Ionia was the coast where Greek science and philosophy began. This road takes in its great cities around the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) delta, then turns inland to Aphrodisias and the white terraces of Pamukkale.
One of the great cities of Roman Asia: the Library of Celsus, a vast theatre and marble streets lined with terraced houses.
The two Artemis statues found in the town hall.
One column left of a Wonder of the World.
Justinian’s church over the tomb of the apostle.
🚗 Sleep in Selçuk.
A small Hellenistic city laid out on a grid, on terraces under a sheer cliff.
Once a harbour city, now far inland because the Büyük Menderes (Maeander) silted up its bays.
The oracle temple of Apollo, one of the largest Greek temples ever begun, and never finished.
🚗 about 31 km from the day before, 31 km between today’s places, as the crow flies. Sleep in Selçuk.
The city of Aphrodite, home of a celebrated school of marble sculptors working from quarries close by.
🚗 about 134 km from the day before, as the crow flies. Sleep in Pamukkale.
A Roman spa town on top of the white travertine terraces of Pamukkale, entered along a road lined with tombs.
A rich Roman city across the valley from Hierapolis, known for its wool and named in the Book of Revelation as one of the Seven Churches of Asia.
🚗 about 43 km from the day before, 10 km between today’s places, as the crow flies. End in Pamukkale.
Distances are straight lines between places, so allow more on the road. Times on site are our estimates.