DAY 3 / RED AND ROSE VALLEYS AND THE CHURCHES OF GÖREME

AM /Already in the routine of shockingly early mornings, we got up at dawn again this morning to hike the Red and Rose Valley trails. Our goal was to do the walk in the cool morning light, while the balloons were floating over-head.

This is a fantastic hike that winds its way through some of the finest valleys in the area. There are many excellent view-points perched over oceans of rippling red, rose and white rock. Churches, deeply cut into the rock, sometimes columned, sometimes frescoed are sights in themselves. The only downside is the challenge of finding the trailheads and following the paths, which in spite of a profusion of signs, is not particularly easy. The walk took us about 5 hours, including getting lost briefly a couple of times. To help with the navigation we have put together detailed hiking instructions and maps.

PM /In the late afternoon we drove to the Göreme Open Air Museum. This museum surrounds an area of many of the best preserved frescoed churches. Three of the churches, included in the entrance fee, have frescoes in decent condition. But the best is at Karanik Kilise where you have to pay a little extra, which we recommend you do.

After spending just over an hour at the museum, and as the sun began to sink over the horizon we walked up to sunset point in the south of Göreme. Here we grabbed a beer from the stall on the summit and sat at one of the many benches to enjoy sunset over this beautiful landscape.

For dinner we went to My Mother’s Cafe. Despite the terrible name, the food was pretty good. Honest, hearty Turkish cooking without too much fuss.

Göreme Open Air Museum /Allow 1 hour to 1 hour, 30 minutes to explore the museum. Hours: 08:00 – 18:30; Price: ₺30 + ₺10 more for if you want to go inside Karanik Kilise, which we recommend. Location: here.

HOW TO GET TO CAPPADOCIA

Cappadocia is smack bang in the middle of Turkey and with minimal significant things to see nearby, it does take some effort to get to. We recommend you hire a car as Ihlara Valley and Soganli Valley are both one hours drive away, and it makes getting to Panorama point at sunset much easier.

We completed our 4 day Cappadocia itinerary as an excellent finale to our 2-week road trip around Turkey. So, we had already hired a car and drove in from Antalya, which was a 7-hour drive, Istanbul is an 8-hour drive. If you are nervous about driving in Turkey, there’s no need to be, just read our tips on driving in Turkey here.

Cappadocia also has two airports, one at Nevşehir (40 mins drive to Göreme) and the other at Kayseri (60 mins drive to Göreme) both of which fly to a number of domestic locations for about ₺250 (£41 or $55) and offer car rental facilities. If you are not hiring a car you can pre-book a transfer or get your hotel to organise your pick up.

BEST TIME TO VISIT CAPPADOCIA

Cappadocia sits on a plateau over 1,000m high, so in winter the temperature can drop to around 0°C and in summer it’s often upwards of 30°C. If you enjoy hiking, as we do, then the shoulder seasons (April – June and September – October) are perfect.

Rainfall is higher in Spring than in Autumn, and being a little windier, this makes balloon riding a bit more susceptible to cancellations. The up-side is the landscape is greener, flowers more abundant and the days a bit longer.

Our 4 day Cappadocia itinerary was part of a 2-week road trip around Turkey in late May and for us, this time was perfect. Flowers lined the valley floors, temperatures were not too hot for hiking and the days were long enough for us to fully appreciate the spectacular landscapes.

Balloons flew 3 out of the 5 mornings we were in Cappadocia, giving us plenty of opportunities to catch a flight. We had a few thunderstorms which we worked around, mainly by hiking early in the morning.

We travelled to Cappadocia during Ramadan which meant the big sites were much less busy as locals don’t take holiday during this time. We also had no problems booking hotels late (so we could keep some flexibility) or getting into good restaurants with the best viewpoints on offer.

TIP | In 2019 Ramadan will be 06 May to 04 June and in 2020 it will be 23 Apr to 23 May, making both excellent times to visit Turkey.

Finally, the Turkish currency has been very weak recently, making Turkey a very cheap holiday destination. Our advice: go earlier rather than later if you plan to visit Turkey.

WHAT WOULD WE DO DIFFERENTLY?

We were generally pretty happy with our 4 day Cappadocia itinerary. We felt like it was a good amount of time to see everything the area has to offer and allowed us some time to do some fantastic walks.

The only thing we would do differently is check that the balloons were flying on the day we did the hike around the Red and Rose Valleys. We got up at dawn to capture some photos of the valleys with the balloons overhead, but they weren’t flying that day. This oversight cost us an hour or so we could have spent in bed if we had checked with the hotel the night before. Luckily, the walk was great anyway.

OTHER THINGS TO DO IN CAPPADOCIA

As you have probably worked out by now we love to walk. We find it a great way to take in the scenery and learn about a new place. It means however that some of our itineraries can be hiking heavy, such as this one.

So, if you want some other options in Cappadocia you could; take a horse ride at sunset into the valleys, quad bike across the moonscape or have an All-Terrain Vehicle experience. Most tour agents also offer a series of pre-arranged tours that take in different parts of Cappadocia.