Overview
The fantastically unique landscape of fairy chimneys, troglodyte villages and surreal volcanic rock formations begs to be explored on foot. From the Red and Rose Valley to Meskendir near Göreme, explore Cappadocia via these top hiking routes.
Cappadocia is a hiker’s paradise, and you can now explore it with Culture Trip on our exclusive 12-day Turkey adventure. Winding trails make their way through ethereal stone towers and rugged canyons. With various towns and villages conveniently located near all the main hiking trails, it’s easy to explore. The hikes are generally quite short, and there are plenty of makeshift stalls to keep you fed and hydrated along the way. The dramatic beauty of the scenery here has to be seen to be believed, so we’ve chosen eight of the best trails to get you started.
Hiking Cappadocia, Turkey
The dramatic landscape of Cappadocia is perfect for hiking and walking: warm sun, dry air, spectacular views, and trails of varying challenge.
The towns of Göreme, Ürgüp, Uçhisar and the Panoramic Viewpoint between Ürgüp and Göreme (map) are good starting-points for walks, and Çavuşin is right in the middle of several trails.
If you hike in high summer (late June, July, August, early September), try to do your walks in the morning or later afternoon to avoid the heat of the day.
Be prepared: sun hat and perhaps sunglasses against the glare of the light-colored rock, sunblock, footwearsuitable for the crumbly volcanic-ash terrain of Cappadocia, and—most important—water bottles to keep you hydrated in the dry climate and altitude.
1. Red Valley
When it comes to hiking in Cappadocia, it is hard to go past Red Valley. The Sharp sandstone ridges glow a deep, vibrant red as the sun burns into the unique landscape in the last moments of the sunset each night. If you only have a couple of nights in Cappadocia, but this one up high on the list for sunset spots. There is a great trail loop including Meskindir and Rose Valley or you can drive straight to the sunset viewpoint to chill at the cafe or hike to the top of the flag viewpoint.
The hike is joined with Rose Valley in most cases and leads you through an ancient church inside one of the caves, past yellow sandstone rock formations and incredible cave dwellings. The trail is diverse and only moderate in difficulty making it a perfect adventure.
2. Meskendir Valley
If you’re not up for a long hike then the Meskendir Valley, near Göreme, is ideal. It’s a short 4km (2.5mi) walk through surreal rock formations, typical of the region, with hermit’s caves and hand-carved pigeon houses adding to its attraction. The soft multi-coloured sandstone has been carved into tunnels in parts and offers cool respite from the scorching sun. For a longer walk, you can extend by joining the Red and Rose Valley at its conclusion.
3. Pigeon Valley, Uçhisar Castle & Love Valley
The canyon walls of Pigeon Valley are topped with teeth shaped rocks; the castle at Uçhisar offers wide panoramic views, and Love Valley has the iconic mushroom topped columns, heavily photographed in Cappadocia. This an excellent circular walk begins in Göreme, heads up Pigeon Valley, ascends to the castle at Uçhisar, before returning via Love Valley to Göreme. It takes around 4 hours during which it visits some of Cappadocia’s most iconic scenery.
4. Rose Valley
The Rose Valley hiking trail in Cappadocia winds through an incredibly unique area with sharp ridges, tinted in pink especially during sunset! The Rose Valley is an otherworldly experience. The rock formations are so unique, I can’t even find anything to compare them to. Over thousands of years, sharp ridges have formed to create a corrugated landscape. Almost all of the time, one side of a ridge is in the sun while the other in the shadow, further accentuating the sharpness and scale of these sandstone formations.
What makes the Rose Valley unique compared to other spots in Cappadocia is that not only do you have these incredible rock formations but in this particular region, the minerals in the sandstone have a pink tinge. This pink becomes more and more evident throughout the day, peaking at sunset when the sun glows directly onto the Rose Valley giving it that fine shade of pink so many people come to see.
5. Ihlara Valley
For a break from the dusty hot rocks of the Cappadocian landscape, come to the Ihlara Valley, where the Melendiz River cuts through this 16km (10mi) gorge. Lush and green, you can relax under the leafy canopies by the river and enjoy a tranquil moment, disturbed only by the croaking of frogs and buzzing of dragonflies, before continuing a gentle hike in this gloriously verdant place.
6. Zemi Valley
The Zemi Valley Hike is a 6km stretch beginning in Goreme that leads you through a series of caves, arches and alongside a small stream as you keep your eyes open for cave houses and earth pillars! I think Zemi Valley is one of the most underrated Cappadocia hiking trails.
7. Zelve Valley
The Zelve Open Air Museum encompasses three valleys, the first of which was once an incredible cave city, home to one of the largest communities in the region. The rocks are a honeycombed maze of religious and secular caves, where Christians and Muslims used to live side by side in harmony. The last residents left as recently as the 1950s due to erosion, but much of the city is still intact.
