How to go to Cappadocia from Pamukkale?

Pamukkale and Cappadocia are both worthwhile and interesting places to visit. Pamukkale is turned white by calcified water flowng down the hillside. Cappadocia has an otherworldly appearance with its ‘fairy chimneys’, which you can view from a hot air balloon. There are a few different ways to get to Cappadocia from Pamukkale.

Travel by bus

The bus goes directly to Cappadocia from Pamukkale. In my experience, the large buses used for long distance journeys in Turkey are very comfortable with air conditioning, some have TV screens with a USB port to charge your phone, free Wifi access (the signal might not be very good) and a socket next to your seat to plug in your laptop or other devices. There are usually stops about every 4 or 5 hours at nice roadside restaurants.

Buying a bus ticket

There are a few different bus companies such as Metro Turizm, Kamil Koç and Öz Elbistan Seyahat. Denizli-Nevşehir costs 116 Lira/£15 with Metro Turizm. You can either buy a ticket at the bus station or online. If you have Turkish citizenship and a Turkish bank card it’s easy to buy a bus ticket online through a bus company website. Otherwise you can look at www.biletall.com.

It is unusual for men and women to sit next to each other on the bus (unless they are travelling together) so it’s better to choose a seat next to someone of the same gender. You can enter your passport number and show your passport at the bus station when you collect your ticket, which must be at least 30 minutes before departure. You can use a non-Turkish bank card on this site. The other option is to go to the bus company offices at the bus station and ask around for the best price.

Travel by train and bus
The train goes as far as Konya, which takes about 9 hours. You need to know the train times in advance as you have to change at Afyon Ali Çetinkaya in Afyonkarahisar. It only costs 30 Lira/£3.90 then you get the bus from Konya to Göreme which takes 3.5 hours and costs around 80 Lira/£10.

Take the plane and bus/taxi

The most expensive and not necessarily the fastest option is to take a taxi from Pamukkale to Denizli airport for around 350 Lira/£45. Although the Denizli-Istanbul and Istanbul-Nevşehir flights are only about one hour each, the waiting time at Istanbul may be anything from 5-15 hours. You can book through the Turkish airlines website. Prices range from around 250-700 Lira/£30-£90. Finally the 45 minute taxi journey from Nevşehir to Cappadocia is around 150 Lira/£20.

By car
Hiring a car gives you more freedom and it takes just over 9 hours to drive the scenic route through lake country from Pamukkale to Cappadocia. Eğirdir lake is a nice place to stop and Konya has an interesting Mevlana (Rumi) Museum. The fuel cost is around 500 – 700 Lira/£65 – £90.