It's not a great tour - both the travel agency and the place itself. First off, sitting in a car for 7 hours to visit Pamukkale isn't worth it. I went ahead despite knowing the long journey because relatives who went several years back raved about the place. But we were highly disappointed because Pamukkale now looks nothing like what it's advertised. The pool is depleted thanks to lack of hot spring water flowing into the area. What you end up seeing is a whole lot of white surfaces from the dried up calcium and very little blue pools. Looks like the place wasn't well preserved, which is a real shame since the area relies on tourism for its state/provincial income. It's a matter of time before the entire area dries up and what we are left with is just white surfaces, which isn't impressive at all in real life. I can go to any snowy mountain for the same view, only difference is one is snow, the other is dried calcium. So driving that far isn't worth our time. _br/_ Second issue is this travel agency, Neon Tours. The guide they hired, Ismael, isn't up to par at all. I get it based off other reviewers that the guide can be quiet in the 3 hour car ride and that's fine by us. But when we get to Pamukkale and Hierapolis, he should make more effort on his end, as a tour guide to offer a thorough information about the place. Why is Hierapolis and Pamukkale such an important place considering it's in the middle of nowhere? We had to probe him for such information and kept asking him questions about the area itself. _br/_ That said, all he was interested in was to hurry back to Izmir because he was concerned with the evening traffic. We lost track of time while walking on the cotton castle and he wasn't too happy when we got back. To top it off, for lunch he ordered us really cheap food that cost no more than 10 lira for the two of us which basically consists of bread and eggs. Meanwhile, he ordered meat for himself and the driver. We asked for meat skewers since there's only so much bread we can take and were given two pathetic chicken skewers. We highly doubt our lunch allowance by the travel agency would pale in comparison to what the tour guide get to order for himself. Obviously when he asked us if we wanted to join his tour to Ephesus the next day, our answer was a firm no. I'd highly recommend others to just skip Pamukkale and forget about taking a tour with this travel agent to the Izmir, Ephesus and Pamukkale area if their pre-arranged guide is Ismael.
Review by: erliene_a, January 2017
We me and my 2 daughters did Pamukkale and Hierapolis trip on Jan 2, 2017. We booked the trip via Viator and did it with Neon tour._br/_ We picked up from the hotel by the driver only and the tour guide would be picked up about an hour later on the way to Pamukkale. _br/_ We booked this trip in group tour but actually we got it as private tour. Just 3 of us on this trip. We spent the journey in silence. No information at all from the tour guide along the 4 hours journey. _br/_ When arrived Pamukkale, he gave us about 10 minutes of roughly information that actually we can read it from the internet and then giving us free time for 2 hours to spend at the site by ourself. No explanation at all about the ruins while we saw other groups were guided and explained by their tour guide in every site. _br/_ Journey back was spent in silence and the tour guide dropped off in the middle of the journey as well. _br/_ We thought that rented a car more cheaper to do this trip instead of paying the price we did._br/_ Really disappointed and was not worth any penny at all
Review by: Louis B, December 2016
Cijan was WONDERFUL guide
Review by: bubun, September 2016
Best tour of turkey , very quiet, superb guide by Neon tours and Travels. Excellent english speaking knowledgeable guide.
Review by: kspadee, July 2016
Excellent service. Very polite and professional group. I will go with them again.
Review by: David Z, July 2016
We were with our same guide Mehmet and driver from the previous day tour of Pergamum. It was great as we had them all to ourselves for the tour. Great lunch at a small restaurant. Pamukkale and the ruins are a must see when in Turkey.
Review by: David G, June 2016
Great tour with a superb tour guide. We wondered if the long journey from Izmir would be worth it 3.5 hours each way but it proved to be a great decision to visit such a unique place. Both the Roman remains and the travertine pools are awe inspiring.
Review by: Nora BeatrÃz G, June 2016
This was a terrible tour because Pamukkale was not really like pictures !!! At Pamukkale was not water !!! Viator must tell us if there are not water at winter !! We pay 120 Euros each person !!! was a deception for us !!
Review by: Rosanna I, December 2015
Excellent tour. I advise to be very specific in regards to the pickup times on the vouchers. It added to some confusion.
Review by: Henrik H, November 2015
Very nice tour - both places were spectacular and worth the visit. We ended up having a private tour due to the low tourist season. We were picked up at our hotel in a very nice van and driven to the sites. Our tour guide did a nice job of explaining the Roman ruins and gave us all the time we needed at Pamukkale which is truly exceptional, the calcium deposit pools are everything you expect and more. Spend the extra 30 liras to spend time in Cleopatras pool - that is the natural thermal waters. It has sunken Greek and Roman columns and this is really where you can enjoy the warmest waters and the pool is plenty deep whereas the terraces are only knee deep.
Review by: GUODONG C, October 2015
nice tour guide, small grp of ppl
Review by: Theresa R, October 2015
I really enjoyed the trip. Pamukkale was definitely worth seeing. My tour was cut short because of the Byran holiday. We got there after 1pm and only had about 21/2 hours to see it all. I did not get to see Hierapolis at all because of the time crunch. My tour guide was interesting but talked too much. I would have liked more time.
Review by: Lily Liu, October 2015
nice tour guide, small grp of ppl
Review by: cindyrunge, July 2015
Loved Pamukkale.
Review by: Lok Tin L, July 2015
Small group of tour in fact it was just me and my partner! _br/_
Tour guide was very knowledgable and the coach we travelled was very new 3 months old_br/_
Highly recommended - far cheaper than what our hotel offered
Review by: Melissa L, June 2015
The tour was good.
Review by: Alicia F, June 2015
Pamukkale is one of a kind-definite must see!We booked this tour last minute (night before) and the tour company made sure everything was organised for us the next day!Small tour group (3ppl),luxury bus and our guide Engin was so friendly,informative and went out of his way to ensure a great experience!
Review by: Charmaine K, June 2015
4 hour ride each way with only 2 hour tour with guide:
Review by: Nicolle H, June 2015
Really fantastic tour and well worth the effort of getting out to the location. Really enjoyed the ruins and highly recommend this tour if down this way. Make sure you take your bathing suit also as there is an opportunity to take a swim.
Review by: graham h, May 2015
what a wonderful place to go to - the calcium pools looked splendid
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