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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after what happened in Egypt on the 26th of February my hot air balloon tour was cancelled, so have never gotten a chance to have a close/top view of all the chimneys. This national park was absolutely everything I wanted to see…the fairy chimneys, strange shaped rocks (one looked like a rabbit!), some looked like a person with a hat…
The rocks and the history are very interesting and the view breathtaking. The best thing is to have a great guide!
We did a 4km hike in this Valley as part of the privatetour with Rock Valley. I had actually signed up for a different tour for my 2nd day in Cappadocia, but it wasn't available. This was really a pleasant surprise, and I'm so glad I went.
I liked the tip that our hotel owner (Vineyard Cave Hotel) gave us… he mentioned how all the valleys just got names by the tourist companies to try to attract more people. So he just recommended that you hike around on your own and just go wherever looks interesting… which I think is the best way to do it. There…
Beautiful Unesco site which worth a visit. If you go on a hot and sunny day, wear a hat and bring water !
Eight floors of underground habitation of which four are open to the public leaves one in awe. An entire city that was carved out of the rock, was able to house more people than we can imagine. One goes up, one goes down, one crouches through tunnels and enters rooms with high ceilings.
A very unique place worth visiting but access signs, and access by roads is very poor. ANd be careful for the Turkish drivers they are incomprehensibly bad.
We loved the area especially taking a balloon ride over the terrain. Some of the caves are a little claustrophobic
We found this place to be really interesting and loved seeing the frescos painted inside the little churches – but it was so crowded when we went and had to wait for ages to get inside each tiny church (as each room normally only accommodates 1 tour group at a time).
The best to do is to visit villages