Cappadocia is a region in the middle of Turkey, reachable by two airports - Nevsehir (NAV) and Kayseri (ASR). The main attraction in Cappadocia is the geological formations (fairy towers) in Goreme National Park, as well as the ancient homes and churches dug into the fairy towers and caves. As several locals proudly reminded us, Cappadocia is also known for its textiles, pottery and wine.
We stayed in the town of Goreme in the middle of Goreme National Park. We initially considered the towns of Uchisar and Cavusin, south and north of Goreme, respectively. Most bloggers think that those two towns are less touristy and quieter; I think we would agree with that assessment. Uchisar is built like a hill town; lots of houses on a hill with a castle/fairy tower on top of the hill, so going anywhere in town requires going up or down. Goreme and Cavusin are mostly flat. However, Goreme really is right in the middle of the national park and is the biggest town, so there are a) more restaurants and b) more things to do within walking distance (we didn't have a car). During the time we were in Goreme (October 2023), there really weren't that many tourists and all the bars/restaurants, etc. closed by about 11 PM or midnight.
Do note that every single hotel plus various tour/travel agencies throughout the area all offer the standard items you will probably read about: hot air balloon rides, ATV rides, the 'Red' Tour (visiting several defined areas of interest in and around Goreme - Uchisar Castle, Goreme Open Air Museum, Avanos for a pottery demo, Love Valley, Dervent (Imagination) Valley, Pasabag (Monks) Valley), the 'Green' tour (visiting several defined areas of interest south of Goreme - up to 60 km away, including an underground city, Ihlara Valley, Selime Monaster, Onyx Workshop (aka gift shop...)), horseback riding, classic American car sunrise and sunset tours, etc.
Many hotels will also help you with getting a car and driver for half or full day so you can visit just the places you want on your time frame - these tend to be pretty reasonable in price (~USD$80/2000 lira for a half-day; USD$120/3000 lira for full day).
This is the place everyone says is a must to visit; they are absolutely right. The Open Air Museum is actually a large, protected park space just east of Goreme (about 1 to 1.5 km from any lodging in Goreme, and an easy, mostly flat walk to reach) and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It contains an abundance of fairy towers that were carved out between the fourth and thirteenth centuries. It functioned as a monastic Christian complex during the Byzantine period.
There are spectacular and well-preserved religious Byzantine frescoes in many of the churches. Although all the churches on the grounds are amazing, several of note include the Dark Church, the Tokali Church (which is actually just outside the entrance of the Open Air museum and therefore can be visited for free), and the Apple Church. Note that the Dark Church is an extra charge - the ticket office is at the church. It's one of the more amazing sets of frescoes among all the churches and is worth the extra cost. What is lacking at this and other historical sites are archeological explanations. It would be nice to understand "archeologists believe this was a living area, cooking area, storage area." There is one room where a carved table is pointed out as such, and another where the round depression in the center of the room is believed to have been for wine storage. That, and descriptions of frescoes, were pretty much it on explanations and we were left to guess about the functions of other rooms and carving we saw, and about entry methods. (Are we looking at the front door? Did they use ladders or were there carved steps that have eroded?)
It took us about 2 hours to walk through the museum (not including walking there and back to Goreme). There are a number of stairs up and down the valley, and there are some hills and sometimes short ladders/steep stairs to climb to reach some of the churches. Anyone in reasonable condition should be fine.
Goreme Open Air Museum. 50180 Goreme/Nevsehir Merkez/Nevsehir. Open 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM every day during the summer; open 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM every day other times of year. 480 TL/person. Dark Church extra charge is 130 TL/person.
No photographs are permitted of the frescoes.
2) Pigeon Valley (in Turkish: Güvercinlik Vadisi) Hike
Pigeon Valley lies between Goreme in the north and Uchisar to the south, and you can start from either town. Pigeon Valley is named this because of the large number of pigeons that apparently nest here. The pigeon guano was used in the past to fertilize the vineyards and orchards that dot the valley. We didn't see many pigeons on our walk, but we did see a lot of vineyards and orchards, most untended and unpruned. It's a lovely walk of about 4 kilometers through a valley with fairy towers and various geological formations.
The trail is not viewable on Googlemaps and reception along the way is spotty. There are some signposts (using the Turkish name, Güvercinlik) but not always clear. Basically, follow the most obvious path; if there are bushes/trees in the way or the path starts to fade, turn around. Initially, the trail is quite flat and actually goes through several short caves rather than up and around; however, there are a few steep spots where you might need to use your hands to help climb (especially going from Goreme to Uchisar, where it's mostly uphill the second half of the hike).
We have provided a photo tour of the trail which you might want to screenshot so you can access as you hike.
Pigeon Valley Trail. On google maps, enter 'Pigeon Valley Trailhead East' to find the trailhead from Goreme. It's at the edge of town at the end of the main street.
Here is the sign for the trailhead on the Goreme side. It sits at a fork in the road. The pole in the right picture shows an arrow pointing to the left fork!
Below: the trail is pretty flat and obvious for a stretch. It goes through a tunnel. There are abandoned orchards on the left and right with small trails leading off to them. We saw a couple bringing their buckets to collect apples. The next fork in the road has a clear sign to stay left.
Next we passed a fallen sign for the route. Luckily this was on a part of the path where we knew we were obviously in the right place. A bit further on there was an unmarked fork. The apple pickers ahead of us directed us to stay right. We followed the couple and passed the house in the right-hand photo below. The trail goes in front of their house and then up and behind it.
This next bit was a little less sure. The apple pickers went down and left. They pointed us up and right. You will know you went on the correct up and right path, behind the house, when you see the fencing as shown in the first photo below. The other photos are the view below you, of the apple orchards, as you climb up toward the fence.
The way of the path is pretty clear for the next while, though it is very much uphill at times, with deep gullies.
The trail evens out eventually, exposing some areas that have been flattened and groomed, and where during tourist season you may find cafes set up. Then you come to the trail-head sign at a fork in the road, with no indication of which fork to take. (Photo below left) If you take the left road up the hill, very soon you will be at an amazing lookout point. It is worth the detour. The middle photo below shows where you have come from. You will also see the castle from up here and a 360 degree view of the valleys. In theory, you could continue this way to the castle; we met a group that came from the castle to this lookout point and they said it took more than an hour (which is much more than if you backtrack at this point)
When you are done with the scenery, go back down to the trail sign and take the path that continues straight on from the main path. It turns into a paved uphill road fairly soon. At this point, our mileage registered about 2.5 miles. Follow the paved road into town and at the Millstone hotel sign, turn left. Now begins a series of switchbacks up to the castle. If you continue going left, right, left, right. . . you will get there. Along the way we stopped at a cafe for a cool drink and a rest. (Now that you are in town, googlemaps will work.)
The final bit is up these colored stairs--and continuing the switchbacks in order. By this point, you would be able to use your Googlemaps if lost.
This fairy tower complex, which is the highest point in the Goreme National Park, served as residence and cloisters to various groups over the last 2000 (and maybe longer) years. The view from the top is spectacular. Also, it's one of the few fairy towers that you can actually wander through and see how multiple levels are reached, and what the rooms look like. (Though, as with the open air museum, there isn't anything here to explain what archeologists think various rooms or depressions represent. For example, there are a whole bunch of very deep round areas on the highest levels. Were these cisterns? Or something else? As for the rooms still intact, were they guards rooms? Sleep quarters? Kitchens? There is no information.) There is a small cafe on the second level of the castle with tea and freshly baked bread.
Uchisar Castle. Tekelli, 50240 Uçhisar/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir. Open 7 AM - 8 PM every day. 120 TL/person
4) Underground Cities - Ozkonak Underground City
During Byzantine times, Cappadocia was frequently raided. The locals started hiding in rock caves and then carving further down to hold more people for longer. It's believe there are at least 150-200 underground cities/towns/villages, though only six are open to tourists. The largest underground cities could hold 30,000 people for several months.
We decided to visit the Ozkonak underground city; it's not the biggest (Derinkuyu and Kaymakli are bigger), but it is closer to Goreme than the other cities and less visited by tourists (though there are tourists there). In about an hour, you can visit two levels of the underground city, viewing where livestock was kept, wine and food were prepared, defenses (very cool, very large round stones that served as doors to various tunnels as well as very narrow tunnels between levels), ventilation and residence areas. If you are claustrophobic, be aware the ceilings are low and there are several tunnels of about 10-20 meters where you are basically bent in half (I would guess those tunnels are no more than 2.5 feet high).
We also wandered the grounds on top of the underground city, spotting one of the ventilation tubes as well as some other areas of the underground city that aren't part of the tour; most of those areas were accessible because the roof had fallen in.
Ozkonak Underground City. Özkonak Yeraltı Şehri Yolu, 50500 Özkonak/Avanos/Nevşehir. 130 lira/person. Open 8 AM - 4:15 PM every day.
Our hotel offered this morning tour for free; they mentioned that anyone can make a reservation through them for 25 euros (and note that you can contact the farm directly via the web link in the title - they also offer cooking classes, grape molasses production classes, yoga, and wine tastings). This was an engaging, interesting and delicious tour - I think our expectations were low, and we were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed the tour.
A driver took us from our hotel to the drop-off point at a nearby hotel (one could walk to the drop-off point too). From there a tractor took a group of us (about 12 people total showed up at the tractor pick-up) up into the hills east of Goreme. Along the way, Ali Yavuz, who owns the farm as well as some hotels in town, told us about his life as a local and the history of the area, particularly about farm techniques and traditions. After several stops along a ridge where we could see Uchisar castle and Pigeon Valley in one direction, and the town of Goreme and several valleys in the other direction, we stopped at a set of stairs cut into the rock.
We walked down the stairs and through a valley of orchards and vineyards, arriving in about 10 minutes at the main farm. We were taken to a building where a massive Turkish breakfast was already set up at several tables. Most of the produce we were fed was grown or made on the farm, including tomatoes, cucumbers, several types of cheese and curds, strawberry jam, candied whole figs, candied watermelon peel, honey, butter, etc. After we started eating, they kept bringing out more food! Freshly fried bread, potatoes with sun-dried tomatoes and yogurt, freshly baked flatbread with cheese, and several other dishes. After breakfast, we tried their homemade Cappadocian red wine (it was only ok but probably would have gone well with grilled meat).
After breakfast, Ali Yavuz, explained how and where they cooked different dishes, and how and where they stored food. In particular, he showed us a tandir, which is a round pit in the floor - in the morning, a fire is built in the tandir and bread is baked on what looks like an upside-down wok. Then, meat, vegetables, etc. are put into a clay pot and sealed, and the pot is put into the coals of the fire. At the end of the day, the pottery kebab (in Turkish, testi kebab) is broken open and served - the original Crock Pot! (A number of restaurants in Cappadocia serve pottery kebab, and it's fun and tasty to try)
He also explained why pigeons were so important and how farms used to collect their guano for fertilizing the orchards and vineyards. Basically, nesting spots are carved in the rock for the pigeons and ladders are set up nearby for workers to collect the guano at various times of year. Ali mentioned that he once purchased a bunch of pigeons caught in Istanbul, but they were stupid and didn't produce much guano for him; he said while the pigeons in Cappadocia are wild, they really are semi-domesticated for guano production. We also visited the livestock at the farm, including cattle, sheep, chickens, geese and a brand-new litter of puppies.
Kings Valley Cappadocia Farm Tour and Breakfast. Meeting point: Kelebek Special Cave Hotel Aydinli Mah. Yavus Sokak no 1 Goreme Kasabasi (our meeting point was actually just around the corner at Sultan Cave Suites). Approx. 25 euros/person. We made reservations one day in advance - they noted if there is rain, the event is sometimes canceled.
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