THE 7 WONDERS OF CAPPADOCIA

When I arrived to Cappadocia (after a very comfy 12 hour bus ride from Fethiye), I was amazed by the natural beauty of the place combined with the hot air balloons that were floating above my head. In front of me, however, were hordes of tours offering people the same tours (Red Tour, Green Tour) at the same price (100 TL each which is about 35 Euros).

“Buy the the Red/Green tour of Cappadocia, it’s the only way to see all the sights” the salesman said. “I don’t believe you” I replied, causing the curiosity of the other travelers that descended the same bus. An argument soon followed after which my fellow passengers asked me for travel advice:

Is it really possible to explore Cappadocia’s main sights on your own without taking a tour? Yes, it is. And here’s how.

To be or not to be in Cappadocia

The view of the Red Rose Valley from Goreme

Things to know about Cappadocia’s Red and Green Tour

The Red and Green Tours of Cappadocia are the most popular ones since they try to cram as much as possible in one single day. If you have a limited time in Cappadocia and you don’t want to take public transportation or walk, taking said tours is probably a good idea, especially the Green Tour since it covers a lot of distance (you can do the Red Tour on your own by walking).

Me? I decided to take it slow and spend one week in Cappadocia so it was up to me to figure out the best way to optimize my time in order to see Cappadocia’s main sights on my own. Here’s a guide about how to see the main attractions of the Red and Green Tours for a fraction of the cost.

The first stop? The Goreme Open Air Museum.

Cave churches of Cappadocia with Byzantine Art

Graveyard in Cappadocia

The Museum Pass of Cappadocia: Is it worth it?

Upon arriving to the Goreme Open Air Museum (located 15 minutes away from the town of Goreme which is the place where you will most likely be staying) I noticed that there were two separate queues: One to buy the single entrance ticket and another to buy the Museum Pass which allows you to visit the so called “7 Wonders of Cappadocia”. The price of the card is 45 TL (15 Euros) and is valid for three consecutive days.

The 7 Wonders of Cappadocia are: Goreme Open Air Museum (20 TL), The Dark Church (10 TL), Zelve Open Air Museum (10 TL), Ilhara Valley (10 TL), Kaymakli Underground City (20 TL), Derinkuyu Underground City (20 TL) and Ozkonak Underground City (10 TL). The total for visiting all 7 attractions is 100 TL so with the Museum Pass you are saving a lot of money even if you don’t visit all of them (I skipped Ilhara Valley and Ozkonak Underground City for Example).

Are you ready to explore the natural and man made wonders of Cappadocia?

Zelve Open Air Museum Cappadocia

The ventilation shafts of Kaymakli underground cities

Cappadocia Day 1: The Red Tour and the charm of Avanos

The Goreme Open Air Museum is home to many cave churches that feature breath-taking Byzantine Art but none of them is as majestic as the legendary Dark Church which has its own separate entrance fee. Exploring the complete area shouldn’t take you more than one hour and I definitely recommend you to eavesdrop the words of the tour guides as they further explain the story of the region.

Note: Flash photography actually damages the frescoes so in an effort to discourage people from doing it, ALL kinds of photography is forbidden inside the cave churches. However, you can take photos without flash as long as the guard is not looking if you have a silent camera.

After you’re ready to go on, go to the exit of the museum and continue walking on the Red/Rose Valley, it’s very hard to get lost since it’s a very straight path. This valley get its name because of the fact that it changes colors from Rose to Red depending on the position of the sun.

At the end of the valley (take your time and get some rest along the way since it’s a fairly long walk), follow the signs and turn right in order to arrive to our next stop of the day: The Zelve Open Air Museum.

The Red Rose Valley of Cappadocia

The Dark Church of Cappadocia. Photo credit: Wikicommons

The Zelve Open Air Museum is the complete opposite of the one at Goreme since here you will not find splendid cave art but rather, you will experience the real life of the daily inhabitants of Cappadocia who once lived here before moving out a few decades ago. You can visit wineries, kitchens and more.

From the exit of the Zelve Open Air Museum, you can wait for the hourly buses (price is 2 which is less than 1 euro) in order to proceed to our next stop: Avanos. Prepare to pinch yourself constantly since you won’t believe what you are about to see: Gondolas. Yes, gondolas in Cappadocia.

The gondolas of Avanos, Cappadocia

Avanos seen from atop the fortress

Avanos is a town best known for its pottery and most organizers tours make a quick stop here to visit the underground museum of pottery and watch a live demonstration (think of the scene in the movie Ghost only that without Patrick Swayze). However, spending half a day here will certainly bring you a smile to your face.

I have never seen such a clean picturesque river before in my life and yes, you can actually take a Gondola ride here or just stroll along the shore. Avanos is also the perfect spot for a lunch since you will find food at more reasonable prices (compare: a basic chicken roll kebab is 6 TL in Goreme and only 2 TL in Avanos).

Just enjoy your time here and take a bus back to Goreme (3 TL) once you’re ready and rest because tomorrow is going to be a long and awesome day.

Note: From Avanos you can take a bus to visit the Ozkonak Underground City, the reason why I didn’t do that was because it only goes every 2 hours and also because the next I would be visiting the 2 bigger underground cities in the area anyways.

One week in Cappadocia, the good the bad the awesome

Don’t forget to buy some of the legendary Turkish Viagra

Cappadocia Day 2: The Green Tour and the magic of Uchisar

Out of the 6 nights that I was in Cappadocia, four of them I stayed at Uchisar, a city located on a hill overlooking Goreme. The one hour walk from Uchisar to Goreme is known as the Pigeon Valley because of the many fairy chimneys that were used to store pigeon poop. From Goreme you can easily take the 2.5 TL bus to Uchisar and viceversa.

Uchisar is home to many natural attractions (of which I’ll talk more in a future article) the most important of which is the rock castle that overlooks the city. Entrance fee is 5 TL and 3 TL for students. After exploring Uchisar you can take the next bus (2.5 TL) to the city of Nevsehir, a modern city located just a few miles away from Uchisar. Tell the driver to drop you off at the bus stop for the Underground Cities and get ready for the next adventure.

Uchisar and the Castle of Cappadocia

The pigeon valley connecting Uchisar and Goreme

You basically have two options from the Nevsehir bus stop. Either take the 5TL bus to Denrikuyu and then the 2.5 TL bus to Keymakli after which you’ll take the 2.5 TL bus back to Nevsehir or go to Keymakli first (2.5 TL), then Denrikuyu (2.5 TL) before returning to Nevsehir (5 TL). In the end it’s the same time and price so it’s up to you to decide which city you want to visit first.

I would suggest going first to Keymakli and then to Denrikuyu in the afternoon in order to avoid the tour groups. Both cities are similar in the sense that they are a series of tunnels that are connected with underground caves. They were built by the early Christians to avoid the persecution of the Roman Empire (you can read all about it here).

Modern underground cities of Cappadocia

Derinkuyu Underground City

Be warned that the underground cities of Keymakli and Denrikuyu are very well preserved although they have been radically altered in order to facilitate access to all kinds of visitors and to reduce the danger of falling. I honestly have mixed feelings about this since the place looks kind of artificial with all the light-bulbs, ramps and electricity generators and I think that a wild cave experience with torches would be a better choice.

Luckily, there are over 30 underground cities scattered around Cappadocia so if you have the time, ask around in order to visit the least explored ones at your own risk. From Denrikuyu you can also hire a shared taxi (90 TL for 6 passangers, which is about 15 TL per person) to go and come back to Ilhara Valley although I would recommend spending your time and money exploring Denrikuyu itself where you can try local dishes such as gozleme (the Turkish crepe) at a very low price.

The view from atop Uchisar castle

Lonely camel at Cappadocia

Total Cost Breakdown = 73 TL. Compared to the price of 200 TL for the two tours, this is a real bargain since you also get to visit two sites not included in the traditional Red/Green tours which are the Zelve Open Air Museum and the Kaymakli Underground city.

Museum Pass (45 TL). Bus from Zelve to Avanos (2 TL). Bus from Avanos to Goreme (3 TL). Bus from Goreme to Uchisar (2.5 TL). Entrance to Uchisar Castle (5 TL) Bus from Uchisar to Nevsehir (2.5 TL). Bus from Nevsehir to Denrikuyu (5 TL). Bus from Denrikuyu to Keymakli (2.5 TL). Bus from Keymakli to Nevsehir (2.5 TL). Bus from Nevsehir to Goreme (2.5 TL). One gozleme (2 TL). One chicken roll kebab (2 TL). 2 liters of water (1.5 TL).

I hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction to the 7 Wonders of Cappadocia and how it can be done without an organized tour. Have you ever visited Cappadocia? Would you like to? Share your thoughts and let me know what you think!

Cappadocia land of beautiful horses

The rising sun, a signal of a new beginning