Cappodocia offers a combination of interesting geological features with good hiking opportunities, with rock-hewn churches where Christians have lived since the 4th century.
Staying in the town of Göreme, my sister and I started our first morning in the region by heading to a tour operator to book a trip out to the Ihlara Valley for the following day. It turned out that they couldn’t guarantee they would head out the following day, but there was a tour that had just left. After calling the driver back we shortly found ourself with a fully-booked first day.
We headed out towards the valley, stopping at an underground caravanserai in Gaziemir and the remains of a church at the top of a high cliff above Güzelyurt. Then we continued to the valley and walked for 7 km alongside the Melendiz Stream, periodically climbing away from the stream to view four rock-hewn churches. On the way back we stopped to visit the monastery at Selime and to look out over scenic Pigeon Valley.
We started our second day by visiting the Göreme Open Air Museum, a sight including a number of rock-hewn churches just above the town. From there we set off on a hike through some of the surrounding valleys, to appreciate the unique geological structures up close. We stopped in the nearby town of Çavuşin for lunch before heading back towards Göreme having walked over 20 km for the day.
Checked Off The List 