Cappadocia Travel Guide

The First-Timer's Travel Guide to Cappadocia, Cappadocia Information

The region of cappadocia resembles another planet, One that is transformed from one color to another every season of the year every hour of the day.

Basalt rock, covered in tuff by spewing volcanoes thousands of year ago, and mystical fairy chimneys make one wonder where exactly one is.

It is impossible to be unaffected by the enchanting mystery of this incomparable natural wonder.

In this site you will find detailed information that has been prepared for your travels to what is perhaps Turkey’s most mystical region.

What to See in Cappadocia

The region is a paradise for those who enjoy discovering variety and contrast. In excursions to the valleys adorned with fairy chimneys you can discover places that have never been visited before, and if you are interested in photography you will be able to take extremely diverse pictures.

You can hike, ride horsback, enjoy a incredible hot-air ballon ride, and even observe a demonstration of sema, the whirling of dervishes. You can visit the valleys and underground cities, you can ride a bicycle.

Even if you’ve been there many times, every trip to Cappadocia will hold a surprise, and you can visit during every season of the year.

Sometimes the fairy chimneys will appear before you covered with snow, sometimes dored with wild flowers.

If you are devoted to winter sports, Mount Erciyes and its ski center, only 45 minutes away, can provide you with the best possible opportunity to satisfy your indulgence.

You can visit Cappadocia for three days, but bear in mind that you may want to remain there for weeks!

1. Cappadocia Goreme Open-Air Museum

You will see the Monastery of Monks and Nuns on the left in the Goreme Open-Air Museum. The monastery dates to the eleventh cetury and consists of a six to seven storey rock mass. The structure in which all the levels are connected by tunnels consists of a kitchen, dining room, cells and a chapel.

There is a chapel on the second floor and a church on the third. The church is domed and contains four columns and three apses. The most important feature in the nuns’ section is the fresco of Jesus executed directly on the rock with red ornamentation that completes it. The monastery of the monks was unable to resist the forces of time and erosion, and the passages between levels have collapsed. In the chapel of Saint Basileios near the entrance, the nave and the narthex are separated from one another by two individual galleries. You can also see graves that have been carved into the chapel.

2. Cappadocia Goreme Valley

The earliest examples of Byzantine churches can be seen in this valley, which would be used as a location fort he education of missionaries. Some researchers propound that Armenians were among the first architects as well. According to these researchers, the tambour and dome at the Halacdere Monastery in Avcılar, at Mavrucan/Güzelöz, is an outstanding example of the domed churches that display the work of Armenian architects. ( The tambour is the cylindrical or faceted wall with Windows that supports the dome.)

3. Zelve Open-Air Museum

Life in the Zelve Valley, which was one of the important settlements in the region from the fourth until the thirteenth ceturies, continued until 1952. It is generally acknowledged that the variety of large, small, conical, pyramid-shaped, pointed or blunt fairy chimneys in Zelve are the most beautiful in the region. Zelve presents a Picture of abandonment of a village that stil existed until a short time ago, with a Seljuk-type mosque and adjacent homes carved from the rock, some of which stil resist the ravages of time.

4. Cappadocia Red and Rose Valley

Rose Valley is a large valley located between Goreme and Cavusin village, and it is divided into many smaller valleys: Gulludere, Kizilcukur, Meskendir and Zindanonu valleys. This beautiful valley gets its name from the rose-colored rock that varies in hue and intensity depending on time of day, season and weather conditions. During the hike you will visit several cave churches, cave houses and cave tunnels. Rose Valley has paths for easy, medium and difficult levels. The most common path in the valley takes around 2 hours.

5. Ihlara Valley, a magnificent canyon

Ihlara Valley, which has the appearance of a canyon, surrounded as it is by 100-150 meter-high rocks and step cliffs. The Melendiz Çayı, winding its way along the cracks it had eroded,was origially amed Potamus Kapaduks,meaning Cappadocia River.

Some important churches to visit in Ihlara Valley

Egritas Kilise (Church with Crooked Stone)
Sumbullu Kilise (Hyacinth Church)
Yilanli Kilise (Church with Snake)
Karagedik Kilise (Church with Black Collar)
Kirk Damalti Kilisesi (Church of St. George)
Bahattin Kilise (Bahattin's Granary Church)
Direkli Kilise (Pillard Church)
Ala Kilise (Mottled Church)

6. Cappadocia Uchisar

Uchisar is situated at the highest point in the region, the top of the citidel provides a magnificent panorama of the surrounding area. Many rooms hollowed out into the rock are connected to each other with stairs, tunnels and passages. In all the entrances to the rooms, there are millstone doors, just like ones in the underground cities, used to control access to these places. Due to the erosion in places of the multi-leveled castle, it is unfortunately not possible to reach all of the rooms.

7. Cappadocia Avanos

Avanos is the location of one of Anatolia’s most distinctive pottery workshops. The present-day residents of Avanos, like their predecessors since Hittite times, continue to make pottery with the red clay removed from the bed of the Kızılırmak River, using simple foot-powered wheels and their handicraft to create clay forms that are oe more beautiful than the other. The shores of the Kızılırmak are full of pottery workshops, and almost all of the potters are cotinuing the work of their fathers.

Things to do in Cappadocia, Top Attractions in Cappadocia

There are so many places to see in Cappadocia, there is a lot to do. It's not posiable to exploring Cappadocia for a few days, a few weeks or months. This is list of the possible and essential places for tourists who come to visit Cappadocia in a short time.

The first thing you should do is Hot Air Balloon Ride

A balloon ride in Cappadocia is one of the most popular activities in Turkey. From the air, the view over Cappadocia is incomparable, with the amazing landscape revealing itself as your balloon ascends.

Visit Goreme Cave Churches

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Goreme Open Air Museum is a marvellous collection of ancient cave churches, dating from between the 12 to 14th centuries.

Visit Ihlara Valley

Cappadocia has many deep valleys of which some were Christian hideouts, but Ihlara Valley is the most well-known out of them all. Formed by earthquakes thousands of years ago.

Some important churches to visit in Ihlara Valley

Egritas Kilise (Church with Crooked Stone)
Sumbullu Kilise (Hyacinth Church)
Yilanli Kilise (Church with Snake)
Karagedik Kilise (Church with Black Collar)
Kirk Damalti Kilisesi (Church of St. George)
Bahattin Kilise (Bahattin's Granary Church)
Direkli Kilise (Pillard Church)
Ala Kilise (Mottled Church)

Discover Cappadocia Underground Cities

Cappadocia has many underground cities, Kaymakli Underground City, Derinkuyu Underground City most popular of those.

Visit Uchisar Castle

Uchisar is situated at the highest point in the region, the top of the citadel provides a magnificent panorama of the surrounding area. The castle gives off an amazing 360-degree panoramic view over the whole region including Mount Erciyes in the distance.

Try to make Pottery in Avanos

Stay in a Cave Hotel

The cave hotels feature rock-carved arches, volcanic colored patterned walls and panoramic terraces overlooking the valley. A truly peaceful peace of mind will be a unique experience for you.

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Turkey Cappadocia Tours

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Cappadocia Package Tour

Cappadocia Tour By Plane 3 Days, Devrent Valley to Pasabag and Avanos, Uchisar Castle, Goreme Open Air Museum, Rose Valley, and more.

Destinations : Turkey / Cappadocia

Sightseeing Tour

3 Days

Cappadocia Balloon Ride

Cappadocia Balloon Ride Comfort, Balloon Tours Comfort and extra space

Destinations : Turkey / Cappadocia

Advanture Tour

3 Hours

Special Offer

Cappadocia Tours from Istanbul

2-day tour, which will take you from Devrent Valley to Pasabag and Avanos, Uchisar Castle and Goreme Open Air Museum, Rose Valley hike, and more.

Destinations : Turkey / Cappadocia

Advanture & Sightseeing Tour

2 Days

Top things to do in Cappadocia

Buy potteries and ceramics in Avanos
Dive in an underground city
Negotiate for Hand-woven carpets
Stay at a cave hotel
Hot Air Balloon Ride through the Ihlara valley
Eat a Pottery Kebab
Discover the Göreme Open Air Museum
Take a Photo from top of Uchisar
Go on a hot air balloon ride in sun rise
Horse riding in Cappadocia
Join the Turkish Night in Cappadocia

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Cappadocia Travel Guide

The First-Timer's Travel Guide to Cappadocia, Cappadocia Information

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