Day Tours from Göreme, Cappadocia: Red and Green Routes, Pickup

Once you are in Cappadocia, two standard day trips leave from Göreme: the Red Tour, which starts at $60 per person, and the Green Tour. Season and inclusions affect the price, so check today's rate with us. On both, a van collects you from your hotel in Göreme, Ürgüp, Uçhisar, Avanos or Ortahisar. A guide, lunch and entry fees are part of the deal, and you are back the same afternoon. For a guide and van just for your group, book the private full-day tour instead. There is no "Blue Tour" in our range, so you will not find one here.

Day trips from Göreme: the options side by side

All the day trips and activities we offer in the area are on one page: Cappadocia tours.

Red Tour: the north of the region in six hours

This is the scenery that comes to mind for most people when they hear the word Cappadocia. Our Red Tour runs in this order:

1. Pickup from hotels in Göreme, Ürgüp, Uçhisar, Avanos or Ortahisar.
2. Göreme Panorama, a lookout above the fairy chimneys.
3. Devrent Valley, known as "Imagination Valley" for its odd rock forms.
4. Paşabağ (Monks Valley), home to some of the most photographed chimneys.
5. Lunch in a local restaurant.
6. A pottery workshop in Avanos.
7. Zelve Open Air Museum, an old settlement of cave homes and churches.
8. A stop for photos at Love Valley.
9. A local shop if you want it, then the ride back to the hotel.

The languages on the tour page are English, Spanish, German and Russian. Drinks with lunch cost extra. Be aware of one gap: the Göreme Open Air Museum, with the painted churches that draw most visitors, is not part of this tour. If you want to see them, choose the private day, or go to the museum by yourself; you can walk there from central Göreme.

Green Tour: Derinkuyu, Ihlara and Selime

This route heads south and west, away from Göreme, so the day is longer. Our stops are:

1. Pickup from hotels in Göreme, Ürgüp, Uçhisar, Avanos or Ortahisar.
2. Göreme Panorama.
3. The underground city at Derinkuyu.
4. A riverside walk through the Ihlara Valley.
5. Lunch in a local restaurant.
6. Selime Monastery, the biggest monastery carved from rock anywhere in Cappadocia.
7. A stop for photos at Pigeon Valley.
8. A local shop if you want it, then back to the hotel.

Two frank cautions. Inside Derinkuyu the tunnels are tight and low, and steep stairs drop through several floors, so skip it if you suffer from claustrophobia or weak knees. The Ihlara walk itself is gentle, but you reach the canyon floor down a long flight of steps. With a single day, start with the Red Tour; with two days, take both.

Cities below ground and churches cut into rock

Derinkuyu, a stop on the Green Tour, ranks among the biggest underground cities. People dug it out of the soft volcanic stone and hid there in times of danger. The round stone doors once used to block the tunnels can still be seen. The private highlights day goes to another one, Özkonak, and Kaymaklı is part of the three-day private programme. Seeing one is enough.

At the far end of the Ihlara Valley stands Selime Monastery, the second high point of the south. It is carved straight into the cliff and has a church and halls with arches cut from the rock. Wear shoes that grip well, because the stone is smooth and often dusty.

Private days with a guide of your own

For the private highlights day, your guide and a licensed driver meet you in the hotel lobby at 10:00. You visit Uçhisar Castle, the Byzantine frescoes of the Göreme Open Air Museum, the potters of Avanos, Paşabağ, Devrent Valley and the underground city of Özkonak. Museum entry is covered, but meals are not.

The Best of Cappadocia private tour lasts two or three days, with a 10:00 start every morning:

• Day 1: Uçhisar Castle, the Göreme Open Air Museum, Avanos, Paşabağ and Devrent Valley.
• Day 2: the underground city of Kaymaklı, then Rose, Love and Pigeon Valleys, Ortahisar Castle and Mustafapaşa.
• Day 3: the Ihlara Valley, the village of Belisırma, Selime Monastery and Yaprakhisar.

Because the day starts at 10:00, you can fly in a balloon beforehand. Going private pays off for families, photographers and anyone set on the Open Air Museum. A couple watching costs will see most of the same scenery on the shared Red and Green Tours. You can find both types on the Cappadocia tours list and the full-day trips page.

Balloons: up in the basket or down on the ridge

The standard flight at sunrise starts at $199 per person. It includes a pickup from your hotel before first light, a safety talk, between 45 and 75 minutes airborne depending on the weather and the flight type, and a certificate at the end. Balloons take off from Göreme, Ürgüp or the Soğanlı Valley. The price shifts with the take-off area, the time of year and how early you book, so ask us for the current figure. Comfort and premium baskets are more expensive.

Prefer to stay on the ground? The balloon-watching trip brings you to a lookout before dawn and takes you back to your hotel, three hours door to door. Many families find it the smarter pick. It costs a small part of a flight, and pictures with balloons in the sky often come out better from below. Photographers can read about the professional shoot on our balloon photo shoot page.

Balloons only go up when the wind allows. Book your flight for the first morning of your stay, so a cancelled flight can be moved to the following day.

Evening plans and short activities

The shared day trips finish in the afternoon, so your evening is open. These short extras come with a hotel transfer:

• ATV ride at sunset through the Red and Rose Valleys: one hour.
• Sema of the whirling dervishes: three hours including transfers.
• Dinner and a Turkish night show inside a cave.
• Camel ride: one hour. Horseback ride: one hour.

Expect dust and engine noise on the ATV ride, which teenagers tend to love. The dervish ceremony is calm and religious, and the audience keeps silent while the sema is performed. You can book any of them from the Cappadocia tours page.

Choosing a base, and adding Istanbul

The day trips collect guests in Göreme, Ürgüp, Uçhisar, Avanos and Ortahisar. Staying somewhere else? Check with us first. Göreme is the handiest base, since most routes run through it and the Open Air Museum sits at the edge of town. The towns are compared in our guide to where to stay in Cappadocia.

Still planning and travelling from Istanbul? The page on the Cappadocia tour from Istanbul sets out the trips that include flights, while our Cappadocia packages combine hotels, transfers and both the Red and Green Tours. Other full-day outings are on the day trips list. For a longer stay, the packages for Cappadocia last from four to eight days.

Frequently Asked Questions