Green Tour

Derinkuyu Underground City

Derinkuyu is the deepest underground city open to visitors in Cappadocia, descending around 85 metres through soft volcanic rock. Begun in early antiquity and greatly expanded in the Byzantine period, it could shelter thousands of people with their animals and food stores during times of danger. Narrow passages link stables, kitchens, wells, storerooms, a chapel and a school-like hall, while ventilation shafts bring fresh air to the lowest floors.

Is Derinkuyu worth visiting? It is one of the most memorable experiences in Cappadocia, especially the huge round stone doors that could be rolled across the tunnels to seal each level. Allow about an hour with your guide. The passages are low and steep in places, so it is not ideal for anyone uncomfortable in tight spaces, and the temperature stays cool year-round.

Ihlara Valley

The Ihlara Valley is a canyon around 14 km long, cut up to 100 metres deep by the Melendiz stream at the foot of Mount Hasan. Poplars, willows and reeds line the water, and the cliffs on either side hide rock-cut churches decorated with frescoes from the Byzantine era, such as the Ağaçaltı and Sümbüllü churches. It feels completely different from the fairy-chimney landscapes around Göreme: green, shady and full of birdsong.

On this tour you descend into the canyon and follow the riverside path for a few kilometres at an easy pace, usually about an hour to an hour and a half, ending in the village of Belisırma. Here restaurants set up wooden platforms right over the water, the classic place for lunch on the Green Tour (included in the lunch options). The best time to visit the Ihlara Valley is spring or autumn.

Selime Monastery

At the northern end of the Ihlara Valley, Selime Monastery is the largest rock-cut religious complex in Cappadocia. Carved into a cliff above the village of Selime, probably in the 11th and 12th centuries, it includes a cathedral-sized church with columns and arches cut from the rock, a large kitchen with a soaring chimney, stables, halls and living quarters on several levels.

The climb up through the rock is short but uneven, and the reward is a wide view over the valley and the cone-shaped rocks below. Allow around 45 minutes to explore with your guide. The light is warm in the afternoon, which makes the honey-coloured stone glow, and many travellers rate it as the most surprising stop of the whole Green Tour.

Göreme Panorama and Pigeon Valley

The day usually begins at the Göreme panorama, a viewpoint on the ridge between Göreme and Uçhisar where you look across a sea of fairy chimneys, ridges and valleys. It is the perfect introduction to the landscape of Cappadocia, formed when ancient volcanic ash hardened into soft tuff and was carved by wind and water into cones and pinnacles.

Nearby, Pigeon Valley takes its name from the countless small dovecotes carved into the rock walls, which for centuries collected pigeon droppings to fertilise the region's fields and orchards. From the viewpoint you see the valley winding down towards Göreme and the tall rock citadel of Uçhisar Castle above it, a classic photo stop at the start or end of the Cappadocia Green Tour.