Visit Goreme Open Air Museum, the center of Christian life during the 8-11th centuries with its beautiful frescoes.
Cappadocian Valleys
Peculiar rock formations, painted rock-cut churches, vast colored valleys, multistorey underground cities and water streams running between green rocky cliffs. This is Cappadocia and this is the best way to explore it.
Delve underground to see and experience how people lived for centuries in the underground city of Derinkuyu.
Hike in flower-filled fields with tall trees surrounding you.
Discover the strange but colorful hues of the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia.
After our early arrival to Kayseri Airport, we will travel for approximately 1.5 hours to Cappadocia region. Our first visit will be to Göreme Open Air Museum (UNESCO World Heritage Site). The museum consists of the finest rock-cut churches and their frescoes. Later, we will visit the town center of Ürgüp and have lunch. Our first hike will be along the riverbed in the Gomeda Valley. After visiting the Zelve Valley, during the afternoon, we will discover the little village of Sinasos (nowadays Mustafapasa) where we will stay for the next four overnights. The village was dominantly populated by the greek-orthodox community who became wealthy mainly for their caviar trade. We will end the day with a light-hiking inside and around the village. We will be staying in an old mansion.
In the morning we will start hiking in Meskendir Valley. On our way we'll see old vineyards, tunnels which were made out of the water erosion and finally, after visiting two old rock-cut churches we will end our hike in Cavusin Village. After lunch, we may either climb one of the hills in Cavusin and continue our walk until Pasabaglari or, go until Pasabag with our minibus and have a short walk there. Pasabaglari is considered as one of the main spots in Cappadocia with the best quality of rock formations, mainly referred by locals as “fairy chimneys”.
After breakfast, we will have a short ride with our minibus until White Valley, which was a riverbed thousands of years ago. Here we see the best examples of conical type fairy chimneys, which were made by volcanic lava’s erosion. During our walk we will go through vineyards, and see gardens with apple, apricot and walnut trees. We will end our morning walk in Uchisar and visit the Uchisar Castle. After lunch break, we will walk in Pigeon’s Valley and end our walk in Göreme.
Today we will travel slightly longer for a must-see place that every hiker should visit in Cappadocia: Ihlara Valley. On our way we will stop at an underground city, which is another highlight of Cappadocia. Ihlara Valley was commonly used by the christian monks since the 7th century, to hide in the rock-cut churches and monasteries along the Melendiz River. We will eat a beautiful lunch near to the river. After Ihlara, we will visit the Selimiye Monastery and go back to our hotel.
After breakfast we will go to Kayseri to catch our domestic flight heading to Istanbul where you can stroll around, visit the famous Aya Sophia and Blue Mosque or head to the Grand Bazaar for a bit of shopping before you head to the airport for your flight back home.
Weather
Cappadocia is best visited during Spring and Autumn when the temperatures are still warm enough and no yet as sunny as is Summer as most the valleys are exposed and get sunlight.
Accommodation
We will spend 4 nights in a Greek old mansion in Sinasos. The town -currently named Mustafapasa- is one of the oldest villages found in Cappadocia that was inhabited by Greeks.
Food
During the trip we will try some delicious Turkish and Mediterranean food such as Doner, Kebap and Ayran.
Hiking
The hike itself is moderate but it requires a reasonable fitness level. Expect to be hiking around 4-5 hours daily. The trip is also appropriate for children if they are fit enough.
Scenery
We’ll be mostly hiking in colored valley, barren rock formations and beside water streams and river beds surrounded by cliffs on both sides.
Transportation
We have all our transportation in a private A/C minibus.
PRICE
$1,100
best time to travel:
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
PRICE INCLUDES
Price based on 4 pax
Meals as mentioned in the itinerary (Breakfast = B, Lunch = L, Dinner = D)
All transport to and from destination and throughout the trip ( A/C minibus)
All accommodation as mentioned above
Domestic flights between Kayseri and Istanbul
Museum entrance fees
English-speaking professional hiking guide
PRICE EXCLUDES
International flights
Visa Fee
Excess baggage & Airport Taxes
Personal & Travel insurance
Drinks during the meals
Personal expenses
Tips and Gratuity