Kaleiçi Bazaar, Bayramyeri and Central Denizli

Before heading out to the ancient ruins of the valley, spend a morning or late afternoon walking through the heart of central Denizli. Divided neatly between the historic craft alleys of Bayramyeri and Kaleiçi in the lower centre and the leafy café boulevards and parks of Çamlık and Kınıklı further south, downtown Denizli is lively, walkable and refreshingly free of tourist touts.

Kaleiçi Çarşısı (The Historic Citadel Bazaar) and Bayramyeri

Right off Bayramyeri Square stands Denizli Kaleiçi, the oldest commercial quarter of the city. Originally enclosed within 11th- and 13th-century Seljuk stone citadel walls (sections of the crenellated walls and gates still frame the entrances), Kaleiçi has functioned as a guild market for over eight hundred years:

• Coppersmiths, knife-makers and textile stalls: wander the grid of shaded pedestrian lanes (including Bakırcılar Çarşısı and Demirciler Caddesi) where traditional tinsmiths and coppersmiths hammer out coffee pots and pans by hand, bladesmiths sell forged Yatağan and Denizli pocketknives, and dozens of wholesale-priced factory outlets stack plush 100-percent cotton Denizli bathrobes, towels, bedding and Buldan bezi fabrics.
• The legendary midday kebab ovens: Kaleiçi and Bayramyeri are the undisputed home of Denizli kebabı; time your bazaar walk so you sit down at one of the historic wood-fired tandır restaurants around Kaleiçi Camii between 11:30 and 14:00.

Atatürk and Ethnography Museum & Delikliçınar Square

Directly opposite Bayramyeri beside the historic Ulu Cami spot stands the Atatürk and Ethnography Museum (Atatürk ve Etnografya Müzesi), housed in a late-19th-century two-storey stone-and-timber mansion where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stayed during his visit to Denizli on 4 February 1931 (free entry; displays cover local Yörük embroidery, Ottoman weaponry and the rooms used by Atatürk). From Bayramyeri, follow Gazi Mustafa Kemal Boulevard ten minutes south to 15 Temmuz Delikliçınar Şehitler Meydanı (Çınar Square), the modern civic heart of Denizli, where locals meet beside the monumental hand-crafted Glass Rooster Sculpture (Cam Horoz Heykeli) honouring the city's famous long-crowing rooster.

Babadağlılar İşhanı, Çamlık Park and İncilipınar

Just off Çınar Square, step inside the multi-storey Babadağlılar Çarşısı (İşhanı) if you want to see floor after floor of local home-textile shops where Denizli families buy dowry linens and towels. In the late afternoon or evening, head south to Çamlık Caddesi and Çamlık Parkı (or green İncilipınar Parkı), where pine-shaded walking paths, speciality coffee roasters, craft burger bars and student bistros give the city a relaxed modern Aegean feel; see where to stay in Denizli.