The Turkish region of Cappadocia, a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage, boasts one of the most dramatic sights in the world.
Visiting Cappadocia is such a change from visiting many other busy bustling sights all over Turkey. It is a great pleasure to wander in the vast open space filled with captivating natural attractions which have seen human history dated back in the Bronze Age.
While in Goreme Open Air Museum , the conical formations resulting from the volcanic eruptions that took place millions of years ago, just follow the path up to the top of one of the ridges where a spectacular view of the fairy chimneys awaits you. The natural cone formations contain caves and labyrinths. As early as the third century, those chimneys became a hiding place for early Christians who fled persecution from the Romans, and then later from raiding Muslims. In modern tourism, many caves have been turned into cave houses for tourist stays and the lunar-like setting of Goreme Valley has become popular for hot-air ballooning.
Many say the extremely unique landscape of Cappadocia resembles some scene in a Star Wars movie and yet you may be surprised to discover that no major commercial movies have been filmed there. It would be a perfect setting for movies such as Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter series.
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Beautiful views from the top, but the place needs some maintenance. It is place in a town called Uchisar, very nice for spending 2 hours max.
Awesome place. Recommend going either very early or later in the day (the place closes at 7pm) as there are bus loads of tourists and it gets very crowded. We were there about a week ago. Very hot.
Explore – you do not need a guide though one can be helpful to explain part of the history. It is a lot of walking.
This was my favourite experience in Cappadocia. It was possible to meander around the site and avoid almost all other humans. A much more intimate and for us, enjoyable museum to the crowded and overhyped Goreme Open Air Museum.
This place had great views and a lot of churches. Nice place to explore on your own or with a group. They have a cafe at the bottom where you can buy overpriced stuff. I think it is about 4km from 1 exit to the other. In total about 13 km walk end to end.
My husband and I went to the open museum at Goreme because I had read about it being a 'must do'. I felt a bit ripped off when we paid 50tl (entrance and audio) to walk around an area crowded with tour groups and not enough information in the audio. It was the first thing we went to in Goreme…
We took a dinner-time trail ride from a local outfitter which was splendid. The colour of the rock changes with the setting sun, ending with a fiery pink landscape. A great way to see the valley.
I'm glad I saw the place, but it cost 15 TL, some of the churches were closed or cost extra, and others were crowded (and visits to each were limited to a few minutes). Tour buses go to this place, so there can be large pods of people moving around together, trampling solo travelers and the unwary. Much more fun…
Went walking through here and found it very peaceful and relaxing. Fantastic views of fairy chimney houses. Lots of birds and very green
Guidebooks understate the beauty of this walk- it is superb and very photogenic in the late afternoon light.