Kozaklı Thermal Springs (Kozaklı Kaplıcaları)

What to expect

Kozaklı is a small town of about 7,600 people in the far north of Nevşehir province, on the open Central Anatolian plateau at just over 1,000 m (3,300 ft). It is the same province as Cappadocia, but the landscape here is rolling farmland rather than fairy chimneys, and the town exists largely because of the hot water under it. Its old name, Hamamorta, roughly “the bath in the middle”, comes from a local legend that a man called Kozoğlu, buried in the district and perhaps from the Seljuk period, ringed a hot spring with rocks to make the first bath.

Today the springs and wells range from about 81-199°F27°C to 93°C. The water is classed as sodium, calcium and chloride water, and the local thermal tourism association stresses its radon content and high mineral levels. Much of the town is heated by it: most homes and businesses run on geothermal heat.

There is no single pool or park to visit. Kozaklı works like a small thermal resort town. In April 2026 the district governor counted 21 tourist facilities with about 4,000 beds. According to the head of KOZTEB, the local thermal hotels’ union founded in 2008, 5 of the 21 hotels hold Ministry of Tourism certificates and 16 hold municipal licences. A 2018 count split the town’s facilities into hotels, timeshare complexes and a larger number of apart-hotels with kitchens. Most guests book a room for a few nights and use the hotel’s thermal pools, hamam and private baths. Baths owned by the municipality run alongside the private hotels, so there are options for different budgets.

The town is also a health destination in the Turkish sense. The 120-bed Kozaklı Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Hospital, opened at the end of 2010, uses the thermal water in treatment. The local promoters describe the water as healing; that is their claim, not a medical finding.

Kozaklı is growing. The district welcomed about 168,000 domestic and foreign visitors in 2025 and expected more than 200,000 in 2026.

Getting there

Kozaklı is well off the main tourist routes, and a car makes the trip much easier.

• From Cappadocia: about 60 km (37 miles) north of the Cappadocia area. Nevşehir city is about 85 km (53 miles) away.
• From Ankara or Kayseri: use the Ankara-Kayseri highway and turn off at Topaklı, about 25 km (16 miles) from Kozaklı.
• From Kırşehir, Yozgat or Kayseri: each is roughly 90 km (56 miles) away.

The thermal hotels and the old spa quarter, around the Kaplıca mosque on the Yenifakılı road, are on the edge of the town centre. Most hotels have their own parking. Without a car, take an intercity bus to Nevşehir or Kayseri and check for connections to Kozaklı there.

When to go

The hotels operate all twelve months. Winter is the classic thermal season on the plateau, when nights are cold and a hot pool is the point of the trip. Weekends, the mid-year school break and the bayram holidays are the busiest times, so book ahead for those. Weekdays outside the holidays are quieter.

In summer Kozaklı makes an easy add-on to a Cappadocia trip, and the hotels are quieter outside the holidays.

Prices and booking

Neither the municipality nor the hotels publish bath prices online, and the hotels sell mostly room stays with pool use included. Book through the hotel or a Turkish travel site, and ask whether the rate includes meals, the hamam and private family baths. For the municipal baths, call Kozaklı Belediyesi on 0384 471 4293 for current hours and prices. Turkish prices change often, so confirm before you pay.

Hotels near the spa quarter shown on OpenStreetMap include Termalya Termal, Kozaklı Grand Termal Hotel, Yapısel Termal and Roza Resort Termal.

Bathing culture

Kozaklı follows Turkish thermal bath customs.

• Separate bathing. Traditional baths and hamams keep men and women apart, either in separate halls or at separate times. Ask each hotel whether its pools are mixed or have women-only hours.
• Family baths. Couples and families who want to bathe together rent a private family bath or cabin (aile banyosu), with its own tub of thermal water.
• The peştamal. In a men’s hamam, wrap a cotton peştamal around your waist and keep it on. Women usually wear a swimsuit bottom or a wrap.
• Shower first. Rinse at the basins before you get into any shared pool, and keep soap out of the pool water.
• Modest dress outside. As in most small Anatolian towns, cover shoulders and knees between the hotel and the street.

Where to stay nearby

Stay in Kozaklı itself, since the pools come with the room. The roughly 21 hotels range from apart-hotels with kitchens to larger thermal hotels. For a bigger choice of ordinary hotels, Nevşehir and the Cappadocia towns are about an hour away, but you would then have to drive back for the water.

Safety notes

• Source temperatures: some of the wells reach 199°F93°C. Never touch thermal pipes, channels or taps, and test bath water before you get in.
• Time in the water: keep soaks to 15 to 20 minutes at a time, drink water, and get out if you feel dizzy.
• Health: anyone with a heart condition, blood pressure problems or a pregnancy should ask a doctor before using hot pools and the hamam.
• Winter roads: the plateau gets snow and ice. Check the forecast before driving.

Nearby stops worth adding

Cappadocia, about an hour south, has the rock churches, underground cities and valley walks that bring most visitors to the region. Local tourism groups promote a three-part trip: Cappadocia for culture, Mount Erciyes near Kayseri for skiing, and Kozaklı for the spa. For another thermal town on the same plateau, the hot springs of Kırşehir Terme are about 90 km (56 miles) west.