3-Day Pamukkale and Cappadocia Tour from Izmir, Kusadasi or Selçuk

Around 6:30 AM, you'll be picked up from your hotel in Izmir or Kusadasi, or from Izmir's port, airport or bus terminal. The van runs you over to the meeting point in Selçuk, where the rest of the small group joins. You'll roll out toward Pamukkale around 8:30 AM. It's about a three-hour drive, with a 10-minute restroom stop roughly 90 minutes in.

You should reach Pamukkale around 11:45 AM, and lunch comes first (included). By 1:00 PM you'll be walking with a licensed guide across the Pamukkale's Cotton Cliffs, the white terraces built up by calcium-rich spring water. You walk this stretch barefoot, since shoes aren't allowed on the travertines. The stone is uneven and slippery in spots, so take it slow.

Above the terraces sits the City of Hierapolis, a Roman spa town founded in the 2nd century BC. Your guide covers the basilica, the Pamukkale Theatre and the Pamukkale Roman Baths. Afterward you get free time. If you want to swim among sunken marble columns at the Cleopatra Antique Pools, that's an extra fee paid at the gate, and you'll need your own swimsuit and towel.

Expect two to three hours of walking with very little shade. Bring a hat, sunscreen and water in summer, when afternoons here regularly top 95°F. Your guide will set a clear meeting point and time before you scatter.

Around 4:00 PM you'll be dropped at the bus station for the overnight coach to Cappadocia, which leaves near 9:00 PM. You've got free time until then, and dinner near the station is on you. The bus is air-conditioned and non-smoking, the ride runs about 10 hours, and there are three rest stops along the way.

• Overnight in Overnight bus to Cappadocia.
• Included Meal(s): Lunch

Your coach pulls into Göreme bus station in the early morning. Someone from our team meets you there and drives you to your cave hotel, a short hop of five to ten minutes. Breakfast is waiting at the hotel, and you'll have time to shower and change before the day starts. Your guide collects the group around 9:30 AM.

First stop is Devrent Valley, where wind and rain have carved rock into shapes people name like clouds (the camel is the famous one). Next comes Pasabag Valley (Monks Valley), home to the mushroom-capped pinnacles with two and three heads. Monks once cut cells into these columns. The walking here is flat and easy, maybe 20 minutes at each stop.

Then you'll drive into Avanos on the Kizilirmak River, a pottery town where the red clay comes straight from the riverbank. Lunch is included here. As a regular group tour, the day includes a stop at a pottery workshop; there's no obligation to buy anything.

After lunch you'll visit the Zelve Open Air Museum, a cave village lived in until the 1950s, with rock-cut churches, a mill and a mosque. The last stop is Uchisar Castle, the tallest rock outcrop in the region, honeycombed with tunnels and rooms.

You'll be back at your hotel around 4:00 PM. Wear closed shoes with grip; the paths at Zelve are dusty and uneven. Dinner tonight is on your own, and Göreme's center has plenty of small restaurants serving testi kebab, the clay-pot stew you crack open at the table.

• Overnight in Cappadocia (Göreme area).
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast and Lunch

If you've booked the optional hot air balloon ride, pickup is around 4:30 AM, well before sunrise, and you're back at the hotel by about 8:00 AM. Flights cost extra and depend entirely on wind and weather. Cancellations do happen, and refunds are given when they do.

After breakfast, around 9:30 AM, your guide meets you at the hotel for the south side of the region. You'll start at the Red Valley and walk roughly 5 km through Rose Valley (Gülludere Vadisi), passing rock-cut chapels with frescoes still on the ceilings. The trail is mostly gentle but sandy, and it takes about two hours. Bring water and a hat.

Next is Cavusin Village, an abandoned cliff settlement with cave houses and the old Church of St. John the Baptist above them. Lunch is included around noon. Afterward you'll stop at Pigeon Valley, named for the dovecotes farmers carved into the soft rock to collect droppings for fertilizer.

The afternoon takes you underground to Kaymakli Underground City or Ozkonak Underground City, depending on the day. Early Christians sheltered here in stables, kitchens and chapels connected by low tunnels. Some passages require crouching, and it's cool and close down there. Skip it if tight spaces bother you; your guide will wait with you above ground.

The tour wraps around 4:00 PM, and you'll be driven to Kayseri or Nevsehir airport, about an hour or 45 minutes respectively. Your flight to Istanbul departs between 7:00 and 10:00 PM and takes roughly 1 hour 30 minutes. Arrival is at either Istanbul Airport or Sabiha Gökçen, depending on the ticket. Onward transfer to your Istanbul hotel isn't included. END OF OUR SERVICE AND TOURS

• Overnight in None (evening flight to Istanbul).
• Included Meal(s): Breakfast and Lunch