Cappadocia Unveiled: Mystical Trails of Cappadocia

Arrive in Kayseri or Nevşehir Airports and meet your local guide after luggage claims. Transfer to your hotel and enjoy your rest after check-in. Orientation walk before welcome dinner in the hotel.

Fuel up with a hearty breakfast at the hotel before we start our hike in Ihlara Valley. A 15-minute transfer takes us to Ihlara Village. Our hike starts from here and descends into the canyon towards Belisirma village. Along the Melendiz River, our hike explores the rock churches with the frescoes on either side of the canyon. Discover Bahattin Samanlığı with the best-preserved churches overlooking the Valley and Belisirma village at the end of the hike. Lunch is served in a local restaurant along the river. Visit Bezirhane, the ancient oil pressing workshop in Belisirma Village and drive back to Güzelyurt to enjoy your rest in the hotel. Before dinner in a local restaurant, tour the Red Church built by Justinian the Great and dedicated to Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the Cappadocian fathers.

After breakfast check out of the hotel and transfer (15 min) to the start point of our morning hike. We start from Belisirma village and cover the northern end of Ihlara Valley towards Selime. After wandering through the oasis created by the Melendiz River in the middle of a desert-like high plateau, our hike ends in the unique fairy chimneys of Selime Village. Discover the monastic settlement with its cathedral and network of dormitories and cellars carved into the biggest rock formation. Lunch in a local restaurant and transfer (66 km – 1h) to Kaymaklı Underground City. Explore the labyrinthine network of tunnels, cells, cellars, stables, and ventilation shafts of the second-biggest underground city which served as a haven against the invaders. Drive (26 km – 35 min) to our hotel for the next five nights in the heart of the region.

After a leisurely breakfast, a 25-minute transfer takes us to the White Valley. Our hike starts from the lower end of the valley and ascends among unique pinnacles towards Uçhisar Castle. The last stretch of the hike descends through Pigeon Valley to Göreme town, where we'll have our lunch break. Göreme Open Museum and its superb churches are our next destinations in the afternoon. Step into the monastic life of Cappadocian fathers and their theology from the 4th century while admiring the best-preserved frescoes of Byzantine art from the 10th-12th centuries. Free time in Göreme for shopping before returning to the hotel in the late afternoon. Tonight, dinner is on your own.

After breakfast, a 20-minute transfer takes us to the starting point of Zemi Valley. Our trail descends along the pastel-colored cliffs and passes through tunnels towards Göreme town. A breathtaking vista over Göreme town and its fairy chimneys is the reward from the highest point in the middle of the hike. Our next short hike unveils the valleys of Old Zelve Village. Return to the hotel in the afternoon. Dinner is on your own.

After a leisurely breakfast, we will start our hike directly from the hotel. Visit the church dedicated to Constantine the Great and his mother Helena. Our trail follows Gomeda Valley with its pigeon halls on the cliffs and lush vegetation of the stream towards Ayvalı village. On one of the least visited trails, this hike offers solitude and serenity away from the major trails of the region. A local farming family hosts our group for a well-deserved organic lunch in Ayvalı village where we learn about the local products and lifestyle. After saying goodbye to our host family, we return to Mustafapaşa. Once a Greek village of Sinassos, Mustafapaşa received the Turks from Thessaloniki after the population exchange in 1923. Enjoy your free time in Ürgüp town for shopping and take pleasure in wine tasting in a local winery before dinner in a local restaurant.

Our day starts with a visit to Ortahisar village, followed by hikes through Red Valley which justly deserves its name with its incomparable cliffs and rock formations decorated with different shades of red. Our lunch is served in the vineyard of a local family in the middle of Red Valley. After refueling with a home-made lunch our hike continues to Çavuşin Village with surprising visits to the hidden churches in small valleys and then continues to Paşabağ with the unique rock formations. Our last vista point is from the top of Uçhisar Castle, the highest rock formation in the center of the region, to capture the beauty of the entire region.

After our last breakfast together, transfer to the airport and say goodbye to your guide and driver. We wish you a safe flight back home.