A Day of Natural Spas

If you found the crowds at Pamukkale a bit frustrating, the Red Springs are a refreshing alternative. They’re not as photogenic as the white travertine pools (and are significantly smaller) but there’s also more space here to actually take a photo. The waters come from another underground spring that contains a different combination of minerals and leaves a reddish, rather than white, residue producing rust-coloured travertine terraces. You’ll find a lot more locals here than at Pamukkale and the pools are deep enough to actually bathe in.
Buy a ticket at the entrance gate.

Once you’ve dried off, take a walk through the village to one of the ice-cream shops and try a dondurma. It looks like an ice-cream (it’s made with cream and sugar) and it tastes like an ice-cream but it has the strangest texture. It’s actually stretchy and kind of chewy. This is because they put mastic (a plant resin) in it which stops it melting. You have to try it!

Walk back to the car.

And so, to the final travertine natural wonders; this time the mineral terraces are hidden inside a cave. Buy a ticket at the entrance and follow the wooden walkway through the cave and back outside. Like the cave on Day 1 of the trip, it’s been nicely illuminated to show off the white terraces and there’s even a spring water pool outside that you can take a dip in.

This casual restaurant sits right on the shore of Salda Lake, an enormous crater lake that spans over 4000 hectares and forms part of the region’s Lake District. There are some nice pide options on the menu but it’s also worth trying the fresh, grilled fish, straight from the lake.
Nicknamed the Maldives of Türkiye, Salda Lake is a great place for a post-lunch swim. It might not have the exotic palm trees or the luxury sunbeds and hammocks of a Maldives resort, but it does have the most incredibly clear blue water, fringed with a fine white sand beach. The water and sand are rich in minerals and so it’s a popular bathing spot for locals. You may even see people covering their bodies with the lakeshore mud. Try it; who knows if it has any curative powers but it does make your skin feel powdery soft afterwards.

If you’re driving here in June/July this whole area is covered in purple lavender fields; you can smell the scent from miles away. If you’re doing this trip at any other time of the year, it’s worth stopping here anyway. This lavender farm has a nice shop selling all sorts of hand-crafted lavender-based products so it’s a great place to stock up on some souvenirs, as well as trying some of their tasty lavender ice-cream.

This roadside restaurant / greengrocer is a good stop for an early supper. There’s a nice seating area in the garden and you can try some freshly-baked gozleme (a kind of baked pitta bread pancake stuffed with cheese and spinach, or spiced lamb) as well as some fresh fruit from the shop.