explore this stunning site? Check out Intrepid’s range of small group adventures in Turkey.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

(All images courtesy of Sally or Intrepid Travel and taken on Intrepid’s Turkey Encompassed<\/a> trip.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pamukkale in real life was everything I imagined and more. I completely understand why it\u2019s Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15974,"featured_media":31488,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1313],"tags":[338,456,58],"class_list":["post-31483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","tag-intrepid-traveller","tag-intrepid-trip","tag-turkey","ipf_region-turkey"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPamukkale In Turkey: Why To Go And What To Know | Intrepid Travel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pamukkale in real life was everything I imagined and more. I completely understand why it\u2019s Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why you should visit Pamukkale in Turkey (and what to know)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pamukkale in real life was everything I imagined and more. I completely understand why it\u2019s Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Good Times by Intrepid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-17T14:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-19T03:39:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sally Elbassir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Intrepid_Travel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sally Elbassir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/\",\"name\":\"Pamukkale In Turkey: Why To Go And What To Know | Intrepid Travel Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-12-17T14:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-19T03:39:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/1659975fbcdf43a78f7101529bc1443a\"},\"description\":\"Pamukkale in real life was everything I imagined and more. I completely understand why it\u2019s Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"Pamukkale Turkey\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why you should visit Pamukkale in Turkey (and what to know)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/\",\"name\":\"The Good Times by Intrepid\",\"description\":\"adventure news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/1659975fbcdf43a78f7101529bc1443a\",\"name\":\"Sally Elbassir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75bfe544d26835f86365a4c76f08e5c36aa66c9289d8c953e7428c358823c0b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75bfe544d26835f86365a4c76f08e5c36aa66c9289d8c953e7428c358823c0b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sally Elbassir\"},\"description\":\"Born in Ireland, but raised in Los Angeles to Arab parents, Sally from Passport & Plates has been a traveler from the start. In 2015, she left her advertising job to chase her dream of eating the best street food, learning about different cultures and challenging misconceptions about Islamophobia. She's a firm believer that local food and travel experiences are the best form of education and shares her adventures and tips on passportandplates.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/sally-elbassir\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pamukkale In Turkey: Why To Go And What To Know | Intrepid Travel Blog","description":"Pamukkale in real life was everything I imagined and more. I completely understand why it\u2019s Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why you should visit Pamukkale in Turkey (and what to know)","og_description":"Pamukkale in real life was everything I imagined and more. I completely understand why it\u2019s Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/","og_site_name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intrepidtravel\/","article_published_time":"2018-12-17T14:00:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-19T03:39:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sally Elbassir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_site":"@Intrepid_Travel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sally Elbassir","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/","name":"Pamukkale In Turkey: Why To Go And What To Know | Intrepid Travel Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg","datePublished":"2018-12-17T14:00:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-19T03:39:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/1659975fbcdf43a78f7101529bc1443a"},"description":"Pamukkale in real life was everything I imagined and more. I completely understand why it\u2019s Turkey\u2019s most popular attraction.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg","width":800,"height":450,"caption":"Pamukkale Turkey"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/pamukkale-turkey-guide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why you should visit Pamukkale in Turkey (and what to know)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/","name":"The Good Times by Intrepid","description":"adventure news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/1659975fbcdf43a78f7101529bc1443a","name":"Sally Elbassir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75bfe544d26835f86365a4c76f08e5c36aa66c9289d8c953e7428c358823c0b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/75bfe544d26835f86365a4c76f08e5c36aa66c9289d8c953e7428c358823c0b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sally Elbassir"},"description":"Born in Ireland, but raised in Los Angeles to Arab parents, Sally from Passport & Plates has been a traveler from the start. In 2015, she left her advertising job to chase her dream of eating the best street food, learning about different cultures and challenging misconceptions about Islamophobia. She's a firm believer that local food and travel experiences are the best form of education and shares her adventures and tips on passportandplates.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/author\/sally-elbassir\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Intrepid-Travel-Turkey_Pamukkale_ss_539148118.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4OQMK-8bN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15974"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31483"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84772,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31483\/revisions\/84772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}