“Red & Green Tours”- the Best Way To Explore Cappadocia

Disclaimer: Our travel was before the Pandemic hit, hence please note there might be changes to the prices and tours post pandemic. Please check the official travel websites for updated changes or rules to be followed before travelling. Also please note our website contains affiliate links.

There are three main tours one can choose from, to explore the land of Cappadocia- Red, Green and Blue tours. We chose the Red and the Green tours. After having a delicious Turkish breakfast at our Hotel- Lunar Cappodocia, we waited for our tour bus to arrive. One good thing about these tours is that the price includes both pick up and drop off from and to your hotel. We had booked the tours using “Get Your Guide” app.

1.Red Tour

Red Tour: starts by 9 am and ends by around 5 pm. This Tour is also called the “North Cappadocia Tour”

The Itinerary of Red Tour (30 Euros/ person) includes visit to the following places-

• Goreme Open Air Museum: A UNESCO protected site, just outside Goreme village. A number of fairy chimneys (volcanic tuff) were carved into numerous churches, during the middle ages. Frescoes painted during that time are still visible in the churches. Photography is prohibited inside the churches, so we couldn’t capture pictures for the blog but they were definitely worth visiting. The Elmali Church (Apple Church), The St. Barbara Church, The Serpent Church, The Eski Tokali Church, The Dark Church etc are few important churches where you’ll get to see frescoes. Frescoes in the Dark Church are still intact as only a minimal amount of light gets into the building due to it’s unique construction.

• Devrent Imagination Valley: A valley where one could spend an entire day brainstorming different story ideas by looking at the different shapes and sizes of rock formations. The image below is that of a rock resembling a Camel.

• Pasabag Monks Valley: If you loved watching “The Flintstones” and “Noddy” or grew up reading books by Enid Blyton, you’ll love the Fairy Chimneys at Pasabag Monks Valley. Honestly! this was our favourite part of Cappadocia. These uniquely shaped rock formations cut into beautiful little spaces, almost resembling the houses you imagined in fairytales will definitely take your breath away. It’s hard to visit Cappadocia and not believe in fairytales. We can only imagine how much more beauty the hot air balloons would add to the place. Unfortunately, due to unpredictable weather, we couldn’t go hot air ballooning in Cappadocia. That said, it sure doesn’t lessen the experience of visiting the place. Pasabag is also one of the best places to see the most beautiful fairy chimneys.

• Avanos Town (Pottery Workshops): Travelling to Turkey is incomplete without visiting Avanos Town where you get to learn all about Turkey’s ancient craft of Pottery.

• Fairy Chimneys: One can never get enough of Fairy chimneys. As the saying goes by- ” More the merrier”. Don’t forget to take your cameras when you go hiking to see these beauties up close.

2. Green Tour

Green Tour: was our personal favourite! The Tour starts by 9 am and ends by 6:30 pm. This Tour is also called the “South Cappadocia Tour”

The Itinerary of Green Tour (35 Euros/ person) includes visit to the following places-

• Ihlara Valley: This was the best part of the tour. The scenic hike through Ihlara Valley is a must visit when in Cappadocia. We hiked through a narrow path along the banks of Melendiz River amidst different breathtaking views of nature. We walked in awe, admiring the majestic mountains stretching throughout one side of the path while the river flowed beside us.

• Kaymakli Underground City: The tour agency picks the underground city included in the tour for the day. It’ll either be Kaymakli underground city or Derinkuyu underground city. The one picked for us was Kaymakli Underground City. Situated 20 km to the south of Nevsehir is a place called Kaymakli. The underground city of Kaymakli lies underneath the Kaymakli castle. This underground city was said to have been built around 6 to10^th century BC. These underground cities have numerous narrow tunnels that connect one level to the next. Only around 4-5% of the underground cities (which is a max of 3 to 5 levels below the ground) are open for tourists to explore. Keeping safety precautions in mind, the entry to the remaining 95% of the underground cities is denied. The underground cities were built with a central ventilation shaft that runs all the way to the bottom that ensures the place is well ventilated. Please note that the tour as such is quite safe, however if you are extremely claustrophobic we wouldn’t suggest exploring these underground cities, as these narrow passages might be a little scary since they tend to get narrower as one proceed deeper in. That said it’s absolutely safe and shouldn’t be a major cause of worry. You can always ask you tour guide for help, as they’ll be with you throughout the trip.

Nar Crater Lake:

• Selime Monastery: This is an old Monastery that dates back to 8^th century BC. It’s a Monastery constructed by cutting directly into a large volcanic tuff. Our tour guide mentioned that over the course of time, this Monastery was used by people from different civilizations such as the Hittites, Persians, Romans, Early Christians, Byzantines, Seljuk Turks and the Ottomans. By 10th/11^th century the Monastery was said to have been used as a place of shelter by travellers and tradesmen who travelled along the Silk route.

• Esentepe Viewpoint (Pigeon Valley Viewpoint):

• Onyx Jewelry Factory (Mostly for souvenirs and shopping)

If you are short of time and would like to pick one tour from the two mentioned, we’d highly suggest picking the green tour. It definitely was the best. Not to mention, the red tour had its own beauty but if you were really short of time, go for the green one. The Hike through the Ihlara Valley along the course of the Melendiz river is an experience that you shouldn’t miss when in Turkey.

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