Cappadocia Red Tour

Red Tour takes you to Göreme Open Air Museum, Cappadocia’s most popular tourist destination, the Devrent and Honey (Love) Valleys, where you can admire the spectacular nature-made rock formations.

Tourist attractions:

Uchisar Panaroma

Goreme Open Air Museum

Love Valley

Çavuşin Village

Avanos

Lunch

Pasabag Monks Valley

Devrent Valley

Urgup Fairy Chimneys

Return back to Hotel

Tour Programme:

• A troglodyte village 4 km to the east of Göreme is Uçhisar. It is known for the massive rock structure, which was once used as a fortification. The highest point in the country is this remarkable rock with a stunning panoramic view of the whole city of Cappadocia and the surrounding Mount Erciyes. Stairs, tunnels and corridors link most of the rooms in the castle. There are, as in the underground settlements, millstone doors at the entrances to many rooms that control access to these areas. Unfortunately, because of erosion, not every area can be accessed. Some areas are also used as pigeon-houses (dovecotes) on the north side of the castle today. Farmers used such pigeon houses to gather pigeon droppings, which for orchards and vineyards is an outstanding natural fertilizer. An underground tunnel has been recently discovered from the castle to the river bed at 100 meters below, which was built to supply water in case of a siege.
• Cappadocia’s most famous attraction is the Goreme Open Air Museum. This is a complex of medieval rock churches carved by Orthodox monks. The Goreme Open Air Museum has more than 10 cave churches. Together with monasteries, houses and religious schools, they form a large monastery complex carved out of ring-shaped rock formations in another world landscape of Cappadocia. The best way to explore the Goreme Cave Church is to work counter clockwise through a clearly marked path. Each one has a modern Turkish name given by the local people based on their most outstanding characteristics.
• White and Honey valleys are relatively easy to walk through (the latter is better known as the Love Valley). The overall length is around 4900 m and it is between Uchisar and Çavusin on the north side of Göreme. There are several magnificent fairy chimneys in the Honey Valley for which Cappadocia is renowned. Hundreds of these phallic rocks, which have been formed by wind and erosion over millions of years. The valley has a river which in the summer is dry but other times quite muddy; it offers a good guide from one end of the valley to the other.
• Located roughly halfway between Avanos and Göreme, Çavuşin is surrounded by a valley that is slowly growing broader and allowing for expanded agriculture. It had a diverse community of many Orthodox Christian families until the 1920s. The old town, deserted a couple of decades ago because of the rock falls, was all carved into the hillside. Çavuşin’s occupants stayed in houses built into a massive rock wall. Now the interior of many homes is out in the open because of the bad weather and degradation over many years. They are covered with rubble, big bricks and blocks, much of the former walls and various exterior pieces. And you may now see from afar into a church or into a comfortable little cave house which once was a home to someone. You reach the top of the village along a winding narrow trail. It is worth hiking up to the valley behind it so you can see the pink apexes of Zelve and a collection of impressive fairy chimneys in the foreground.
• The old town of Avanos, which was named Venessa in ancient times, overlooks the Turkish longest river, the Kızılırmak, which also divides Avanos from the rest of Cappadocia. The production of pottery is the most popular historical aspect of Avanos, still quite important today. The ceramic trade in this area and its innumerable pottery factories date back to the Hittites and ceramic clay has always been used from the red silt of the Kızılırmak. Observe potters operating the kick wheel, using the technics which have never changed over the years. It is a popular destination because it is an old city with cobbled streets and has stunning views of the river.
• In Pasabag, in the center of a vineyard, very unusual earth-pillars are evident. Hence, the Turkish meaning of Pasabag is Pasha’s vineyard In the Turkish language, Pasha means “General.” It’s a popular nickname. Monks Valley is also known as this location. The name derives from a few tufa cones that stand apart. At present, next to the road there are a vineyard and a variety of tuff cones.
• Devrent Valley, which is also regarded as the Imaginary Valley or Pink Valley, has no cave churches like other Cappadocian valleys. So how does it get so famous? Because of its lunar landscape! Devrent Valley contains a wide variety of diverse rock formations. By their strange appearance, the small fairy chimneys in the valley form a lunar or moon landscape. The valley has several rocks in animal shape. Camel, snake, seals and dolphin are some of the common shapes seen.
• Urgup is situated in Cappadocia’s Historic Region. Urgup is known for its Fairy Chimneys and its wines.

Additional Information

• This tour runs everyday.
• The maximum number of visitors per group is 18.

What is included:

• Pick-up and drop-off at your hotel in Göreme, Ürgüp or Uçhisar
• Comfortable, AC, non-smoking minivan transport
• Expert, qualified and certified local guide
• Lunch
• Museum entrance fees and sights shown on the program

What is not included:

• Drinks at lunch
• Not obligatory, though, customary tips
• Travel insurance for the individual

 

Price: € 60