Driving up North into the Mountains

Stop here to stretch your legs and get a panoramic view of Korkuteli Dam.

This is a great place to stop for both an ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ view. Keloglan Magarasi is a limestone cave that has been creatively illuminated to showcase the fantastic stalactite and stalagmite formations – look out for the fruit bats hiding in the shadows!
Buy a ticket to enter the cave. Outside, there’s a small café selling Turkish coffee and snacks with an epic view of the Acipayam Plain below.

Before travelling to Türkiye, my experience of kebabs extended only to the doner – that greasy, late night post-pub snack – but, here, the kebab is an institution and comes in many different guises from a Çökertme (thinly sliced meat served with yoghurt and shoestring fries) to a traditional shish (meat on a skewer): the term ‘kebab’ just means a dish that has been cooked on or near a flame.
One of my favourites is a Denizli kebab and this place, one of the oldest kebab houses in the city, is the best place to try one. A Denizli kebab is made by slow-roasting a whole lamb on skewers in a wood-fired oven and then serving the thinly sliced meat on a plate with fresh tomatoes and onions. It’s a super tasty street food, meant to be eaten with your hands, with freshly baked pitta bread to mop up the hot, meaty juices.
Note the restaurant is closed on Monday.

Denizli tends to get overshadowed by its glamourous neighbour, Pamukkale, but it’s a nice city and this is one of the coolest things to do when in town.
Constructed around 2015, this modern cable car whisks you up to the top of the Begbashi Plateau, 1400 metres above sea level. The ride takes less than 10 minutes, but the 360-degree views are amazing. When you reach the top, you can see across the city, the Akdag mountains, and out to the Aegean Sea. From here, there’s paths around the cable car station giving you different vistas or you can just get a drink and enjoy the view from the restaurant.
Cable cars come along every couple of minutes so you shouldn’t need to queue or wait around for long to get one. Purchase your return ticket at the cable car station when you arrive.

The ancient city of Laodicea isn’t as restored as nearby Hierapolis (much of this site is still being excavated) but it’s nowhere near as visited either so you can wander around and check out the ruins of this fantastic city without the crowds, as well as take some great photographs.
Built by King Antiochus II in 260BC, Laodicea was a thriving commercial centre during Roman times, with a specialist trade in black wool. The wonderfully restored colonnaded street is one of the highlights, as is the mosaic floor of the church. You should also check out the large glass floor that’s been built over parts of the site where you can see what it looked like before the restoration work began. Finally, follow the path up the hill to the ruins of the theatres for a great view over the Pamukkale travertines, which you’ll be visiting tomorrow.
Tickets for Leodicea site can be purchased at the entrance gate.

This is a nicely furnished, family-run hotel right in the middle of Pamukkale town. The rooms have balconies with great views, the breakfast is awesome and there’s an outdoor pool if you fancy a morning dip. Note you’ll be staying here for 2 nights.

It’s not always easy to find a decent place to eat in this very popular tourist town but this place serves consistently good food. Grab a table on the huge outdoor terrace and order some of the freshly-made dips (haydari – cheese & yoghurt, or antep ezme – spicy tomato) with a basket of pitta, and some stuffed vine leaves to start.

Walk back to the hotel.