In the heart of Turkey, is a historical region in Central Anatolia, is a geological speciality which can only be described as lunar-like or curvaceous? This landscape and surreal scenery are known as Cappadocia. The area consists of a high plateau over 1000m in altitude that is pierced by volcanic peaks and fairy chimney rock formations, moreover, the gorge is rose-tinted, that is why this landscape is considered an attractive tourist destination.
Choosing Farout Cappadocia tours won’t disappoint you. If you want to experience the historical achievements of the ancient burrowed houses and churches carved into the stone cliffs, witness dervishes whirl, wonderful sunsets and enjoy the magnificent region with unique formations, then Cappadocia is the place to come. Cappadocia is known for its slow village rhythm away from the metropolis or Mediterranean tourist resorts.
There are three possibilities of discovering Cappadocia that we will discuss in this post. First is the north Cappadocia tour otherwise known as the red tour, second is the green tour or the south Cappadocia tour and the third option is hot air ballooning. Hot Air Ballooning gives you a totally different aspect of this region from the sky.
The north Cappadocia tour includes the sightseeing of the Rose Valley, which is a large valley located between Goreme and Cavusin villages and is divided into more smaller valleys. The red tour will guide you through the rose-coloured rocks of Rose Valley, from where its name, where you will be able to see several cave churches, cave houses and cave tunnels. Next is the old town of Cavusin, characterised by the biggest cave church of Cappadocia, built in the 5th century, St. John the Baptist church.
Continuing the journey, the north Cappadocia tour takes us to Monks Valley, where you can observe the three-headed fairy chimneys. The Pasha’s Vineyard (Pasabag) is encircled by spectacular rock formations. The red tour will lead you through Avanos, famous by its historical feature; production of the earthware pottery, where the countless pottery factories date back to the Hittites.
To continue, Uchisar village is a small village of Cappadocia, close to Goreme Open Air Museum. Uchisar is famous by its Uchisar castle, which is to be found on the top of the rock in the centre of the town, from where you have the view on the whole Cappadocia.
The red tour will lead you to the Goreme Open-Air Museum, a Byzantine monastic settlement, one of the Turkey’s World Heritage sites, with many rocks cut churches, chapels and monasteries. Lastly, the final stop on the north Cappadocia tour is Devrent Valley or Pink Valley, situated on the Northern slopes of Aktepe. The Devrent Valley was never inhabited, but what makes it famous is its lunar landscape, with small fairy chimneys and animal-shaped rocks, like camel, snake or dolphin.
On the other hand, by choosing the south Cappadocia tour you can discover the following sights: Starting with a panoramic view around the Goreme Esentepe, known by its marvellous landscape, formed from lava streams, its ash and tuff stones from the Neocene period. The Goreme surrounding looks like a lunar landscape of the fairy chimneys, ranging from white, yellow, pink and black colours. The second stop at the green tour is ancient multi-level underground city Derinkuyu of the Median Empire, located in the Nevsehir Province. The Derinkuyu city extends around 60m in-depth and it contains wine and oil presses, stables, cellars, chapels, storage rooms, even a school and were connected with passages and closed with heavy stone doors. The underground city of Derinkuyu was opened to visitors in 1965, but only 10% of the surface can be visited today.
The south Cappadocia tour goes through 16km long gorge cut into volcanic rock in the southern part of Cappadocia, called the Ihlara valley. The ancient history of Ihlara valley inhabitants makes this valley unique. The whole canyon is honeycombed with rock-cut underground dwellings and churches from the Byzantine period. Lastly, the green tour finally leads you through the town of Belisirma, the Selime Monastry, an amazing rock-cut structure presenting kitchen, a church, a gallery and stables. The south Cappadocia tour ends at the Pigeon Valley, where you can observe centuries-old pigeon nests carved within the cliffs.
Finally, the third option is hot air ballooning Cappadocia, where you can drift through the spectacular landscape of Cappadocia’s chimneys, valleys and caves at the sunrise and have a magnificent look from the air. With hot air ballooning Cappadocia you will be awarded a commemorative flight certificate.
These are just three of the tours that Farout offers to see the magnificent site of Cappadocia. To see the full itineraries visit the Cappadocia Tours page.