The name Cappadocia evokes images of a bizarre landscape that includes top-heavy hoodoos, rock-cut churches and colourful rockbound canyons. Those images that your mind has created are not far from reality. Our first adventure in this mystical land was to explore Cappadocia’s fairytale-like towns.
Millions of years ago volcanos erupted, scattering ash across the land. Eventually, this ash turned into sedimentary volcanic rock called tuff that was up to 150 m deep. These tuff rocks are very soft but were often covered by a top layer of dense, basalt stone. Eons of wind, water and earthquakes caused the soft volcanic rocks to erode. In the places where there was a layer of basalt on top, the tuff underneath was protected from these elements. Together these factors resulted in bizarrely-shaped hoodoos with oversized, mushroom-like tops. Their otherworldly appearance resulted in them often being called fairy chimneys.
These natural features would be amazing on their own, but in Cappadocia early settlers on this land made them even more special. Tuff rock is easy to sculpt so these new residents began to chisel churches, monasteries and entire villages into these bizarre-shaped pillars and canyons.
When we got our first view of Cappadocia’s surreal landscape, we were giddy with excitement. Our bus rounded the corner to reveal a small hill covered in fairy chimneys with carved out caves. Above them was the fantastical looking Uçhisar Castle. Looking the other way was a completely different scene. A long cliff of smooth, pink ripples showed us Cappadocia’s other features. This scene was more magical than we could have asked for, and it was just the beginning. We knew immediately that we were about to have an unforgettable few days exploring Cappadocia.
There is so much to explore in Cappadocia that we will present it in three posts. Click on the links to read about Hiking in Cappadocia’s Valleys and Rock-Cut Monasteries.
Göreme
If the only thing to see in Cappadocia was the town of Göreme, it would still be a one of the most spectacular places to visit in the country. Built in a small valley of fairy chimneys and rock cones, the town has the most remarkable setting.
You could very easily spend hours wandering the streets that weave between these bizarre features. When you do you’ll find caves cut into rickety pinnacles and cliff walls. A few of these rock-cut caves are used by hotels, adding an incredible atmosphere to your stay.
Between these fascinating features are old stone buildings filled with shops, hotels and homes. As with many places in Turkey many of those shops sell carpets. The ones in Göreme make you feel like you’re in an ancient bazaar with their haphazard piles of carpets on display in old stone buildings.
Sunrise and Sunsets in Cappadocia
We love sunrises and sunsets for the warm glow they cast upon mountains, rocks and even buildings. The red hue it gives the pinnacles and rock cones combined with soaring hot air balloons makes sunrises in Cappadocia world renowned.
In addition to the watching the balloons fly above the pinnacles, the alpenglow on the surrounding landscape adds even more beauty.
Where to watch sunset and sunrise in Göreme
We found two great places to watch sunrise in Göreme. The first is the appropriately named Sunrise Sunset Viewpoint (10 TRY/ 35¢ USD). In addition to watching the balloons fly above the pinnacles, the panoramic views from this point are gorgeous. In fact there are so many fascinating features in the landscape that its difficult to focus on any one thing. The second spot is on the knoll (free) behind M&M Coffee. The coffeeshop also has very good Americano.
If you want to take a hot air balloon ride you should plan to stay 3 or 4 nights. Balloons will only take off in good weather and as we found, there are a lot of rainy and foggy mornings in Cappadocia. It rained for 3 out of 5 mornings so there were no balloons on these days. When that happens prices skyrocket on the next available day. You can check on the flying conditions here, it is updated early in the morning.
Uçhisar Castle
Only 5 km from Göreme, is the town of Uçhisar and its fantasy-like castle. Set on a ridge above the main highway into Göreme, Uçhisar Castle is often your first sighting of Cappadacia’s magical landscape. The castle stands on the top of a hill with dozens of fairy chimneys scattered below. The tall white hoodoos have random doors cut out of them at seemingly unreachable places. It’s almost too surreal to believe.
The castle itself has only a few interior rooms to explore. Most of the visit is spent on its summit where you have stunning panoramas of Cappadocia’s magical land.
Entrance fee to Uçhisar Castle 120 TRY ($4 USD); Opening Hours – 7am to 8pm
Getting to Uçhisar
Buses leave every 30 minutes from Göreme bus station destined for Nevşehir and will stop outside Uçhisar Castle (17 TRY/60¢ USD). You can also walk between Göreme and Uçhisar on the Pigeon Valley Trekking trail. (Coming Soon)
Zelve Open-Air Museum (Zelve Açık Hava Müzesi)
The rock-cut village of Zelve was built by Byzantines in the 9th century. This fascinating village is spread between three small, connected valleys. The cliff walls of those valleys look like honeycombs with hundreds of holes that are the doors and windows for the village.
Surprisingly it has many features of a regular village with homes, churches, workshops, storage rooms and a winery. Some of the rock-hewn caves are large with multiple rooms but others are simply one large, open cave. You are only allowed to enter a few of the caves because most have been deemed unsafe.
Near the tops of the cliffs you can see pigeons lofts used to collect guano for fertilization. We saw more of these on in Pigeon Valley. You can read about them in our Hiking in Cappadocia’s Valley.
What is really astonishing that that this village was consistently lived in from when the Byzantines built it until the 1950s! Can you imagine, an entire village living in caves in the 20th century? Until the population exchange with Greece in 1923, there were both Christians and Muslims living in Zelve. In the 1950s, the caves were deemed unsafe and the remaining Muslim residents were forced to leave.
These communities built over a dozen churches and one mosque. The churches are not as highly decorated as others in the valley, but the 7th century Fish and Grape Church still has a few frescoes on its entrance.
Entrance Fee – 280 TL ($9.25 USD); Opening Hours – 8am-5pm
After visiting Zelve don’t forget to visit Paşabağ Fairy Chimney Valley (Coming Soon). Entry fee to this museum is included in the Zelve Open-Air ticket.
Getting to Zelve – If you don’t have a car you can take a minibus that runs hourly between the cities of Avanos and Urgup, making stops at Göreme taxi stand and Zelve.
Kaymaklı Underground City
Imagine an entire city built below the earth’s surface, housing thousands of residents. The first underground city in Cappadocia was built as early as 3,000 BCE by Hittites. The idea caught on and at one time there were at least 36 Underground Cities dug into Cappadocia’s tuff rock. It is believed these cities were originally used to escape natural disasters and invasions, but later the underground cities were used by Christians to avoid persecution. Their tormentors included Romans, Amir Timur of Uzbekistan, Seljuks and as recently as the 20th century by the Ottoman.
Most of the cities were not lived in continually, but were used to hide when needed. These underground cities were completely abandoned after the 1923 population exchange between Turkey and Greece.
We visited the underground city of Kaymakli. The true origins of this city are unknown, but what we see today was likely built by early Christians in the 4th century AD. Although it hasn’t been completely excavated yet, the city is believed to be 80 m (260 ft) deep with 8 stories. Other underground cities in Cappadocia were even deeper. Tourists are only allowed on the first flour floors.
Even though the city was dug out of rock using crude tools, these are not simple constructions. Most of the homes were quite elaborate and have multiple rooms for separate living and sleeping spaces. Some of the homes even have two or more stories with small staircases chipped into the stone. Unsurprisingly the wealthier residents lived closer to the surface where it would have been easier to escape quickly if needed.
In addition to homes there are designated kitchens, storage spaces, churches, workshops, a winery and even a mill. At its peak Kaymakli housed as many as 3,500 people.
There are at least 100 passageways that allowed residents to easily move around the city. To us they seemed like a maze with smaller passages and rooms branching off at odd angles. At times they opened up into large courtyards, at others it was a tight squeeze to get through. Some of them had ramps and others had stairs to get between the four stories.
As we wandering through the passageways we noticed a breeze in certain areas. It turns out we were passing by some of the fresh air vents. Clever architects built 80 m deep ventilation shafts to bring fresh air and keep the space cool. Most of the sleeping quarters were built near these ventilation shafts. On the surface, these vents were masked as wells.
The city’s entryways were protected from intruders by large round boulders that could be locked in place and only opened from the inside. A hole in the centre of the boulder acted as a peep hole, allowing the people inside to look out and see who was trying to get in.
The size and ingenuity in the design of this city makes it fascinating and definitely worth a visit.
Entrance Fee: 300 TRY($10 USD); Opening Hours – 8am to 5pm
Getting to Kaymkli– If you don’t have a car, take the public bus from Göreme’s Bus Station to Nevşehir (20 TRY, 65¢ USD). Tell the driver to let you off at the Kaymkli bus stop. The minibus from there to Kaymakli is 17 TRY (50¢ USD). Some of the minibuses only accept cash.
Tips for visiting Cappadocia
Prices listed are from Autumn 2023.
Where to stay in Cappadocia
Göreme is the most popular town to stay in Cappadocia. It has an abundance of hotels, restaurants and coffee shops to choose from. It is very touristy but given its setting in a fairy chimney garden, you can forgive it for the amount of tourism. There are many ‘cave hotels’ in Göreme. Most are not actual caves, but are decorated to look like caves. Staying in one does add to your experience in Cappadocia.
Uçhisar would be our second choice, but only if you face Pigeon Valley or the castle. Otherwise it’s just a small town with not a much character. There are hotels in Çavuşin, Avanos and Urgup but if you don’t have a car, they are a little more removed from the main sites.
How to get to Cappadocia
Being such a popular tourist area there are plenty of options to get to Cappadocia. If you have a car Göreme is not far from the highway and the roads in Turkey are in excellent condition. There are two airports. One is in Nevşehir and the other in Kayseri. Buses travel between Göreme and many cities including Antalya, Pamukkule, and as far away as Istanbul. Travelling from other cities you may need to take a bus to Nevşehir and then a minibus from there.
How to see the sites of Cappadocia
It’s easy to visit all of the sites we’ve described on your own. The most difficult part is determining how to get there. If you don’t have a car, minibuses and public buses travel frequently between the towns in the area. At the end of each section we have described which buses to take. If you prefer to take a tour, there are many large and small tours offering a variety of combinations of sites.
When to visit Cappadocia
Cappadocia is best explored in April/May and September/October, especially if you plan to hike. During the summer months of July and August, temperatures will be quite high and there will be a lot of tourists. Due to its elevation at 1,050 m (3,445 ft) Cappadocia will experience cold and snow in the winter.
Click on the link to read our Travel Tips For Turkey.
To read more of our adventures in Turkey, click here.
Coming Next – Hiking in Cappadocia’s Valleys
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To read about more of our adventures go to Destinations.
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