2 Days / 1 Night Private Cappadocia Tour

Cappadocia boasts a multitude of captivating structures, each with intriguing stories reflecting various civilizations. Some of these narratives date back to ancient periods, including the Chalcolithic era and the Hittites. The region also bears the imprints of Turkish civilizations such as the Seljuk and Ottoman. Furthermore, the cultural heritage of Cappadocia is enriched by the presence of cave churches, monasteries, and underground cities, crafted by the early Christians who sought refuge in the valleys to escape Roman persecution. These represent some of the most significant cultural treasures in Cappadocia. To enhance your day, you can savor the unique dishes indigenous to the region.

Itinerary

DAY 1 – Istanbul – Cappadocia

Meet your driver at hotel lobby. Transfer to Istanbul Airport. Take the direct morning flight to Cappadocia.
Arrival and meeting at the airport just outside the arrival’s gate with a sign bearing your name and transfer to Cappadocia. After approximately 1 hour of driving, you will reach the Cappadocia region.

The journey begins with a brief stroll through the Imaginary Valley (Devrent Valley). As you encounter the iconic fairy chimneys and the enchanting natural landscape they’ve shaped, you’ll find yourself immersed in imaginative contemplation. The subsequent destination is the Zelve Open Air Museum, which comprises numerous rooms and passageways, also featuring pointed fairy chimneys with substantial stems, elevated approximately 12 meters (40 feet) above the valley floor. This site also housed Cappadocia’s earliest seminaries for priest training, forming a historical monastery. The Zelve Open Air Museum holds the distinction of being one of Cappadocia’s oldest-settled and last-abandoned monastic valleys.Subsequently, we will visit Pasabag (Monk Valley), which features a chapel and living quarters where monks in Cappadocia used to worship and retreat in solitude.

Our journey will also take us to Cavusin Village, known for its rock castle and troglodyte dwellings, which were inhabited by people until the 20th century.

Following a delightful local lunch, we’ll explore pottery workshops in Avanos, a tradition that has endured for centuries. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to witness an engaging pottery demonstration. To wrap up the day, we’ll spend some time at the Goreme Panorama, offering a chance for your eyes to relax and take in the magnificent view of Goreme and the Uchisar Castle, the region’s highest peak, affording a panoramic vista of all of Cappadocia and Erciyes (Argeus) Mountain.

The tour will end around 5:00-5:30 pm, and you’ll be comfortably transported back to your hotel.

Meals : Lunch, Dinner
Hotels : Misty Cave Hotel – Mustafa Cappadocia Resort – Gamirasu Cave Hotel 

Day 2 – Cappadocia

First Option

You will be picked up from your hotel between 9:30 and 10:00 am to embark on a full-day tour. Our first destination is the Kaymaklı Underground City, an intricate labyrinth of tunnels and numerous chambers carved eight levels deep beneath the Earth. However, only four of these levels are accessible to the public. The history of this underground city dates back to the Hittite and Phrygian periods, and it evolved over the centuries. The dwellings we explore today were meticulously carved by early Christians during the 9th and 10th centuries to safeguard themselves from invaders who ventured into Central Anatolia in pursuit of captives and plunder.

Our journey continues to Soganli Valley, where you will encounter numerous caves and stone rooms located above the town center. These caves and rooms served as the ancient village site. The local inhabitants crafted their homes by carving chambers into the hillside, utilizing quarried stones to construct masonry rooms in the front.

We’ll have break for a delightful local lunch before heading to Sinasos Village, also known as Mustafapasa. This village, once inhabited by wealthy Greek merchants and Ottomans, features stylish stone mansions. However, the village’s residents were compelled to leave during the population exchange of 1923.

Our next destination is Taskinpasa Village, a charming and traditional village distinguished by its exquisite, whitewashed stone houses adorned with distinctive carvings around the windows. This village boasts some of the finest examples of Seljuk architecture in the region.

Before concluding our tour, we will visit the Sobessos Ancient City, a recently unearthed Roman archaeological site.Our final stop is the Keslik Monastery, a cave monastery complex featuring two churches, namely St. Michael and St. Stephen. This site also encompasses a spacious refectory hall, a sacred spring, and an array of cave rooms.

Second Option

The hiking and underground city tour will commence with your hotel pickup, typically between 9:30 and 10:00 am in the morning.

Our first stop will be the Pigeon Valley panoramic viewpoint, offering captivating vistas. From there, we will embark on a 40-minute drive to reach the Derinkuyu Underground City. This subterranean complex boasts all the typical amenities found in other underground structures across Cappadocia, including wine and oil presses, stables, cellars, storage rooms, refectories, and chapels. It is notable for being the largest excavated underground city in Turkey, with a staggering eight floors and a depth extending to approximately 85 meters. It’s worth noting that numerous floors have yet to be excavated.

Following the visit to the Derinkuyu Underground City, we will proceed to the Ihlara Valley for a 4-kilometer trekking adventure. This striking valley has been sculpted by the Melendiz River, creating an impressive canyon within the lush landscape. You’ll enjoy a leisurely 2-hour walk alongside the river, passing by Byzantine rock churches adorned with frescoes. Among these churches, Agacalti Kilise stands out due to its distinctive characteristics, including its harmonious blend of red, green, and yellow colors, intricate paintings, and decorative motifs such as flowers, rosettes, and checkerboard patterns, reflecting a strong eastern influence.

We will make a stop at Belisirma, a quintessential Anatolian village, where you will savor a delightful lunch at a charming riverside restaurant.

The tour will then take you to Selime, providing breathtaking views of the iconic conical fairy chimneys that were featured in Star Wars.

After the tour, transfer to Airport for evening flight to Istanbul. Arrival at Istanbul airport, meet our team. Transfer to your hotel in Istanbul.

Meals : Breakfast, Lunch