PRIVATE CAPPADOCIA TOURS
Discover the treasures of Cappadocia ŕ la Carte! Let us tailor-make your Private Cappadocia Tour according to your preferences and travel interests. Explore the unique places in Cappadocia that interest you with your private, English-speaking* licensed guide.Our full-day private tours include VIP transportation in air-conditioned luxury vehicle, professional guide, entrance fees and lunch.
To assist you in getting the most from your Private Cappadocia Tours, below are a few examples of that have been popular with our guests – we welcome any other suggested itineraries or allow our local experts to create a tour especially for you.
One-day Private Cappadocia Tour
Starting from your hotel between 9:00 and 9:30, you will be greeted by your guide and the driver. Our first stop is the majestic vista point overlooking Goreme where you will receive information about the rich history of Cappadocia and the unique rock formations. From the panoramic view point, we will continue on to the biggest underground city, Kaymakli. Your guide will explain how locals carved these multi-level underground cities to hide from enemies. You can also see traces of their daily lives in the stables, wineries, temples, living quarters, air shafts, etc. Right after exploring the deepest caves of Cappadocia, we will climb to the highest ones: Uchisar Castle. Uchisar is the biggest rock-cut castle in the region, built during the Byzantine Empire. Next, time for lunch! You will experience authentic Turkish cooking in Cappadocia.
After lunch we visit the highlight of Cappadocia – the Goreme Open Air Museum. Your guide will explain the meanings of frescoes covering the walls of thousand-year-old cave churches as you explore this spectacular UNESCO World Heritage site. The tour concludes in Avanos, a picturesque town on the banks of the Kizilirmak River. Famous for its pottery since Hittite times, more than 4000 years ago, we will see a kick-wheel pottery demonstration and our guests are welcome to try their hand at this tradition. After Avanos, you will arrive back at your hotel around 17:00.
Two-days Private Cappadocia TourDay 1: Our professional guide and the driver will pick you up at your hotel at 9:00. The first stop is Esentepe, the impressive panoramic viewpoint overlooking Goreme. Here your guide will give you information on the history of Cappadocia and the unique rock formations. From here we visit the beginning of Rose Valley for an easy one-hour hike through fairy chimneys, orchards and vineyards. Our next stop is the Goreme Open Air Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Your guide will explain the meanings of the frescoes in the cave churches, decorated with scenes of the Old and New Testaments dating back to the 10th century. The site has been used as a monastery since the first years of Christianity. For lunch we will visit a traditional restaurant in the village of Ortahisar, with rock-cut castles and homes hewn into the side of a rocky fortress rising above Cappadocia. Experience a local specialty, the teste kebap – a delicious stew cooked inside a clay pot. After lunch we make several photo stops along the way – including Urgup’s family fairy chimneys, Devrent’s animal-shaped rock formations and Monk’s Valley with the famous mushroom-shaped fairy chimneys as well as St. Simeon’s monk cell carved into the rock. Day one concludes in Avanos, a picturesque town on river that supplies clay for the 4000 year-old Avanos tradition of pottery. A kick-wheel demonstration by a local potter and your chance at trying this ancient custom brings our day to an end. You will arrive back at your hotel around 5pm.
Day 2: The 2nd day of your Private Cappadocia Tour also begins at 9:00. Our first stop is the amazing Kaymakli Underground City. Carved by the Hittites about 3500 years ago, this multi-level underground city was used by early Christians as a main shelter from marauding enemies during the 6th and 7th centuries. Kaymakli is one of the biggest underground cities in Cappadocia with 8 levels including stables, temples and wineries. After departing Kaymakli, we will drive further south to the magnificent verdant Ihlara Valley. We walk alongside the Melindiz river which winds its way through the Ihlara gorge, stopping for lunch in a restaurant on the river in the village of Belisirma. After lunch, we continue to the Selime Monastery, the largest rock-cut monastery in Cappadocia with large cave cathedral and breathtaking views over the area. On our way back to Goreme we stop at the spectacular vista point overlooking Pigeon Valley.
Three-days Private Cappadocia Tour
Day 1 and Day 2 will be the same as
Two-days Private Cappadocia tour described above.
Day 3: Starting from your hotel at 9:00, we drive to Mustafapasa, famous for its beautiful architecture, Mustafapasa was one of the largest Greek towns in Cappadocia until the 1924 population exchange between Turkey and Greece. Your guide will give information on one of the biggest population exchanges in the world which caused approximately 2 million people to leave their homes. In Mustafapasa, we will see Greek mansions and churches as well as the Medrese seminary, an Islamic high school. The next stop is the Keslik Monastery, with one of the rare iconoclastic examples of Cappadocian frescoes. We will view these exceptional wall paintings and discuss the iconoclastic period (726-843 AD), in which such wall paintings were forbidden by the Byzantine Emperors. After which we will drive to Sahinefendi, to the Sobesos Excavation site. Archeologists have recently (in last 10 years) begun excavations of this area and continue to find many important artifacts. At this archeological site we can see Roman baths, tombs, basilica and mosaics. From Sahinefendi, we continue to Soganli Valley. Soganli was once the third largest monastic center in the area and boasts many cave churches and a beautiful hiking valley. Before beginning our hike, we will enjoy lunch at one of the local restaurants and see the famous Soganli dolls made by the women of this village. After our afternoon hike through the Soganli Valley we will drive back to your hotel. Along the way if you are interested in Turkish carpets we can also visit one of the local carpet workshops and view the traditional carpet-making process. Cappadocia remains the biggest carpet weaving areas of Turkey.
Our Private Cappadocia Tours are 100 Euros per person per day. This rate is for minimum two people. Please ask for further information about single supplement costs if you are traveling alone.
The daily rate includes;
• Pick-up and drop-off service from/to hotel.
• Licensed, professional English-speaking guide* .
• Lunch.
• Admission fees for the museums and valleys.
• Transportation with air-conditioned VIP Vehicles.
• Tax and service fees.
*professional guides fluent in other languages are also available upon request, with surcharge.
Please send us an email (info@goreme.com) to get further information about the tours and booking.
