Benefit from pick-up at your hotel and get a panoramic view of Göreme en route to Derinkuyu Underground City. Marvel at the subterranean city, used by the Romans to shelter against invasions by the Arabs. Get explanations about the area's deepest underground city before moving on to the Ihlara Canyon, formed by volcanic activity from Mount Hasan and erosion by the Melendiz River. Learn how early Christians carved churches from the rock on a 3.5-kilometer hike through the Ihlara Valley, and pause for lunch at a riverside restaurant. Next, visit the rock-carved Selime Monastery and learn about monastic life in Cappadocia. Continue to the Pigeon Valley to learn how the locals have used pigeon eggs and droppings for different purposes and why they carved pigeon houses on the slopes of the valley. End with a visit to an onyx factory in Uçhisar and watch a demonstration about how volcanic stone is shaped by a master craftsman.

Your guide will meet you at your hotel between 08:00 and 08:30. Visit the Istanbul old city area which includes Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar and Topkapi Palace. Have lunch during the tour. The average duration of this tour is 8-hours. At the end of the tour, your guide will leave you back at your hotel. On the second day, your guide will meet you in the hotel lobby between 08:00 and 08:30. During this tour, you will visit the Golden Horn, the old city walls of Istanbul, the Spice Market and Dolmabahce Palace or Chora Museum. There will be a lunch stop during the tour. The tour will end at around 17:00. Please do not forget to take your luggage in the morning. After the tour, you will be transferred to airport for your flight to Cappadocia. Once you arrive in Cappadocia, you will have organized transfer from the airport to your hotel.  On your third day, your guide will meet you in the lobby of your hotel at around 09:00. You will enjoy a tour of southern Cappadocia, also known as the Green Tour, which will include the following sites: Derinkuyu Underground City (the largest underground city in the area with 7 floors 85 meters deep; not recommended for claustrophobic guests) and Ihlara Valley (1.5-hour trekking). Have a lunch stop in the village of Bellisirma. Afterwards, you will visit Piegon Valley (panoramic visit), Selime Monastery and Esentepe (panoramic view). After the tour, you will be dropped back off at your hotel. On the fourth and last day, your guide will meet you in the hotel lobby at around 09:00 and take you on a tour of northern Cappadocia, known as the Red Tour, to Rose Valley, Goreme Open Air Museum (important early Christianity center), Monks Valley, Cavusin village (one of the oldest settlements in the area), Avanos village (with stop at a traditional pottery workshop), Uchisar Castle and Dervent Valley. The average tour duration will be 8-hours. After the tour, you will be transferred back to the airport for your return flight to Istanbul.

Visit sights in Derinkuyu, the Ihlara Valley, Belisırma, and Göreme, all on this guided multi-stop trip in Cappadocia. Take in the fresh air on a hike, try Turkish cuisine during lunch, and explore the Selime Monastery. Take advantage of included entry fees and round-trip transportation. After pickup, your first stop is Derinkuyu, the biggest underground city of Cappadocia. It goes to a depth of 85 meters and has several floors. Here, see a variety of rooms: storage rooms, cellars, stables, refectories, churches, wineries, and more. Vertical staircases provide access to the third and fourth floors, leading to the cruciform church on the lower floor. A ventilation shaft 55-meters deep was also used as a well. Although Derinkuyu Underground City was opened to visitors in 1965, only 10% of the city can be visited to this day. Then, trek through the scenic Ihlara Valley. The early Christians built their houses and temples carved into the rock, carving tuffs in the Ihlara Valley, along the Melendiz River. After trekking through the Ihlara Valley, get ready for a good lunch in Belisırma, featuring a mix of Turkish and Western cuisine with a dessert. With full stomachs, stop at the outskirts of Göreme, which opens up the Pigeon Valley with age-old rock-cut dovecotes. Next, head to the Selime Monastery to witness the huge kitchen and the high chimney. The center of the structure carved into the rock is the church, surrounded by a gallery and stables with feeders and many other remnants of the Middle Ages. The final destination will be Göreme Esentepe. Here you will see solidified lava flows dating back to the Neocene period. It formed an incredible landscape of tuff and ash in Göreme. Thousands of years of erosion have left visitors a real miracle of nature to see. 

Your day will begin as you are collected from your hotel at 9:30AM in the morning. Following your guide’s introduction to Cappadocia at the Goreme panoramic view point, you'll drive for around 1 hour to visit the most spectacular gorge of Turkey: Ihlara. This 6-kilometer hike through the Ihlara Valley is bound to be a highlight of your day. The Melendiz River has carved an impressive canyon through the verdant valley and you will walk about 2 hours along the river passing Byzantine rock chapels decorated with frescoes. For the first half of the hike you will be the only tourists walking, which is guaranteed to be completely peaceful. You'll later end the hiking portion of the tour near Belisirma Village, where you will have lunch in a quaint riverside restaurant. Following lunch you'll stop at the biggest rock-cut monastery of Cappadocia, the Selime Monastery and Cathedral. Selime is located at the end of Ihlara Valley, and has been used as a fortress by both Byzantine and Seljuk armies during the 10th to 12th centuries. Following this monastery, you will make your way to the Derinkuyu Underground City. Previously known as Melagobia, Derinkuyu was one of the biggest settlements in Cappadocia. Its 8-level underground city is the deepest of the region today. You will explore the caves of this interesting city as your guide explains about the way of life there. With its floors extending to a depth of approximately 60 meters, it was large enough to shelter approximately 20,000 people together with their livestock and food stores. It is the largest excavated underground city in Turkey and is one of several underground complexes found across Cappadocia. Derinkuyu itself connects to Kaymaklli via an 8-kilometer tunnel. Following your exploration of Derinkuyu, you will be driven back to your hotel where you will finish the tour at around 5:00PM.

Day 1 –Fly from Istanbul to Cappadocia - Full Day North Cappadocia Tour (Lunch) Pick up from transfer to airport, fly to Cappadocia. Transfer from Kayseri or Nevsehir airport to start the tour directly… In the morning, firstly you will see the lunar landscape of Cappadocia: rock formations beyond belief in Devrent Valley. Visit to Pasabag “fairy chimneys” where the voice of wind mixes with the “songs of fairies” near Zelve. Lunch in Avanos, centre of terra cotta work of art since 3000 BC. and a demonstration in a traditional pottery workshop. Afternoon visit to the famous Goreme Open Air Museum and see the best examples of Byzantine art in Cappadocia in rock–cut churches with frescoes and paintings (10th to 13th century). Continue to panoramic view point Esentepe. With a spectacular view over Goreme, see the complete view of Goreme valley and Goreme village: fairy chimneys, rock formations and cave houses. End your day with Uchisar Castle. This tall rock is the highest point of the Goreme region. Return to hotel around 17: 30pm. Overnight in Cappadocia Cave Hotel Day 2 – Full day Green Cappadocia Tour - Pick-up from hotel at 09: 30am. Start your day visiting the Tour to Derinkuyu Underground City, one of the largest and deepest underground city in Cappadocia. Drive to Ihlara Canyon; Walking in Ihlara Canyon, a ”mirage” in the Steps of Anatolia up to Belisirma village, the ancient Peristrema: ”Valley of the Sky” along the Melendiz River. Rock-cut churches spread across a wild plantation, surprise you with the successfully painted representations from the Bible. Lunch at a local restaurant in Belisirma by the river. Continue to Selime, a village with cave houses and on the edge of the Canyon, landscape like a ”STAR WARS”. Our last stop is Pigeon Valley as panoramic view, and transfer to the airport for your flight back to Istanbul.

The first stop of the day’s adventure is Selime Monastery. This 13th-century monastery was cut directly out of the volcanic mountain and is the biggest religious building in Cappadocia. Wander around the cathedral-sized structure and see the well-preserved kitchens, monks’ quarters, stables, staircases, and more. After marveling at Selime, stop by Belisirma, a popular local establishment where you can have some tea or eat some snacks before beginning the hike. You’ll then proceed to Ilhara Valley where you’ll go on a 2.5-hour or 7 km hike, exploring the immense area of natural rock formations. Stop by hidden churches, see picturesque waterfalls, and observe the breathtaking landscape of the canyon. Following the hike, you’ll have a delicious traditional Turkish lunch. After that, you’ll head to Derinkuyu underground city. At its peak, this ancient, multi-level underground city was said to have sheltered almost 20,000 people! Explore the wonders of Derinkuyu’s underground before heading back to your accommodations after a day well spent.