Itinerary

1. Day 1: Arrival in Kayseri

   • Meet the group at Kayseri airport and drive to Ihlara (2 hours). 

   Overnight stay at the hotel.

2. Day 2: Ihlara valley - Cappadocia - Derinkuyu Underground City - Goreme

   The narrow, steep-sided Ihlara valley, dotted with rock-cut churches, was once the favourite retreat of Byzantine monks. This valley was formed by primaeval earthquakes and ıt was once a rushing river and is now a quiet stream. 

   • As we walk through the winding valley, with cliffs reaching up to 170m in some places, we see small garden cultures that originally would have provided for the colonies and made them self-supporting. There are many rock-cut churches in this valley with well-preserved frescos dating from the 9th century. 

   • In the afternoon, we will drive to Goreme via the Underground City at Derinkuyu: 8 subterranean levels stretch 57 meters below ground. Goreme is a town particularly renamed for its pottery, and much of it is still moulded.

   Overnight stay at a pension (5-6 hour walk).

3. Day 3: Akvadi - Uchisar Castle - Pigeon Valley

   • We will trek through the Akvadi (white valley) eroded perfectly by time, rain, and the wind for centuries.
   • On our way following a seasonal river, many curious rock formations and fairy chimneys shall surround us. If we are lucky we can also see some wild birds (like the hoopoe) and some wild animals (like fox). 
   • In the 3-hour walk, our way gets us up to Uchisar village where we have a lunch break in a restaurant. Uchisar village is settled around a high promoter, which is called a citadel. From the top, we will have a rewarding panoramic view of all the surrealist Cappadocia area.
   • In the afternoon, we will follow a path to the Pigeon Valley, and we will see some missionaries who are holy for Moslem people and are greatly revered in this area.
   • To end the tour for the day, we arrive at Göreme where we will stay overnight (5-hour walk).

4. Day 4: Goreme - Pancarlik and Kizilcukur Valleys - Cavusin

   • We spend the morning walking through the little-visited Pancarlik Valley, admiring the unusual formations. 

   • We continue onto Kizilcukur Valley. Sometimes known as the ‘red hole’, Kizilcukur is probably the hottest valley in the region. Hidden in its array of fairy chimneys is the Church with Grapes where there are frescoes depicting viticulture and fruit-growing. The wine produced in this region is very sweet and heavy. 

   • We reach the small village of Cavusin which lies on top of a collapsed section of an early Christian cave city. This was caused by a huge rock slide which, together with earthquakes and natural erosion, caused a split in the plateau. 

   • The atrium of the church at Cavusin has cascaded down, exposing some of the frescoes, which we shall visit next. (5-6 hour walk)

5. Day 5: Bozdag Mountain – Goreme Open Air Museum

   • Today, we will explore the area around Cavusin. 
   • In the morning, we will have the opportunity to walk up Bozdag mountain (4 hours); the highest point in Cappadoccia for fine views of the entire area.
   • In the afternoon, we will visit the Goreme open-air Museum, a monastic complex of rock churches and chapels covered with frescoes: one of the best-known sites in the region. Most of the chapels date from the 10thto 13th centuries and many of them are built on an inscribed cross-plan with a central cupola supported by four columns. The first settlements in the area were founded after the missionary journeys of St. Paul in the year AD 53. The soft rocks were hollowed out for different purposes. The museum also contains many rock churches (3-4 hour walk to visit the museum).

6. Day 6: Zemi Valley - Cavusin - Pasabaglari - Departure

   • We will continue our walk from Zemi valley down to Göreme. It is so green inside the valley and very different from the Kapadokya plateau. We have a chance to see grape yards and local’s gardens along the valley.

   • In the afternoon, we will walk through Paşabagları, known as the Valley of the Priests. Many of the chimneys here are only partially divided, showing us the continuous erosion process. Interestingly too there is a small minaret transformed from a church belfry indicating that this place was inhabited by Moslems after the Christians. This valley is also noted for the many caves used by hermits for their retreats.  A three-capped chimney was the retreat of the monk Simeon, who unlike his counterpart in Syria, lived inside the pillar instead of on top of it.

   • After the trek, we will transfer to the airport to conclude the tour.