How this destination of underground city supports a population larger than most civilizations at the time still boggles my mind. No way. Too incredible. Who wiped out these ancient people? Who were they, what did they believe? Was it an attempt to escape an alien overlord? Doesn’t matter. Despite whether you believe aliens built the multiple thousand year old tunnels or believe it was the Hittites an ancient civilization that’s no longer around, the mystery of these crazy tunnels and underground cities are no less of a wonder. There’s a lot you can read about Derinkuyu, the largest underground city in the world, less than 30 minute drive from Goreme.
Travel Tip: I took the Green Tour. The green tour was the big loop which included Ihlara valley tour, at least one or two panorama stops, Derinkuyu, lunch at Belisirma, Selime monastery and Pigeon valley. It included the transport in a group van with driver and guide. A real guide. I used Hiro Tours, which did have a lot of Asians, funny to note. I paid 90 Turkish Lira, about $45 USD and saw tons of stuff that day. It was a full day tour that picked me up at my hotel and took me to an amazing overlook of the city. I started my day actually at 5:30AM! I woke up so I could start out on a balloon ride. A tip from my hotel guy, Mustafa was to try every day because the winds and weather are not always right. Don’t waste your time on the red tour. Wish I would have done that stuff myself on my time. Most of it was close to Goreme and while I do appreciate a guide at the Open Air Museum it is very rushed. 3 minutes in most of the ancient churches, and it is very crowded. I’d go in the afternoon after the tours have cleared out, and find someone who can tell you about each of the ancient churches and explain the artwork. Christian or not, they will do things to you. Dark church is an extra 8 Turkish Lira. It’s worth it. One of the best preserved and has had some restoration. There’s one across the street, another 8 Lira, and no time limit. We went back outside of the tour. Keep your tickets to the open air museum! Use it there and soak it up. That church was my touring friends favorite church of all. No pictures unfortunately.
It was an incredible experience. It still blows my mind to think I was crawling around these tunnels made for hundreds of thousands of humans, complete with animal stalls, that really could support life. When I was a kid I do remember thinking I was going to dig a cave that I could live in. I remember even seeing caves up in the mountains were I imagined bears would hibernate for the winter. I love caves.
Not only could you visit this underground cave city, you could sleep in them. I started looking and most of the hotels in Goreme are in Caves!! How incredible? To the left is my hotel in Goreme. I flew into Kayseri, Turkey a round trip flight from Istanbul for about $130 plus taxes. The flight was about 1 hr 15 min.
Travel Tip: If you’re traveling to Cappadocia region of Turkey, you’ll either come in via bus by which there is a great system. It’s a LONG ride from Istanbul. The flight to Kayseri drops you into an airport with no support to book hotels or to book transport. The taxi’s are outrageous and there is no wearing them down. I tried for 15 minutes working my way. It is 45 minute drive to Goreme and they’ll charge you at least $45 or 90 Lira to take you to Goreme. The shuttle is 10 Euro if you book ahead. I personally wanted to tour the cave hotels to make my preference. I went off season, but do your research. There isn’t just one cave hotel. My cave hotel Tekka Guesthouse
I’d have lunch in caves, find toilet caves, and by the end of the week spent most of my time in caves. Yes it felt a bit Flintstones, but getting away from the reality of life didn’t mean you had to give up all of the ammenties. I had power, a queen bed, heat or A/C, and other things you’d expect. Some caves can get cold at night. For 40 Euro a night I had wifi and it included a Turkish breakfast of eggs, with bread and cheese and various fruits and jellies. Incredible vegetables, and for dinner get one of those great stewed pot meals unique to the area.
The event you need to make sure you prepare yourself for in your journeys to central Turkey and the cappadocia region is hot air ballooning. It was explained to me that there is “No Better Place on Earth” to go ballooning. After the experience I have to admit that is the case.
Compare these incredible canyons to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, or Zions, and where of these other canyons can you find a hot air balloon? You’re lucky if you can helicopter those canyons, but expect to pay out the nose for it. While it may seem expensive to pay 100 Euros or 130-160 euros for a bit more than an hour of flight time, I have to admit if you did the flight path we did, you’d feel very satisfied with the wonder of flying over the fairy chimneys, many different canyons and over the tops of grape vineyards, farms, pumice
Hot-air ballooning is very popular in Cappadocia and is available in Goreme. Trekking is enjoyed in Ihlara Valley, Monestry Valley, Urgup, and Goreme. In the four days I was in Goreme I was able to fit in the hike through the Ihlara valley and visit 4th and 5th century Christian churches carved into the canyon walls. Ancient paintings still exist on the walls, many of them in incredible frescoes from the 10th and 11th century’s with some of them dating back much earlier.
The rocks of Cappadocia near Göreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars. People of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out houses, churches, and monasteries from the soft rocks of volcanic deposits. Göreme became a monastic center in 300—1200 AD. There is so much to see there. The open air museum includes half a dozen ancient churches with rich paintings, and the monestaries up in the canyons. Don’t miss the Apple church, Snake Church, Dark Church, and the one across the street. Those are by far my favorite.
Growing up I was always fascinated to think of what might be living in a cave way up a canyon wall. In this reality, not only would you find a big cave, you’d find frescos, ovens, and incredible artwork and thousand year old history. I’m still blown away by the not only hundreds but thousands of caves, and more being found today. Over 36 underground cave cities are known today. In the city of Goreme there are more cave hotels than there are hotels that are not in caves. I highly, highly recommend it. There’s something so otherworldly about the whole experience. There’s just so much to explore in cliffs, canyons, and even in the cities. I would be amazed at how much our guide would down play there being anything significant to find, and we’d come upon churches and monasteries like the one below.