Discerning travelers don't want to be constrained by traveling with a group of strangers or a pre-existing itinerary. With New Göreme Tour, each adventure is private, flexible and customized to meet your needs. Start and end your Cappadocia Tour whenever you want, make itinerary changes as you like. With your own private VIP van, driver and skilled local guide, you are in control. If you wish, we can also help find a suitable hotel for you.
Day 1
The first stop is at the famous ‘Three Beauties of Ürgüp’, where you can see the mushroom-shaped rock formations and a panorama of the city of Ürgüp. The magnificent landscape of Cappadocia has been formed from solidified lava streams, ash and tuff stone from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. The landscape you can see now is the result of thousands of years of continual erosion, which has shaped the tuff deposits into the strangest pyramids and cones. The guide gives you information about how the landscape was formed and the history of Cappadocia.
The next stop is in Devrent valley, which is also known as Imagination valley. Devrent valley has many different red-coloured rock formations forming a lunar landscape with their strange appearance. The valley has many animal-shaped rocks. Some of the most commonly seen shapes include a camel, snake, seals, and a dolphin. If you use your imagination, you can find many others. There is even a rock pillar which looks like Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus.
Then you go to the village of Çavuşin. The old part of the village was abandoned in the 1950s due to numerous rock-falls caused by erosion. You can also see the famous basilica of St. John the Baptist, cut into the cliffs above the old village, built in the 5th century.
Next you have lunch in a local house in Göreme. After lunch you go to Uçhisar, situated at the highest point in the region. The top of the castle provides a magnificent panorama of the surrounding area. Many rooms cut into the rock are connected with each other with stairs, tunnels and passages. At the entrances of the rooms, there are millstone doors, just like the ones in the underground settlements, used to control access to these places. Due to erosion, it is unfortunately not possible to reach all the rooms. You can climb to the top of the castle via tunnels and steps and enjoy the spectacular panoramic view, the best view in Cappadocia, second only to a hot-air balloon ride.
The last stop is in Derinkuyu, the deepest underground city in the area, which is approximately 85 meters deep and has 16 floors, 8 of which you can see during your guided tour. It was used to hide Christians during enemy attacks in the 5th to 10th centuries. The city was built around 8th century BC, it could accommodate about 20 000 people and had all the usual amenities found in other underground complexes across Cappadocia, such as wine and oil presses, stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, and chapels.
Day 2
The first stop is at Göreme panorama, the best place to admire the beautiful fairy-chimneys below. The most magnificent landscape around Göreme has been formed from solidified lava streams, ash and tuff stone from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. The stunning landscape of Cappadocia is the result of thousands of years of continual erosion, which has shaped the tuff deposits into the strangest pyramids and cones. The guide gives you information about how the landscape was formed and the history of Cappadocia.
Next you go to Paşabağ, where highly remarkable mushroom-shaped rock formations can be seen, in the middle of a vineyard, hence the name of the place which means 'Pasha’s vineyard'. 'Pasha' means 'general', a military rank, in Turkish. This sight is also called Monks' Valley. The name has come from some high tuff stone columns which stand apart, looking like monks.
Then you visit Sobessos, a recently discovered archaeological site from the Roman era, located near Şahinefendi village. A large meeting hall with beautiful mosaics has been excavated. The site also contains a Roman bath with a well-preserved underfloor heating system.
After that the tour takes you for a short walk in Soğanlı valley, where there are many different churches with reasonably well preserved frescoes dating from the 10th to the 13th centuries. You can also buy the most famous local souvenir, the Soğanlı doll here. At the end of the valley you have lunch in a local restaurant.
The last stop is at Kaymaklı underground city, which is one of the largest underground settlements in the region. It is accepted as the widest underground city of Cappadocia, among the explored ones. The houses in the village are constructed around the nearly one hundred tunnels of the underground city. The tunnels are still used today as storage areas, stables, and cellars. The underground city at Kaymaklı differs from Derinkuyu in terms of its structure and layout. The tunnels are lower, narrower, and more steeply inclined. Of the four floors open to tourists, each space is organized around ventilation shafts. This makes the design of each room or open space dependent on the availability of ventilation. The number of the storage rooms in such a small area supports the idea that a great number of people resided here. Archeologists think that this could have been up to 3500 people.
Day 3
The first stop is at Pigeon valley viewpoint, which has hundreds of old pigeon houses cut into the rock in the past. Throughout centuries farmers have used pigeon droppings as a fertilizer for their crops. The magnificent landscape of Cappadocia has been formed from solidified lava streams, ash and tuff stone from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. The landscape you can see now is the result of thousands of years of continual erosion, which has shaped the tuff deposits into the strangest pyramids and cones. The guide gives you information about how the landscape was formed and the history of Cappadocia.
After that you go to Ortahisar which means "middle castle" in Turkish and as the name implies, it is situated between Göreme, Ürgüp, Uçhisar and Nevşehir. You go for a short walk in its old part which is an amazing place of abandoned and derelict dwellings, most of them unfortunately beyond repair.
Then you visit Keşlik monastery, surrounded by beautiful landscape. The monastery was built in volcanic tuff stone and used in the Byzantine era until the end of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s. Hollowed out in the 13th century, Keşlik monastery, also known as the Monastery of Archangels, has retained two churches and one of the biggest refectories in the area.
The next stop is in Mustafapaşa, which was originally known as Sinasos, an old village where Turks and Greeks lived side by side and where old Greek Stone houses can still be seen. The Greeks left the village during the exchange of populations in 1923 agreed in the Treaty of Lausanne, and many of the houses have been abandoned since then or later turned into hotels. First you have lunch in a local restaurant there and after that you take a short walk in the town to admire its beautiful Greek houses.
The last stop is at Göreme open air museum, the most famous tourist attraction in Cappadocia, a complex of ancient cave churches cut into the rock by Orthodox monks. There are 9 cave churches with beautiful frescoes in the museum. Along with rectories, dwellings and a religious school, they form a large monastic complex cut into the rock in the stunning landscape of Cappadocia.
|
