Things to do in

Tekelli

You will be picked up from your hotel by a professional tour guide after your breakfast at around 09:45/ 10:00. Your first encounter with Cappadocia will be Devrent Valley (Imagination Valley). In this valley, different rock formations can be seen as animals which is why this valley can also be called Imagination Valley. Use your imagination to describe all these rocks. Then, head to Monks Valley or also known as Paşabağları. There is a bit of a difference between these two meanings in English and Turkısh. Monks used to live here and hide from the religious pressures of the Roman government or local people. During Roman period, most of the people were pagan and not Christian. That's why, all the history of these places come from this point. In Turkish, Paşa means men who have lots of money and land. Bağ means land or area can be purchased. In the following years, all these rich men bought some part of land for their own economic power. Afterwards, the local people where known as Paşabağları. Avanos town will be your third point of interest. In the art center, you will see how to make pottery and ceramic in the Cappadocia region. History of pottery making and ceramic dates back to Hittite emperors (B.C. 4000). Avanos is only town which is famous for pottery and ceramic made by red and white clay only. In the art center, you will be shown a pottery making demonstration and also be able to try try yourself. After all process of demonstration, you will have an open buffet lunch in a local, clean restaurant as a tour break. After a short photography break at  Esentepe viewpoint, see the stunning Gōreme Valley and fairy chimneys. The largest and tallest fairy chimney known as Uchisar Castle will be your next point of interest located in Uchisar. It is also a natural structure, not made by human hand. In case of dangerous situations, you will not be allowed to climb the castle.  The most important place for Christianity and known as an open air museum, Göreme Open Air Museum will be waiting for your visit after Uchisar Castle. This will be completely similar with today's university model. You will see dormitories ( for men and women), churches (9 to 10), chapels, dining rooms, mutual places and classrooms. You will see wall paintings or frescoes on most of walls of the churches in this museum. These paintings depict some scenes from the Bible or some other important point in the life of Jesus Christ. People used to live here as students and teachers together. In addition, teachers gave Christian courses to their students from the Bible. Then after their graduation, they would go to some other part of Turkey in order to spread and teach Christianity to the people. Finally, you will visit the deepest and largest underground city in Cappadocia. Consisting of seven floors, you will see all parts of the underground city open to the public and learn how people had survived under limited opportunities. Mainly, you will see stalls, dining rooms, food storage rooms, churches, kitchens and other similar places you would normally find in a living area. Your professional art historian guide will gladly explain all the details and the history of the places you will visit during your tour schedule. 

Get an insider’s view of Cappadocia’s most iconic spots on an all-inclusive trip from Istanbul. Walk in the land of fairy chimneys. Hear commentary from your guide along the way about fascinating sites like Goreme Open Air Museum, Avanos Village, Uchisar, Avanos, Underground Cities, Ortahisar, and Pasabag. Day 1: Flight to Kayseri and Fairy Chimneys of Cappadocia Catch your domestic flight to Kayseri. Start with a visit to the Goreme Open Air Museum, a cave city in the Goreme Valley. See rock-cut churches, kitchens, and wineries left from Anatolian Christians. Gaze at Byzantine frescos at this UNESCO World Heritage Site and learn about its history. Next, make your way to Devrent Valley, famous for its animal-shaped rocks. See a rock pillar that looks like the Virgin Mary, holding Jesus Christ. Continue to Pasabagi Valley or Monks Valley to enjoy the wonderful landscape. Make your way to Avanos Village, the region known for its pottery, silk, wool and carpet weaving, wine cultivation, and agriculture. See the natural as well as human-made masterpieces of this charming old town. Savor a typical Turkish lunch. Experience pottery-making with local experts. After treating yourself to a hearty lunch, continue to Goreme Panorama, for views of fairy chimneys, which are tall rock formations with caps on top. Make the most of your time in Cappadocia by visiting Uchisar. Get to the top of the rock castle in the center of the town, the highest point of the region, a perfect vantage point for a panoramic view of the stunning Cappadocian landscape. After sightseeing, be driven to your hotel. Spend the night in Cappadocia in a special class cave hotel. Day 2: Underground Cities Of Cappadocia and Flight to Istanbul Start your day with breakfast at the hotel. After check-out, embark on a full-day tour. Visit Rose and Red Valley, an incredibly unique area of Cappadocia with sharp ridges, tinted in pink, especially during sunset. Go off the beaten path to visit Cavusin. See its famous rock churches. Next, enjoy a tour of Pigeon Valley, named after the countless man-made dovecotes or pigeon houses carved into the soft volcanic tuff. Walk through a picturesque maze of rock formations. Then, go down to the world of underground cities. Once a refuge for 15000 Christians, these settlements were of enormous value to the development of Christianity. Witness the ancient bedrooms, church, meeting hall, and food storage rooms in this 8-story city connected by 30 kilometers of corridors and passageways. Continue the tour with Ortahisar, famous for its friendly inhabitants, picturesque stone houses, narrow streets, and lovely churches. See the famous castle-like rock formation standing dominantly over the town. After the tour, be driven to Kayseri Airport for your domestic flight to Istanbul. Upon arrival, be greeted by your driver and return to your hotel.

Get an insider’s view of Cappadocia’s most iconic spots on an all-inclusive trip from Istanbul. Float above volcanic spires and honeycombed hills on a hot air balloon. Be accompanied by a guide to Goreme Open Air Museum, Avanos, Pasabag, Uchisar, and Kaymakli Underground City, and more. Day 1 Depart from your hotel in an air-conditioned minivan and make your way to Istanbul airport. Catch your domestic flight to Cappadocia. Upon your arrival to Cappadocia, meet your guide and begin your tour of North Cappadocia. Walk in the land of fairy chimneys. Visit Goreme Open Air Museum, Red River, Devrent Valley, and Pasabag. Make your way to Avanos Village for a traditional lunch and pottery demonstration. Get to the top of the Uchisar Castle, the highest point of the region, a perfect vantage point for a panoramic view of the stunning Cappadocian landscape. After sightseeing, be driven to your hotel. Spend the night in Cappadocia. Day 2 You can opt to join a balloon flight in the morning. Your day tour will be organized according to the balloon flight hours. After breakfast at the hotel, embark on a full-day tour of South Cappadocia. Go off the beaten path to visit Cavusin. See its famous rock churches. Head to Goreme Panorama for views of fairy chimneys. Hike in the Red Valley. Visit Old Greek Love Valley, Kaymakli Underground City, and Pigeon Valley. Walk through a picturesque maze of rock formations. Witness an onyx demonstration by local experts. Savor a typical Turkish lunch. Conclude the day tour by 5 PM. Then, be driven to Kayseri Airport for your domestic flight to Istanbul. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by your driver and taken to your hotel.

Get picked-up from your hotel. First, enjoy a panoramic view of Göreme and marvel at some of the best views in the region. Your guide will have plenty of knowledge to offer you about your surroundings. Afterwards, visit Underground City which is the biggest and deepest underground settlement. It has 8 levels connected with narrow tunnels. You will visit stalls, stores, churches, wineries, kitchens and the other sections which are open for visitors. While you are visiting the sections, your guide will complement the experience with their expert knowledge. Next, enjoy a local lunch in an authentic restaurant. After, visit Pigeon Valley which is located in Uçhisar town and offers another spectacular panoramic view. The next destination is Goreme Open Air Museum, where you can see rock-cut churches carved by early Christian monks. Your guide will give you information about Christianity and the Monastic Life of Cappadocia. The next stop will be Çavuşin, which is the Old Greek Village, abandoned after Population Exchange in 192. This town is located on the banks of the Red River which is the longest river in Turkey. It is famous for its pottery which started around the 2nd millennium B.C by Hittites. You will have a tour of the town and then visit a pottery workshop and learn about red clay work and ceramics. One of the masters of the discipline will even demonstrate the ancient free-hand technique that has been used throughout history. Then visit Paşabağı where spectacular mushroom-shaped rock formations can be seen. Paşabağı is also called Monks Valley because of the Chapel of Saint Simeon which is located in the valley. The next stop is Devrent Valley, which is also known as İmagination Valley. The valley contains curious red rocks, some of which resemble animal forms: a camel, a lizard, an owl, a snake, a chicken and a penguin.

Your tour will begin as you are picked up from your hotel in the morning. From here your first stop will be a meeting with the lunar landscape of Cappadocia, where you will discover rock formations beyond belief in the Devrent Valley. You will visit the famous Pasabag "fairy chimneys", where the sound of the of wind mixes with the "songs of fairies" near Zelve. You will later have lunch in Avanos, the center of the terracotta art medium since 3000 B.C. It is at this location that you will enjoy a demonstration in a traditional pottery workshop. In the afternoon, you will visit the famous Goreme Open-Air Museum, where you will be able to see the best examples of Byzantine art in Cappadocia. This is demonstrated in rock-cut churches with frescoes and paintings which date from the 10th to the 13th century. Next, you will continue to the panoramic viewpoint of Esentepe, which will provide you with a spectacular view over Goreme. You can see the complete view of the Goreme Valley and Goreme Village, including fairy chimneys, rock formations, and cave houses. You will later end your day with Uchisar Castle, a tall rock which is the highest point of the Goreme region. At the completion of your tour, you will be returned safely back to your hotel.

Tour the most important landmarks of Cappadocia along with its fascinating rock formations on an all-day guided tour. Get picked up from your hotel in Istanbul and arrive at the airport for a 1.5-hour flight to Kayseri. Meet your local driver and enjoy the ride to Cappadocia, where you will join other group participants and begin your tour. Explore the Goreme Open Air Museum and study the many rock-cut churches from as far back as the 10th century. Next, visit Devrent Valley, famous for its quirky animal-shaped rocks, and feel like you're in another world. Head to Pasabag, also known as Monks Valley, and see the chapel dedicated to St. Simeon along with a hermit's shelter. Admire some of the most striking fairy chimneys with a unique mushroom shape. Stop for a typical Turkish lunch in Avanos. Then learn to make pottery with local experts. Take in the best views of the fairy chimneys from Goreme Panorama before marveling at more magnificent landscapes from Uchisar Rock Castle. Drive back to Kayseri for your return flight to Istanbul where your driver will greet you and take you back to your hotel.

Enjoy breakfast at your hotel or in the town before starting your full-day Cappadocia small-group city tour. You will be picked up from your hotel at 10 AM. Start the day visiting Devrent Valley, also known as the “Imagination Valley,” a most surreal-looking landscape. Your next stop will be Pashabagi also known as the Monks Valley because Christian hermits chose to locate hermit cells and churches in these three-headed pinnacles symbolic of the Holy Trinity. It will be possible to see all the stages in the formation of fairy chimneys at this spot.  Then proceed to Avanos (Venessa), 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. You will have lunch in a local restaurant before continuing to Göreme 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 will be able to 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. See the panoramic viewpoint of Esentepe. With a spectacular view over Göreme, see the complete view of Göreme Valley and Göreme village complete with fairy chimneys, rock formations, and cave houses. End your day at Uchisar Castle on a tall rock, the highest point in the Göreme region. After the tour, you will return to your hotel.

Discover Cappadocia on a 2-day tour from Istanbul that includes round-trip flights and an overnight stay at a boutique hotel. Detailed Itinerary Day 1 3:45 AM Pick-up at your Istanbul hotel and transfer to the airport 7:10 AM Depart Istanbul Airport for Cappadocia 8:40 AM Arrival at Kayseri or Nevşehir airport and transfer to Cappadocia hotel 9:30 AM Tour of Cappadocia that includes the Uçhisar Castle viewpoint, Göreme Open Air Museum, Cavusin old village, lunch in Avonos, a pottery demonstration in Avanos, Paşabağı fairy chimneys, Devrent Valley, Urgup fairy chimneys and an Urgup carpet factory Overnight at your boutique hotel in Cappadocia. Day 2 3:45 AM Pick-up at your Cappadocia hotel for hot-air balloon tour 8:00 AM Return to hotel 9:15 AM Pick-up at your hotel for the tour 9:30 AM Tour begins with a panoramic view of Göreme and visit to Derinkuyu Underground City, constructed as a temporary shelter against invasions and raids. Enjoy a short hike in the Ihlara Valley, followed by a lunch break in Belisirma village. See Selime Monastry from the Yaprakhisar viewpoint before ending with a visit to the Pigeon Valley and an onyx demonstration 8:25 PM Depart Kayseri Airport for Istanbul 9:55 PM Arrival in Istanbul and transfer to your hotel

Combine an iconic Cappadocia hot air balloon ride with a day trip to the region's top sights with this day trip. Step back in time as you explore ancient sites like the the Goreme Open Air Museum, Uhicsar, and the mushroom houses of the Pasabag Valley. Start your day bright and early with a complimentary pickup service that will take you to your hot air balloon tour. Feel the thrill of lifting off from the ground and take in the stunning panoramic views of Cappadocia from above as the sky is filled with other balloons. Trafer back to your hotel momentarily before being picked up again for your full day trip in Cappadocia. Relax on the drive to the Goreme Open Air Museum where you can admire this uniquely-shaped ancient complex of churches cut into volcanic rock Enjoy the fantastical rock formations in the lunar-like Devrent Valley, the mushroom shaped ruins in the Pasabag Valley, and the Castle built into the rocks of Uhicsar. Visit the village of Avanos which is known for its production of ceramics. Return to your hotel at the end of your tour.

Get picked up from your accommodation by your guide and head out on a small-group tour through Cappadocia. Start with a stop at Goreme Panorama, a scenic viewpoint that presents you with the expansive vista formed by the city below and the stunning rocky hills that back it. Then, drive to Kaymaklı Underground City to learn firsthand how early Christians protected and defended themselves from persecutions and invasions for centuries. Hike through Turkey's largest canyon, which features over 2,670 different plants that thrive in the valley's microclimate. Afterward, make the 1.5-hour drive to Ihlara Canyon for a 3.8 km hike along the river and through the area's beautiful nature. After the hike, satisfy your appetite with lunch at a local restaurant in Belisırma. Then visit Selime Monastery, the biggest religious building in Cappadocia with a cathedral-size church. Before returning you to your hotel, your guide will stop at Pigeon Valley, the best photo spot in all of Cappadocia.