How to tour Cappadocia
 

I need some help in planning a trip to Cappadocia. The sights are spread out, so transportation is a concern. We plan to be based in Urgup, and I understand one can take a tour, rent a car, or even figure out local bus. It is easier to take a guided tour, but I am concerned whether the pace will be too fast Most likely we would end up with a combination. I have the following sights in mind. Did I miss something? Will a guide add more insight at these sites?

* Goreme Open Air Museum: I suppose we can take bus to Goreme and visit by ourselves, true?
* Zelve Open Air Museum
* Underground city: probably visit one of the two, any preference?
* Uchisar castle: at sunset
* Ihlara Valley: is short or long hike preferable?
* Pasabag / Devrent
* Mustafapasa

There are other sights: Soganli Valley, Red Valley, Rose Valley. I am overwhelmed. What will be the recommended priority? We would like to allocate 3 to 4 days.

foggy...I have one word for you....D-r-i-v-e....you won't be restricted and you won't be sorry.

...your list of things to see and do are excellent...we did it all on our own with a rental car...would do it the same way again. Easy driving, good signage...stay at The Esbelli Evi, a cave inn , in Urgup....wonderful experience. Murat (the expert) will back me on this one...

stu t. (Turkey pics (scanned, pre-digital....)

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/ScenesOfTurkey#



stu t.
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Thanks, Stu. So in your opinion, a guide is not not required to get the most out of the sight. I will definitelt take a look at Esbelli Evi.

foggy....Murat would be the best bet for guide, but I think you can do it on your own as we did....reading the guide books gives you enough to know what you'll be seeing, IMO...looks like you've don a good bit of that alreadty. Murat may differ, but he is certainly honest enough to tell you the truth.

Murat, chime in please.

Stu T.

Hi Foggy,

First of all you can visit most sights in few days, all or most are at close proximities.

I would only consider touring or self drive and would exclude bus option out.

Depending on the time of the year self drive or taking a guided tour private, semi private or regular are the options.

If one has limited time or have interest to history & stories and get localize quick, a guided tour at least for the first day is recommended. Surely all sites can be visited on own with a bit of risk to miss some highlights......

Why I do not recommend bus is: connections are limited and waiting or time to reach a location consumes time. There are sights close to each other and some at a distance. If one calculate what they have budgeted for whole trip and divides to the total days, can realize how time is getting dearer :-) and do not want to waste it on buses....is my point.

If you have 4 days all can be done without rush and enjoying all bit by bit.

At the end of the day it also matters how much is one's budget for this experience. If you are not coming back to Cappadocia within next 6 months or year allocating enough time for your interests are the best.

Driving in Cappadocia other than winter ! is easy. With a short brief and understanding the area self drive is fun too.

Private guided touring can also be fun and you have the freedom to include or exclude places and choose your own timing allocating for visits.

A combination is always the best option to my view.

I aggree with Tower in all his points :-) he is a traveler.

On the sites you have choosen, I se Cavusin is missing. Between Avanos and Goreme at the one exit of Pasabag, at the end of Rose Valley abandoned village of Cavusin is a place not to be missed too.

Ihlara short walk is 4 km.s
Underground city of Kaymakli is easier to explore.
There are few other places for sunset like beginning of Red Valley.

Goreme Open Air Museum, a Unesco World Heritage site, not to missed at all. Dark Church with extra admission can also be visited and recommend this. Bucled church outside of the museum usually missed by visitors and includes in the main admission, one of the most interesting.

Local restaurants and wineries can also be counted in the to do list.

I am not a big fan of guidebooks apart from the sights listed in, knowing how most are being updated or not updated. Time of the year writer traveled etc.

One thing I am sure of that, Cappadocia is amazing and has something to do for everyone including children......

Happy travelling,

Murat

I am not a good typist, the mentioned church outside of GoremeOpen Air museum should read Buckled (Tokali Kilise)church....Very few know what happened in 1950's by treasure hunters !!!!

Murat

Hi Foggy,

We were in Urgup last October and had the great pleasure of meeting up with Murat and his lovely wife. Definitely hire a car as driving in Turkey is very, very easy.

We drove all the way from Urgup down to Side near Antalya and all the way up the coast including Gallipoli and back to Istanbul. We had absolutely no problems at all.

Urgup is fantastic and the experience there is really quite unique. We actually hired our car through Murat and he also organised a private guide for us in Istanbul. Though, I have to stress there was absolutely no pressure on us to do so, he was happy just to meet up and share some travel talk. But in all honesty his prices were also fantastic - so I can recommend him in a heartbeat.

It would be great if you could budget for a hot air balloon ride (we have a friend there who is a hot air balloon pilot - hence our reason to visit). It is a wonderful experience to gently coast through the beautiful valleys etc that are Cappadocia.

I made a bit of an effort to try and learn some Turkish words and phrases before I left. I was well rewarded as I found the Turkish people were delighted with my efforts and seemed to encourage further conversation and hence we got to learn a little more about the Turkish people and their lives. I had help with the language at our local kebab shop - Turkish owned and excellent teachers!

Such a wonderful, diverse country and really, I think the friendliest folk I have ever visited.

Hi Murat - Pervin tells us she is hoping to visit Australia this year - we would love to be able to show her our little neck of the woods!

foggy and Murat


Thank you for rsponding Murat...Foggy, now you're well armed...just go ahead and enjoy...as Stormbuird says....you'll be hosted by the friendliest people imaginable....all this makes me want to return soon...

Stormbird...we did almost the same...picked up car in Urgup, drove Cap for four days...drove to the rarely-visited lake district and Egridir, Antalya and the Turquoise coast, Pamukkale, Ephesus, Kusadasi (Kush a desu), Bodrum, Marmaris and then ferried to Rhodes, flew to Santorini, Mykonos and Athens...(also spent a week in Istanbul before flying to Kayseri.

stu T.(

We stayed in Uchisar and hired a guide, Mustafa, who also has a carpet store in the town square. He led us on a hike to the Goreme Open Air Museum. Our experience would not have been the same without him. I know at least one other Fordorite hired him as a guide too.

The pace was not hurried at all.

I'd recommend four days, and get a rental car.

Hi Stu & Stormbird :-)

You are always welcome for more of Turkey. I met Stormbird (s) and they reminded and reassured me why I love being in travel business, meeting nice people is food for the soul to me.

Stu I hope next time we meet in person. I am sure we will have a Fodors GTG in Cappadocia once... :-) exciting.

Cheers,
Murat

Thanks, everyone for sharing your expertise. If I rent a car, how do I work out the logistics in Ihlara Valley? If we park at one end to start the walk, how do we get back to the car when we finish at the other end?

Hi Foggy27,
This is one of the cases where touring is convenient. however at belisirma there might be a taxi you could take back.

Murat

Cappadocia Guide : Aylin sekban (12 years experience)
run tourism business in cappadocia
http://www.cappadociaprivatetours.com

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Even a short visit to the Ihlara valley requires a certain about of time. The short visit will require a descent of 465 steps and a return on the same. To visit a few of the chapels will require using an unpaved footpath and walking up to the chapel openings in the cliff. It can be done in a couple of hours, as we did on our way to Cappadocia, but I would have liked more time.

Click on my name to fine my trip report on Turkey, which includes a section on Cappadocia.