Wonders of Cappadocia
Fairy chimneys, underground cities and rock-cut churches, at the pace they deserve.
Cappadocia deserves more than the single rushed day most itineraries allow: you need at least three days to walk the valleys in the morning light, take in the frescoed rock churches at Goreme, and explore an underground city without hurrying. The days below are a starting point rather than a fixed script, extend them, combine them with a longer walk or another day outdoors, and shape the pace to what you actually want to see.
It runs privately on your own dates, and joins neatly to the beginning or the end of anything else you are doing in Turkey.
Two nights inside the rock
A cave hotel, which is how this region has housed people for most of its history rather than a novelty built for visitors.
The balloons at first light
Optional and booked separately, and worth the early alarm. The valleys read completely differently from above.
An underground city
Kaymakli or Derinkuyu, lived in from the seventh century to the tenth and not found again until the 1950s.
Three valleys on foot
Pasabag, Zelve and Love Valley walked through, rather than three viewpoints seen from a car park.
The frescoes at Goreme
A UNESCO site whose rock-cut churches still hold their paintings, with a guide who can tell you what you are looking at.
A rug coming off the loom
At a weaving cooperative, with the craft explained and the bargaining left entirely to you.
The 3-day itinerary
Day 1 Valleys, fairy chimneys and cave churches Cappadocia
After a Turkish breakfast, a morning walk through Pasabag and Zelve, two valleys of rock formations and cave dwellings. Pasabag is also called Monks Valley, after the hermitages cut into its fairy chimneys. In the afternoon the Goreme Open-Air Museum, a UNESCO site whose rock-cut churches still hold their frescoes, and time to walk the town of Goreme before returning to the hotel.
Day 2 Balloons, a village lunch and Love Valley Cappadocia
Anyone who wants the balloons is up before dawn for them; the flight is optional and booked separately. The day then goes to the parts of the region most itineraries skip: the village of Mustafapasa, and an organic lunch cooked in a house in Ayvali. The afternoon is Love Valley, a canyon named for the shape of its chimneys, walked slowly.
Day 3 An underground city, and a rug off the loom
The morning is Kaymakli or Derinkuyu: underground cities lived in from the seventh century to the tenth by Cappadocian Christians under attack, and not found again until the 1950s. At midday, a weaving cooperative, where the craft is explained and the bargaining with the sellers is left to you, with or without your guide. Early in the afternoon, a transfer to the airport for the flight to Istanbul or for whatever you have planned next.
What is included
- Two nights in a cave hotel
- Three breakfasts and three lunches with bottled water and soft drinks, in restaurants and village houses
- A professional English-speaking guide
- All land transfers in a private air-conditioned vehicle
- All entrance fees, admissions and parking
- Baggage handling
Not included
- The hot air balloon flight, which is optional and booked separately
- International airfares, airport taxes and fuel surcharges
- Arrival and departure transfers, which we arrange once we know your flights
- Alcoholic drinks
- A Turkish visa where your passport requires one, obtainable at evisa.gov.tr
- Gratuities for the guide and the driver
- Personal expenses, and travel and health insurance
Shape this journey around you
Travel the route as it stands, or make it private on your own dates. Add days, change the pace, combine it with the Greek islands. Tell us what you have in mind.