Two of Turkey’s most-visited sites sit within a few hours of each other on the Aegean side: the Roman city of Ephesus, and the white terraces at Pamukkale. Together they make the best three-day archaeology trip in the country.
Ephesus
Ephesus was one of the largest cities in the Roman empire, and it is the most complete classical city you can walk through anywhere in the eastern Mediterranean. The Library of Celsus is the image everyone knows, but the whole street plan survives — terraced houses with their wall paintings, the great theatre cut into the hillside, the latrines, the brothels, the shops.
- Go at opening time. By mid-morning the cruise-ship coaches arrive and the main street becomes a queue. The difference between 8am and 11am is the whole experience.
- Enter at the upper gate and walk downhill through the city. Most people do it the other way and climb.
- Pay for the Terrace Houses. It is a separate ticket and it is the best thing there — three storeys of Roman domestic interiors under a protective roof.
- Combine with the Basilica of St John and the Artemis site in Selçuk itself, ten minutes away.
Pamukkale
The white terraces are travertine — calcium carbonate deposited by hot springs — and they are genuinely as strange in person as in photographs. Hierapolis, a Roman spa city, sits on top of them, with a theatre, a necropolis and the Cleopatra Antique Pool, where you can swim among fallen columns.
- Shoes off on the terraces. This is enforced, and it protects the site.
- Wear sunglasses. The white is blinding in summer.
- Swim at the Antique Pool if you want the novelty of swimming over Roman columns — but it costs extra and the water is warm rather than hot.
- Skip the town of Pamukkale and stay in Denizli or Karahayıt instead; both have better hotels.
How to do it
| Day | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Fly or drive to Izmir, transfer to Selçuk, see the Basilica and Artemis |
| Day 2 | Ephesus at opening time, afternoon at Şirince or the museum |
| Day 3 | Drive east to Pamukkale and Hierapolis, stay overnight |
| Day 4 | Fly out of Denizli, or continue to Antalya via the coast |
Izmir (ADB) and Denizli (DNZ) both have direct flights from Istanbul. The drive between Ephesus and Pamukkale is about three hours through the Meander valley.
When to come
April, May, late September and October are ideal. July and August are punishing — Pamukkale has almost no shade and the terraces reflect heat — and the sites are at their busiest.
If your trip includes treatment
This is not a recovery itinerary. Ephesus is a long walk on marble in the sun; Pamukkale is a barefoot climb on wet rock. If you have had a procedure, save it for a later trip or keep it to the museum and the antique pool.
Other places we plan
Istanbul · Cappadocia · Antalya and the Turquoise Coast · Bodrum · Gaziantep and the southeast · Kaş and Kalkan
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