Burdur is a province in the Lake District of southwestern Turkey, home to the turquoise Salda Lake (nicknamed the 'Turkish Maldives'), the sprawling ancient Greco-Roman city of Sagalassos, and the soda-rich Lake Burdur teeming with flamingos. Flanked by the Taurus Mountains, the province offers a compelling mix of natural spectacle and deep archaeology in an unhurried setting.
Top day trips
Handpicked excursions within easy reach.
Pamukkale & Hierapolis
Pamukkale's white travertine terraces, built up over millennia by mineral-rich hot springs cascading down a hillside, sit directly beside the ruins of the Roman-Byzantine city of Hierapolis. The combination of a natural formation you can walk on barefoot and a well-preserved ancient city on the same ticketed site makes this the most substantial day trip from Burdur, though the distance means a full day is needed, not a half-day detour.
Highlights: The travertine terraces - white calcium pools you walk across barefoot; wetter and whiter in the cooler months, drier and greyer in peak summer · Hierapolis theatre - one of the best-preserved Roman theatres in Turkey, built into the hillside above the ruins · Antique Pool (Cleopatra's Pool) - a separate paid swimming pool with submerged Roman columns, fed by the same thermal springs · Hierapolis necropolis - one of the largest ancient cemeteries in Anatolia, with hundreds of tombs stretching along the old road · Plutonium (Ploutonion) - a small gated cave sanctuary to Pluto, historically associated with toxic gas seeping from the ground
Isparta & Rose Valleys
Isparta is Turkey's centre of rose cultivation, with the villages around it, particularly Kutlubey and Gönen, given over to fields of Rosa damascena grown for rose oil and rosewater rather than for cut flowers. The city itself is also known for handwoven Isparta carpets, and the nearby Gölcük Nature Park adds a forested volcanic crater lake within easy reach, so the day mixes agricultural landscape with a short nature stop.
Highlights: Kutlubey and Gönen rose fields - working rose-oil fields, at their most dramatic and fragrant during the harvest window in late May to mid-June when pickers work at dawn before the heat · Gölcük Nature Park - a volcanic crater lake ringed by pine forest a short drive from Isparta city, with walking paths around the rim · Isparta carpet weaving tradition - the city is one of Turkey's historic handwoven carpet centres, and workshops and shops selling local rugs are concentrated around the centre · Isparta city centre - a modest provincial capital built on the rose and carpet trades, worth a walk between the other stops
Lake Eğirdir
Eğirdir is a lake town built on a peninsula and the small connected island of Yeşilada, with a ruined medieval castle wall running along the peninsula neck and orchards of apples covering the surrounding hills. It's a slower, quieter day than the ruin-focused trips nearby, built around walking the causeway, eating lake fish, and looking at the water rather than covering a checklist of sites.
Highlights: Yeşilada (Green Island) - a small island connected to the peninsula by a causeway, with lakeside cafes and a walkable loop around its edge · Eğirdir castle walls - medieval fortifications, originally Byzantine and rebuilt under the Seljuks, running along the peninsula · Eğirdir Hızır Bey Mosque and the adjacent Dündar Bey Medresesi - a 13th-century Seljuk mosque and theological school near the old town centre · Lakeside fish restaurants - serving local Eğirdir lake fish, mainly kefal (mullet), grilled or fried · The surrounding apple orchards - the hills around the lake are heavily planted with apple trees, visible on the drive in
Antalya Old City
Kaleiçi is Antalya's old walled quarter, a dense grid of narrow Ottoman-era streets running down to the historic harbour, with Roman, Seljuk and Ottoman structures layered on top of one another. It's the most citified and touristed of the day trips from Burdur, trading the archaeological remoteness of Termessos or Kremna for restaurants, shops, and a working harbour.
Highlights: Hadrian's Gate - a triple-arched Roman gate built for the emperor's visit in 130 AD, one of the few surviving monumental gates into the old city · Yivli Minare (Fluted Minaret) - a distinctive Seljuk-era brick minaret and the symbol of Antalya's old city skyline · Antalya's old harbour - a working small-boat harbour below Kaleiçi's cliffs, with restaurants and boat-trip operators along the quay · Hıdırlık Tower - a Roman-era stone tower on the clifftop at the harbour's edge, of uncertain original purpose · The Kaleiçi street grid itself - narrow lanes of restored Ottoman houses, now largely converted into boutique hotels, cafes and shops
Termessos
Termessos is a Pisidian mountain city built into a rugged pass above what is now Güllük Dağı National Park, defended so effectively by its terrain that Alexander the Great besieged it and then gave up. The ruins are scattered and unrestored across steep, forested slopes rather than laid out on flat ground, so the visit is as much a hike as a ruin tour, with the physical setting doing much of the work.
Highlights: The theatre - perched on a ridge with a sheer drop behind the stage into the gorge below, one of the most dramatically sited theatres in the ancient world · The necropolis - hundreds of rock-cut tombs and sarcophagi scattered across the hillside above the main city · The city walls and gymnasium ruins - substantial Hellenistic and Roman remains, largely unexcavated and left in their fallen state · The site's cisterns - rock-cut water storage systems that allowed the city to withstand sieges, including Alexander's · Güllük Dağı National Park - the pine forest surrounding the ruins, with the site entry doubling as a national park visit
Kremna
Kremna (ancient Cremna) was a Pisidian hill city later refounded as a Roman veteran colony, best known today for the siege recorded by the historian Zosimus, in which Roman forces spent years starving out the bandit chief Lydius after he seized the city in the late 3rd century AD. It is a far quieter and less-visited ruin than Termessos or Hierapolis, with remains spread across a remote hilltop near the village of Çamlık, and it suits visitors who want an uncrowded site rather than a fully presented one.
Highlights: The city walls - a substantial Roman-period defensive circuit, still traceable around the hilltop site · The site of the siege of Lydius - the historical episode described by Zosimus, giving the otherwise sparse ruins their main point of interest · The hilltop setting itself - views over the surrounding Pisidian countryside from the site, with little modern development in sight
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Transport options for day trips.
Multi-day tours from Burdur
If you have longer than a day, these are organised multi-day trips that start here.
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Day trip tips
Make the most of your excursions.
Start early — most popular day-trip destinations get crowded by mid-morning.
Check return transport times before you leave — missing the last train or bus can be costly.
Carry water, snacks, and layers — weather and food options can be limited at smaller destinations.