Tour Information
Start the day from your hotel about 09:30 with a walk in Red Valley, famous for its rocks capes, local culture and historical sights.
Day 1: North Cappadocia Tour: You will be picked up from your hotel at 03:45 to be transferred to Istanbul Airport to take 06:30 flight to Kayseri. Upon your arrival at Kayseri Airport, you will be greeted and transferred to Cappadocia to meet your guide and the rest of the group. You will start the day visiting Devrent Valley, also known as "Imagination Valley", this is the most surreal-looking landscape. Your next stop will be Pasabagi called also the Monks Valley because Christian hermits chose to locate hermit cells and churches in these three-headed pinnacles symbolic of the Holy Trinity, it's possible to see all the stages in the formation of fairy chimneys at this spot. Proceed to Avanos (Vanessa) the pottery center of Cappadocia, this village is set on the banks of the Kizilirmak/Red River. The river gets its name from the red clay it deposits. You can watch the potters at work using kick wheels, the technique which has remained unchanged for generations. After lunch, continue to Goreme Open Air Museum. The world's most important Byzantine cave churches are found in these once remote valleys where monks and nuns pursued monastic life from the 3rd century on. Here you can see the best preserved Byzantine cave wall paintings and frescos from the Iconoclastic period through to the end of Seljuk rule. Icons with scenes from the Old Testament and the New Testament above portraits of Church Fathers and saints depict the structure of the Byzantine universe. Panoramic view point Esentepe. With a spectacular view over Goreme from Esentepe 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, the highest point of the Goreme region, is a 25-floor beehive of cave rooms forming an underground-type city reaching into the sky. It was used as a citadel during Roman, Byzantine and Seljuk times. The view of the Cappadocian countryside from here is just brilliant. After the tour, you will be transferred to your hotel. Accommodation in Cappadocia. (lunch on the tour)
Day 2: South Cappadocia Tour: You will be picked up from your hotel at around 09:30 and start the day with a hike along the Red & Rose Valley, the most breathtakingly and mysteriously beautiful valleys in the region. The valleys, with their fabulous volcanic rock formations, are in the heart of Cappadocia but well away from the mainstream tourist haunts. Our hike will end in Cavusin Cave Village, where we will see a rock castle and troglodyte dwellings where people lived until the 20th century. After lunch at a local restaurant we descent towards the center of the earth, with a trip to the Underground City of Kaymakli, one of the largest and deepest of Cappadocia’s many such settlements. This city is approximately 40m deep and contains all the usual rooms found in an underground city (stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, churches, wineries etc.) We will end the day with a visit to the Pigeon Valley where we will have a spectacular view of dovecotes, old abandoned cave homes and old Greek houses of Uchisar. After the tour you will be transferred back to your hotel. Accommodation in Cappadocia. (breakfast at hotel, lunch on the tour)
Day 3: Ihlara Valley Tour: (check out from hotel in the morning) You will be picked up from your hotel at around 09:00 and start the tour with a spectacular view over Goreme from Esentepe. You will see the complete view of Goreme valley and Goreme village: fairy chimneys, rock formations and cave houses. Continue driving to Derinkuyu Underground City, one of the best preserved and deepest Underground Cities in Cappadocia. Derinkuyu is excavated to a depth of approximately 85 m. It contains all the usual rooms found in an underground city (stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, churches, wineries etc.), a large room on the second floor was a missionary school with study rooms. Proceed to Ihlara Valley. This gorge is 16 km long and both sides are lined with rock carved churches, there are more than a hundred little churches and houses. You will walk about 4 km along the river in the valley exploring the hidden churches. At the end of your walk lunch will be served at Belisirma Village by the river. On the way back visit Selime Monastery, carved out of the rock by Christian monks in the 13th century. The size of the church makes a visit here astonishing. Stop briefly at Yaprakhisar Panorama point for another view of this great Monastery (this is also the spot where famous movie "Star Wars" was shot). After the tour, you will be transferred to Kayseri Airport to take 19:30 flight to Istanbul. Upon your arrival at Istanbul Airport at around 21:00, you will be greeted and transferred to your hotel. (breakfast at hotel, lunch on the tour)
Price
850 EUR per person in double/twin room. If you are a single traveller, there will be a 25% single supplement surcharge.
Tour Price Includes
2 nights' BB accommodation at 3* or equivalent hotel
3 full-day regular group tours w/ professional guidance in English
Istanbul-Kayseri-Istanbul flight tickets
2 airport transfers in Istanbul
2 airport transfers in Cappadocia
Entrance fees to the sites visited
Lunch during the tours (except drinks)
Local transportation w/ A/C vehicles
Tour Price Excludes
Personal expenses
Dinner
Tips (optional)