Cappadocia & Pamukkale Tour from Istanbul: 4 Days with 3 Flights

Meals: Lunch. Overnight: Cappadocia. Transfers included.

• 04:00 – Hotel pick-up and transfer to the airport. Pick-up time and airport can change.
• 06:35 – Flight from Istanbul to Kayseri or Nevsehir. The schedule can change.
• 08:15 – Landing at Kayseri or Nevsehir Airport; the airport and time depend on availability.

From the airport you head to the first route, which opens the package with the north of Cappadocia and its best-known viewpoints and carved sites.

Devrent Valley (Imagination Valley) – Devrent is known for odd fairy chimneys and rock formations shaped like animals, which invite you to let your imagination run. Unlike the carved settlements elsewhere in Cappadocia, this valley is admired mostly as an open-air gallery of natural sculpture, where people see camels, seals and other figures depending on where they stand.

Pasabag Open Air Museum – As you walk through Pasabag, you pass chimneys with one cap and others with several heads, each hollowed out to a different degree by the monks who lived in them. This variety in one place makes Pasabag more interesting in person than in photos.

Avanos Pottery Workshop – The typical red of Avanos pottery comes from iron oxide in the clay of the Kizilirmak river. It oxidises in the kiln and gives the terracotta colour that has made the town's work recognisable for centuries. Some workshops also use white clay for contrast, but red is what Avanos is famous for.

Goreme Panoramic View – Sunset here is famously beautiful, but the Red Tour normally stops in the morning or early afternoon. If you are staying in Goreme, it is easy and well worth coming back on your own in the evening.

Zelve Open Air Museum – In the end Zelve is a story of living together and carrying on. Byzantine monks, medieval Christian communities, Muslim village families and twentieth-century Turkish residents all shaped the same rock over fourteen centuries, and seeing those layers in one place is what keeps Zelve in your memory.

Uchisar Castle (exterior view) – Uchisar Castle is the tallest formation of its kind in Cappadocia. From the viewing terrace it is easy to see why it ruled the skyline of the region for two thousand years, and even with modern buildings around it, it is still the area's most recognisable landmark.

At the end of the tour, transfer to your hotel in Cappadocia. Overnight in Cappadocia.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Overnight: Cappadocia. Transfers included.

Optional early-morning add-ons

• Hot Air Balloon Flight – the top-rated Cappadocia experience, with the classic sunrise views, and our most booked activity.
• Balloon Watching Tour – a guaranteed spot at the best Cappadocia viewpoints for sunrise photos.

You can add either one at the best available price while booking.

09:30 – Pick-up from your Cappadocia hotel for the second guided route, which explores the southern side of the region with its valleys, viewpoints and underground history.

Red Valley – Plants are few but tough here: hardy shrubs and the odd fruit tree grow in cracks between the rocks, wherever a little soil collects. In early spring, small wildflowers appear on the valley floor and add sudden colour to the warm tones of the rock.

Rose Valley (Gulludere Valley) – The colours of Gulludere change clearly through the day, from pale cream under the midday sun to deep rose and copper as the sun sinks in the west. Photographers and painters come here for this soft, shifting palette, which gives completely different pictures at different hours.

Cavusin Village – From the top of old Cavusin, looking across the countryside, it is clear why the first residents chose this high cliff. The view reaches over several valleys, nearby rock formations and the far edge of the plateau, making Cavusin one of the highest natural lookouts on the Yellow Tour.

Pigeon Valley – Some dovecote fronts in Pigeon Valley have carved decorative frames around their openings, a sign that they also displayed status and skill rather than only serving the farm. The most richly framed openings are grouped in parts of the cliff linked, by the quality and density of the carving, to wealthier farming families.

Underground City – Carved benches, shelf niches and sleeping platforms at floor level suggest that the deepest levels were made for long stays, not short emergencies. When danger came, whole communities went underground with food, water, animals, tools and religious objects, ready to stay as long as needed.

17:00 – Return to your hotel in Cappadocia. Overnight in Cappadocia.

Meals: Breakfast. Overnight: Pamukkale. Transfers included. Free time.

Have breakfast, check out and enjoy an unhurried morning before your flight from Cappadocia to Pamukkale (Denizli Airport) via Istanbul.

Note: Cappadocia and Denizli have no direct connection, so the journey includes a stop in Istanbul. Flight times, the length of the stopover and the airports used may vary with your travel date and availability.

On arrival, transfer from Denizli Airport to your hotel in Pamukkale. The rest of the day is free; you could watch the sunset over the white terraces or try the thermal waters of Karahayit village. Overnight in Pamukkale.

Meals: Breakfast and lunch. Transfers included.

09:30 – Pick-up from your hotel in Pamukkale for the last guided day, spent on the terraces and in the ancient city above them before the flight home.

Pamukkale – Few UNESCO sites combine ancient history and a natural wonder in one place, and Pamukkale is one of them. Over thousands of years its hot springs have coated the hillside in brilliant white travertine, forming shapes as impressive as anything in nature. On top of the terraces, the Greco-Roman city of Hierapolis adds a whole new chapter to explore.

White Calcium Terraces – From afar the terraces look like a frozen waterfall hanging on the hillside. Up close they are wide, flat pools of warm turquoise water sitting on dazzling white rock. Two thousand years of mineral-rich water built this landscape, and today the flow is carefully controlled to keep it looking just like this.

Hierapolis Ancient City – Hierapolis was not built only for the living. Its necropolis runs for more than two kilometres and is considered the largest ancient burial ground in Anatolia. Citizens, traders and pilgrims who died here were laid to rest in ornate sarcophagi and tomb houses, and walking past hundreds of these stone tombs today gives you a glimpse of daily life two thousand years ago.

Cleopatra Antique Thermal Pool – Mineral water fills the pool all year at a steady 36 degrees, warm enough for a swim even in December. Original Roman marble columns lie on the bottom where an earthquake toppled them centuries ago, which gives the pool its ancient character. Entry is not part of the tour price; if you want to swim, you pay at the site.

• 16:00 – Transfer to Denizli Airport after the tour.
• 18:35 – Flight from Denizli to Istanbul. The schedule can change.
• 19:40 – Landing in Istanbul; the airport and time depend on availability.

Our team meets you at the exit and drives you to your hotel in Istanbul, where the tour ends.