PLEASE GO! If you're in Turkey, and you don't make a trip here - YOU WILL REGRET NOT GOING!…read more It's truly a fairy-tale, dream-like environment. Endless views of white limestone. For travelers unaware of its nature, one might think it's a winter wonderland. We are grateful (and unfortunate) today that we can still enjoy the pools today. When you go, please respect the walls and pools. They are a gift from mother nature, not meant to be grafitti-ed or damaged by any means. I made a day trip from Kusadasi (a port city along the western coast of Turkey). While we spent about half the day driving, Pamukkale was truly amazing. Words cannot express the sheer grandeur and magnitude of this site. Just beyond the pools of Pamukkale lies Hierapolis. There is a well preserved Roman city and contains pool that Cleopatra once loved.

This site dates back to the Roman Empire from the 5 th century BC. It was the magical springs that…read moreprompted its development and are still in existence today. You can walk into the water. The ruins are spread over 2 miles. Also a very nice museum is on site.

This historic city is located at Pamukkale. This city is big in ancient time due to hot springs in…read morethe city. The city is Cleopatra love. Because she use the thermal pool here. The pool is still there. During our visit the pool is under renovation. There is a fees to use the pool. Imagine swim in the same area of Cleopatra. The city also has mineral terraces pool. It is beautiful. The city is one of the kind. It is more like a residential city. There is mount to overlook the entire city. Museum also located in the site. You need two hours to finish entire experience. I would suggest spending a day there.

I've never been to a UNESCO World Heritage Site that wasn't awesome and amazing, and Hierapolis is…read morecertainly no exception. Just amazing. Can't even subtract because of the very annoying group tours and numerous underqualified guides, you really don't need a tour guide. What you want instead is a good guidebooks, Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, National Geographic, or DK Eyewitness Guide. Also, admission price includes an audio tour, they do give you blue tooth earpieces but I would bring your own so they are fully charged. The audio tour is pretty good and certainly much better than the live guides who often just make stuff up. A little less crowded than Ephesus, and not bad at all during the cold offseason. Much of the annoying groups are more enamored with the hot springs part than the ancient ruins as well. 200 meters high overlooking Pamukkale (cotton growing and textile processing area, hence the name of our hotel, the Cotton House), Founded by the Hellenistic Attalid kings of Pergamom at the end of the 2nd century B.C.E., at the site of an ancient cult. Its hot springs were also used for scouring and drying wool. Ceded to Rome in 133 B.C.E, Hierapolis reached its peak 3rd century CE. An earthquake in 60 CE resulted in massive destruction. Remains of the Greco-Roman period include baths, temple ruins, a monumental arch, a nymphaeum, a necropolis and a theatre. Following the acceptance of Christianity by the emperor Constantine and his establishment of Constantinople as the 'new Rome' in 330 CE., the town was made a bishopric. As the place of St. Philip's martyrdom in 80 C.E., commemorated by his Martyrium in the 5th century, Hierapolis with its several churches became an important religious center for the Eastern Roman Empire. There's a lot to see here over a pretty wide area, do not miss the amphitheater.

This terrace natural formation is due to the thermal underground hot springs above. Recently the…read morecenter kind limits the output of the water. Sometimes you visit there there is no water. The day that we visited has thermal water flowing which creates the sky blue water pool. It look beautiful. The terrace water pool form different elevation pool at the slope of the hill. Visitors can walk to end of the pool. Due to the care of the water, visitors must travel down the slope with barefoot. No shoe allowed. So it is very slippery and pointy along the walk. Rick is very high. The most beautiful part of the terrace pool is located at the top of round overview. It is really beautiful to stand on the water and take pictures.

What a delightful Turkish day at Pamukkale Travertines. The weather was outstanding for January…read moreand we took advantage of it. From the hot springs to the limestone formations, this place looks and feels like you are on another planet. With the winter white background, each picture we snapped made us feel like we knew exactly the place and angle to shoot from. It's a social media haven. The Cleopatra pool was closed, which was fine by us, as we just enjoyed the slow walk down the Travertines while soaking up the ambiance. You can bring swimwear, but we choose to take off our shoes, roll up the pants and dip our feet in. The white mud at the bottom of the pools are supposed to be good to rub on your face but the thoughts of toe jam on my cheeks was a deal killer. The spring water is warmest on top and goes to lukewarm to the lower pools. For the best photos , you will need to go down a least half way down. Be careful, it can be slippery and stay away from the edge. It would be like sliding down a cheese grater if you fell off.

The travertines were one of my favorite stops in Turkey. From Afar they look like snow topped…read moremountains, but up close it was pretty amazing that nature could create something like this. Warm spring water that trickles down the mountain side is so rich with minerals that it leaves behind travertine deposits as it cools. It really looked like something out of a fairytale! Although it was really cool that i was able to walk on the upper pools and take pictures, there was a part of me wished that they had made it off limits and left it in its natural state. They require you to remove your footwear and walk on them barefoot so you don't track any dirt on to the white travertines, unfortunately when you look down the side that tourist are allowed to walk on and compare it to parts that people are not allowed to walk, there is a huge difference in the color. The untouched parts are bone white, while the side which tourist are allowed to walk are not. =( Walking on the travertines is free, and its a great photo op. But for a fee there is also a hot spring pool with ancient marble columns submerged in the water, which is cool but be careful not to stub your toes or shins on them. The water is just warm and kind of effervescent, don't try to open your eyes under water it burns! Guess its all the minerals. I did wish the water was hotter but liked walking around in there because the bottom was covered in these little round stones that felt like a foot massage with every step. There is a fee to enter the hot spring, and a mandatory locker rental too. Over all it was amazing, nature at its best and along the walk (or bus for a fee) to the exit, there are more ancient ruins too! I would have liked to check them out more but unfortunately i spent all my time at the travertines and the hot spring.

"Hierapolis & Pamukkale"…read more Hierapolis, in Pamukkale, is well worth the visit. There are so many ruins that it is almost unbelievable, and you stroll past Roman column pieces as though they were just detritus. The Cotton Castle of Pamukkale is a site to be visited and experience. This was one of our best sites on our Turkey tour. The place is located in Denizli province southwest of Turkey, it is layers of cascading mountain of white calcite formation spilling over the landscape and formed terraces of faint blue pools of thermal water. One of the attractions is the spa with the Cleopatra Pools

Pamukkale is a town in Western Turkey known for the mineral rich thermal waters flowing down white…read moretravertine terraces. It's connected to the ruins of Hierapolis, a Roman spa city and the necropolis. It's a fantastic place to soak your aching feet after exploring the ancient ruin. Cleopatra's pool is also located here! Next time I come back to Pamukkale, I'm going to try paragliding, so I can view it from above.

With my 500th review coming soon, I've been adding some European experiences. One that I will never…read moreforget, is the mineral thermal pools in Pamukkale, Turkey. I was staying with my family in Antalya which is a tourist town. We booked a day trip by bus to see the wonders of Pamukkale. The pools are warm and have chalk water. When you come out, a residue stays on you. The swimming experience was out of this world, also because of the amazing view. The down part, it was overly touristic: so many people! I heard now you can't swim anymore as it became protected but I'm not sure. It's worth a visit. To me it is a World wonder forever engraved in my memory!