Europe 2024 - 2026 / April 2, 2026

Capadoccia, Turkiye

Capadoccia has been on the bucket list for a very long time. I was excited to finally be there! The area was much larger than I thought and there was so much to see. On the one hand, I wish we had stayed longer and then we could have done some of the walks that we missed out on. On the other hand, it was so expensive here (western European prices) that we needed to leave.

Ortahisar

We stayed in the town of Ortahisar in a beautiful stone house that had a view of the ‘castle’ from the kitchen. In the summer, the house would be even more beautiful as it had a large yard full of fruit trees.

View from outside our house (this is the neighbour’s house):

The town had a gorge running through it with lots of cave dwellings and a cute little main street and square.

Derinkuyu Underground City

Derinkuyu is the largest excavated underground city in Turkiye. It is thought to have originated in the 5th-6th century BC, but most of the dwellings were carved and formed during the Byzantine period between the 5th – 10th centuries. The city reaches a depth of 85 meters (280 feet) and could accommodate 20,000 people along with their livestock and horses. They believe that the city was used as refuge and hiding place from various invading armies. There were big, round stone boulders that could be rolled across the tunnels and passages to close them off. The kids had a lot of fun running around the tunnels and discovering the various nooks and crannies.

The ticket price was 15 euros per person (no child discount), which doesn’t sound too bad, but when you consider that every single place in Capadoccia charges between 15 – 25 euros for entry (even the walks) it starts to add up quickly. Next to the underground city was a church, but with another 10 euros entry price, so we decided to give it a miss.

Zelve Open Air Museum

We decided to visit the Zelve Open Air Museum instead of the Goreme Open Air Museum as the ticket price was cheaper (15 euros instead of 26) and many reviews said that they thought it was better. The Zelve valley is spread over 2 valleys with fairy chimneys, houses and churches/mosques carved into the rocks. The valley started as a monastic retreat between the 9th-15th centuries, but eventually turned into towns. The valleys were inhabited up until 1952, when the authorities kicked out the residents and relocated them to a nearby town because they were worried about the rocks crumbling.

All over the valleys in Capadoccia are Dovecotes; areas for pigeons. They used pigeon poop for fertilizer for the various crops they grew in the valley but also for other uses such as in paint. Some of the buildings in the valley were also used for producing wine and oil and as a mill. It was a beautiful walk and we all enjoyed climbing around and exploring the various structures. Also, the almond trees were in bloom which added an extra beauty.

Pasabag Valley

The entry ticket to the Zelve Open Air Museum also included entry to the nearby Pasabag Valley. This valley is famous for its fairy chimney formations, and was also used as monastic retreat.

Uchisar and Goreme

These are the two main tourist towns in Capadoccia. Uchisar has a ‘castle’ like Ortahisar, but with the 15 euro entry price, we decided to give it a miss. However, we walked around the town and then drove to the nearby Goreme and walked around that town as well. Goreme is built into the center of the valley with fairy chimneys all around and is very picturesque. This is probably why it’s the center of tourism for the area.

Ilhara Valley

On our final day in Capadoccia, we went for a walk in the Ilhara Valley. Ticket price was 15 euros and included the Selime cathedral. We decided to enter via the Ilhara Trailhead Entry 1 and we parked another car at the town of Belisirma about 5 kms from where we started. The Ilhara valley is a gorge that has over 100 churches carved into its rock faces along with other dwellings. It was a monastic sanctuary. We didn’t explore all the churches on offer and some of them were closed. R and friends walked faster through the gorge to the car and drove on to see Selime cathedral before it closed and the kids and I spent more time in the gorge exploring the churches there. It was a beautiful walk and a great way to end our stay in Capadoccia. The added bonus was the view of the Hasandagi volcano on the drive to the valley.