Pigeon Valley ( Güvercinlik Vadisi ), just outside Goreme in Cappadocia, is one of Turkey’s most beautiful landscapes. The unique rock formations known as fairy chimneys, or peri bacalar, which are made from wind and water erosion on soft volcanic rock, rise high from the valley floor like chimneys and are dotted in their tops with birdhouses. Some reach at tall as 130 ft Pigeons live in these dovecoats carved into the rocks and cliffs. Years ago the pigeons were used to carry messages from this remote region, and their droppings have long been used by local farmers for fertilizer. Today, however, there are fewer Pigeons in the valley.
Pigeon Valley is a great place for hiking. The whole area around Goreme is made up of valleys with almost no fencing and there are well-marked trails. The mildly hilly trail through Pigeon Valley is free of charge and about 2.8 miles long running between Goreme and Uchisar.
Pigeon is ideal for walking as the trek is relatively easy. Within the valley are man-made caves which make for excellent exploration. Alternatively if walking is not your idea of fun, still head to the top of the valley at sunset where the vibrant orange colors moving down behind the mountains produce wonderful holiday pictures. The valley earned its name from the hundreds of pigeons that have made their homes in the rocks.
Pigeon Valley ( Güvercinlik Vadisi ) Goreme-Cappadocia
we walked straight down from edge of uchitsar and wound up on a cliff side having to climb back over ridge to reach actual trail. The whole thing was SPECTACULAR though, better than the more frequented red and rose valley. Make sure you stop in for tea at the incredibly quirky tea garden halfway down the valley. The owner is…
Its beautiful valley, nice trip from Uchisar to Göreme. It takes aroung 45 minutes.
Gorgeous place, and for the most part you can find your way but we were lucky we found a Turkish man on our way who showed us an unexpected way around the steep and dangerous path that we thought was the only one leading further down the valley (from Uchisar to Göreme). (Later, a French couple told me they had…
Trails in and out of the valley are everywhere, there are billions of rocks to climb and cave structures to explore, and the view of Uchisar Castle is AMAZING! Definitely go!
Went walking through here and found it very peaceful and relaxing. Fantastic views of fairy chimney houses. Lots of birds and very green
A beautiful walk that only takes a couple of hours. There is one point where you have to climb up the mountain and back down as the valley is dangerous, but if you are lucky there is a guide and you can just give him a few liras and he will show you the way. The scenery is stunning.
This isn't one of my personal favourite valleys in the area, but it's very nice when combined with the White and Love valleys afterward. Pigeon valley itself is about 2 kms, and a pleasant walk. It's mostly uphill if you go from Goreme to Uchisar (so downhill the other way, obviously). I prefer to hike uphill (easier on the knees),…
We started in Goreme and headed down the Rose Valley to the next town (Cavusin – pronounced chavushin) where we had lunch and saw the amazing cliff town structure, then we crossed the road and made our way across a field to the Love Valley entrance (which is not very well indicated except that there is a gravel road leading…
Unbelievable place…is almost a miracle of natur.
Good for a photo opp, but there's a lot of stunning landscapes competing in Cappadocia, so I wont say it's one of the best. If you have little time, you can give this a miss.