Goreme National Park

Cave Tours

Discover Cappadocia's Southern region on a full-day guided tour that includes lunch. Travel through the fairy chimneys of Ortahisar, explore the rock-cut churches of Rose and Red Valley, marvel at the cave houses of Çavuşin, and visit an ancient multi-level underground city. Start the tour with Ortahisar, an old Cappadocian town famous for its rock warehouses carved into the valley slopes, also called citrus warehouses in Southern Anatolia. See the Ortahisar castle, the largest fairy chimney in the region, and learn about its history from your guide. Next, visit the Rose and Red Valley to see hidden rock-cut churches and unique rock formations. These valleys are isolated behind Urgup and full of little villages, fruit gardens and vineyards, tied together by a charming set of trails. Make your way to one of the oldest villages in the area, Çavuşin, famous for its cave houses that stretch out like a maze of ruins carved in rock. See the Church of John the Baptist, the biggest cave church in all of Cappadocia, dating back to the 5th century. Then, follow your guide to the Underground City. Built by Christians in Middle Ages to escape persecution, it has several levels with an impressive collection of kitchens, wineries, storage areas, and living areas. Unwind over a traditional lunch before continuing the tour. For the final stop, be driven to Love Valley. Look out in awe at its huge rock formations, formed naturally millions of years ago by erosion of volcanic rock. Some of the formations reach 40 meters in height. Admire a surreal landscape consisting of pinnacles, pillars, cones, and fairy chimneys.

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 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.

The driver and the guide will pick you up from your hotel in the morning. Then you can decide with them what to visit. Cappadocia's most famous attraction, for good reason, is the Göreme Open Air Museum, a complex of medieval painted cave churches carved out by Orthodox monks. There are over 10 cave churches in the Göreme Open Air Museum. Along with rectories, dwellings, and a religious school, they form a large monastic complex carved out of a roughly ring-shaped rock formation in the otherworldly landscape of Cappadocia. Old Cavusin, with its rock-cut dwellings and stone houses, had several hermitages. The two most important churches in Cavusin are the Great Basilica dedicated to St. John the Baptist and Cavusin Church or the 'Great Pigeon House'. The old city of Avanos, whose name in ancient times was Venessa, overlooks the longest river in Turkey, the Kızılırmak (Red River). The ceramic trade in this district and its countless pottery factories date back to the Hittites, and the ceramic clay from the red silt of the Kızılırmak has always been used locally. Watch the potters at work using the kick wheel, using a technique that has not changed for generations. Pasabag, the remarkable earth pillars, can also be seen here, in the middle of a vineyard - hence the name of the place which means: the Pasha’s vineyard. Also known as Imaginary Valley or Pink Valley, this area does not have cave churches like the other valleys of Cappadocia. The small fairy chimneys in the valley form a lunar landscape, or moonscape, by their strange appearance. The valley has many animal-shaped rocks. Some of the most commonly seen shapes include camel, snake, seals, and dolphins.

Discover some of the most impressive scenery of the Cappadocia region on an all-day guided tour. See fairy chimneys and unique rock formations. Get picked up from your hotel and head to Goreme Panorama. Take in wonderful views of the town’s spectacular cave houses. Hike through the beautiful Red and Rose Valley. Pass by fairy chimneys, local farms, and cave chapels. Learn interesting facts about the surrounding nature and history of the area from your guide. Stop off briefly at the old Greek village of Cavusin. Try traditional Turkish food during lunch in Avanos. Next, visit the impressive Kaymakli Underground City, which was used by early Christians as a shelter from enemies. Take in the terrific views of Pigeon Valley and learn about the carved pigeon houses. Make a final stop at the Onyx factory and hear about the semi-precious volcanic stones of Turkey.

After meeting at your hotel at 9:00am, we'll start hiking. We hike through Sword Valley, with its epic landscape, rock-cut churches and pigeon houses that offer glimpses into the region's history. Together we will explore the Red and Rose Valley. The valley itself has a mystic atmosphere, with natural pink 'fairy chimneys' offering some of the most unique rock formations in the world. Then, we will visit the Cappadocian hidden caves and old cave churches, which date back to the 5th and 6th centuries. We'll take a break from our hike at the amazing viewpoint of the valley, taking photos at the best spots. After an adventurous hike and lots of sights, we head back to your hotel.

Immerse yourself in the otherworldly landscapes of Cappadocia on this full-day tour. After getting picked up from your hotel, set out on a 6.5-hour journey of discovery of incredible natural formations, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and many different types of ancient art. Start your tour at Devrent Valley, an area also known as “Imagination Valley”, where you can admire several different animal-like natural rock formations. Next, visit Pasabag, where you’ll see some more fairy chimneys which will remind you of the Shire from the Lord of the Rings, or The Smurfs. Close by, visit a local village’s pottery shop and see how people survived and created beautiful art in this region dating back to the Hittite period. Sit down for lunch in a local restaurant and rest up before the second half of the tour.   After lunch, visit the Goreme Open Air Museum, which contains some of the best cave churches in Cappadocia. Admire the frescoes adorning this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Then, head to Uchisar Castle and Pigeon Valley, two of the best spots for photography in the whole world. Hit the road again to return to your hotel—but before you get back, stop at Goreme Panorama Point to see the beauty of Cappadocia from a different angle.

Embark on a 4km hike through the picturesque Red Valley, visit one of the oldest monastic settlements in Cappadocia, and check out the underground city of Kaymakli on this guided tour. After a morning pickup from your hotel, start your day at the Fairy Chimneys of Urgup.m See the official symbol of Urgup and Cappadocia: 'Three Beauties.' Hike among the sharp sandstone ridges and the striking landscape of the Red Valley before visiting Cavusin: one of the earliest monastic settlements in the region. Have lunch at a local restaurant before continuing on. After lunch, discover one of the largest and deepest underground cities of Cappadocia: Kaymakli. Take in panoramic views of beautiful Cappadocia on your last stop at Pigeon Valley.

You will be picked up from your hotel at 09:15 and start your tour at 09:30. Uchisar Castel is constructed on the highest point of the region and has a totally dictinct castle form, including graves, tunnels and churches which you cannot come across in any other place in the world. At Göreme Open Air Museum, it is especially important to understand the influence of religion, especially of Christianity on the region. For good reasons, it is the most famous attraction, a complex of several painted cave churches carved out by Orthodox monks between 900 and 1200 AD. Çavusin old village, an old Greek village, will be the next stop on this tour. Çavusin is a village about 4 kilometers from Göreme. The old village is largely deserted because the area has been plagued by rock falls. At Çavusin, you can visit the Church of John the Baptist, which probably dates from the 5th century with paintings from the 6th, 7th and 8th centuries. The view of Rose Valley is excellent from this village. The best place to see three-headed fairy chimneys. Pasabag, the Pasha's Vineyard, is surrounded by incredible natural rock formations; a spectacular scene. Have an hour for lunch at Han Restaurant which is cool and popular in the region. You will start with the soup and then it will be self-service. Since the Hittites in 2000 BC, people could get red clays (terra rosa) around Kızılırmak River, which is the longest river in Turkey, and white clays (caulin) from the volcanic hills. They could use the clays for their daily life by shaping the clay with their hand on the spinning wheels. The ruins at Devrent are spread over three valleys, which also house several pointed fairy chimneys with large stems. The "fairy chimneys" with caps, mainly found in the vicinity of Ürgüp, have a conical-shaped body and a boulder on top of it. The cone is constructed from tufa and volcanic ash, while the cap is of a harder, more resistant rock such as lahar or ignimbrite. The fairy chimneys which are symbols of Ürgüp are called holy spirit chimneys. You'll find the mother, father and son fairy chimneys are together. At a carpet factory, every carpet, with its patterns, resembles a collection of messages, beliefs and symbols. Every pattern that is woven into a carpet is a picture of a feeling, a desire or a wish. Every carpet represents a living history from the early ages to the present in which women have patiently and untiringly written their joys and sorrows in amazing codes and magic letters which are to be read line by line. Your tour will finish at 17:30 and you will be dropped off back to your hotel.

Explore the beauty of Southern Cappadocia on this tour from Göreme. Snap pictures of rock-hewn castles and churches. View stunning natural rock formations and have a delicious local lunch. Be picked up from your hotel in Göreme and relax on the way to your first stop in the town of Ortahisar which is famous for its rock warehouses which were carved into the valley slopes. Admire its castle which is the largest fairy chimney in the region. Hear about the history of this settlement which dates back to the 11th century when the migrations from Central Asia to Anatolia began. Listen as your guide tells you about the 9 families that founded this town. Head to the Rose and Red valleys, to explore hidden rock-hewn churches and unique rock formations. Pass through these valleys which are full of little villages, fruit gardens, and vineyards. Visit one of the oldest villages in the area, the Cavusin village, which has cave houses that stretch like a maze of ruins. See the 5th-century Church of John the Baptist which is the biggest cave church in all of Cappadocia. Go below ground to see the widest underground city in Cappadocia that was built by Christians in Middle Ages who were trying to escape persecution. Walk through kitchens, wineries, storage areas, and living areas. Finally, drive to Love Valley, known for its huge phallic rock formations which were formed 3-9 million years ago by the erosion of volcanic rock. Some of the formations reach 40 meters in height. Return to your accommodations in Göreme.

Meet your guide at your hotel around 9:30 AM and start the cycle to the Sword Valley. Spend time exploring Sword Valley by bike. Named after the rocks that resemble swords, sword valley has a unique landscape. Explore the valley, which has biking trails at a range of difficulty levels. Head to Çavuşin Village. Çavuşin Village is an ancient Greek town with houses cut into the rock. See the monastery that dates back to the 6th Century AD. Visit Pasabag, also known as the Valley of the Monks. Cycle to the fairy chimneys in Pasabag, regarded as the most striking rock formations in Cappadocia. Explore Devrent Valley, also known as Imagination Valley, by bike. See the moonscape Imagination Valey is famous for. The valley contains small fairy chimneys and rock formations that resemble animals. Stop at Ürgüp for lunch at a local restaurant. Enjoy views of the national park at Red Valley's sunset point. Red Valley provides panoramic views of the region, making it the perfect last stop. Be dropped off at your hotel.