Cappadocia is a base as much as a destination. Its main villages sit close together, but the region is large, and some of its best sights lie an hour or more away. A day trip is the best way to reach them, either on a guided tour with hotel pickup or in a hire car. Here is how to choose, starting with the excursions that repay the journey most.
The Green Tour: Ihlara Valley and the underground city
If you take one full-day excursion, make it this one. The route heads south and west of the main valleys to the Ihlara Valley, a deep green canyon with a river and rock-cut churches painted with frescoes, then usually to an underground city and the cliff monastery at Selime. Our Green Tour entry explains the day in detail. It is a long day, typically eight hours, so come in comfortable shoes, and expect some walking along the canyon floor with a stop for lunch in the valley. It is the best tour for those who want landscape and history in one day.
Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı on their own
The two famous underground cities are on the road south of Nevşehir, and both can be visited in a half day by car or taxi, or as part of a tour. People sheltered in these multi-level complexes, with stables, kitchens, ventilation shafts and rolling stone doors, and walking through the low passages is a memorable and slightly claustrophobic experience. Derinkuyu goes deeper and Kaymaklı has a tighter, more winding layout, so most visitors choose one rather than both. Go early, before the tour groups arrive, and avoid the visit if narrow, low spaces make you uneasy.
Soğanlı Valley
Roughly fifty kilometres from Ürgüp, Soğanlı is a quieter alternative to the busier museum sites, a canyon with a high concentration of Byzantine cave churches and rock-cut dwellings. Leave the car at the visitor centre and give the walk an hour or two. It is rarely crowded, which is the main reason to go, and it suits travellers who have already seen the Göreme Open-Air Museum and want something more peaceful. Public transport is limited, so go with a car or a private driver.
The Salt Lake and the Sultanhanı road
Tuz Gölü, the great salt lake northwest of the region, is a flat white expanse that shimmers at sunset and mirrors the sky when it holds a thin film of water. Tours run there from Cappadocia, usually timed for sunset, and the trip is long, so it is best for photographers and those who have already covered the main sights. On the way you can stop at a thirteenth-century Seljuk caravanserai such as Sultanhanı, a reminder that the plateau sat on a Silk Road route. Conditions at the lake vary with the season, so ask the operator what to expect on your date.
Longer journeys
Two far-flung excursions are sold from Cappadocia, and both are too long for a casual day out. A multi-day tour to Mount Nemrut and Göbekli Tepe heads south-east to the colossal statues of a first-century BC hilltop tomb and the oldest known monumental stone temples in the world. A photo tour to Hattusa goes to the ruined Hittite capital in the north. These suit history lovers with spare days, but weigh the hours in the vehicle carefully, and consider flying or staying overnight en route if you can. For most visitors, the valleys closer to home are more rewarding than the long haul.
Closer to home, half-day options
If a full day feels like too much, combine nearby places. Zelve and Paşabağ with Çavuşin village and a pottery workshop in Avanos make a satisfying northern loop. Ortahisar Castle, Mustafapaşa and Devrent Valley fit a lazy southern or eastern morning, and the Red Tour, a standard guided circuit of the northern sights, covers a lot of ground in a single day if your time is short.
Tour or car?
A guided tour takes the stress out of navigation and parking, includes an explanation of what you see and suits those who prefer not to drive on unfamiliar roads, but it follows a fixed schedule and a lunch stop that may not suit you. A hire car or a private driver lets you linger and skip what does not interest you, and is the only practical way to reach Soğanlı or to combine several small places. Roads are generally good, though village streets are narrow, and fuel stations thin out away from the main towns, so fill up before a long drive.
Fitting it together
Keep your balloon morning free of afternoon commitments, because a rescheduled flight can push a tour back a day. Check opening hours for sites you plan to enter, as some close one day a week, and leave a buffer for the drive back. Most of these excursions return you in time for dinner, which makes a day out the ideal way to spend an afternoon after a sunrise flight.
