Ihlara Tour

Visit some of the main sights of Southern Cappadocia in this exciting full day tour through this beautiful region. You'll see rock churches, cave dwellings, the underground city at Derinkuyu and the area's famous rock formations.

After being picked up from your hotel, we'll drive to Ilhara canyon, a 16km long gorge carved out by the Melendiz river and the eruptions of Mount Erciyes volcano. Due to the valley's plentiful supply of water and hiding places the valley was settled by early Christians escaping from persecution by the Romans. You'll be able to admire hundreds of old churches cut into the living rock. After a walk along the valley floor, following the course of the Melendiz river, we'll have lunch at the nearby settlement of Belisirma before visiting the sprawling Selime Monastery, carved out of the rock by Christian monks in the 13th Century.

Next stop is the the cave village of Yaprakhisar, tucked away in a rocky ravine. Several scenes from the Star Wars films were shot here. Then we'll continue to the impressive underground city of Derinkuyu, the largest and deepest of its kind in Cappadocia. This incredible subterranean settlement was hewn out of rock thousands of years ago and contains wine and oil presses,stables,cellars,storage rooms, chapels and ventilation shafts. The final stop before returning to the hotel is a photo stop in Pigeon Valley where you'll admire hundreds of cave dwellings cut into the sheer cliffs.

This full-day excursion includes pick up and drop off, transfer by air-conditioned bus, the services of an English-speaking tour guide, lunch and all admission fees. Other languages available on request.

Meal

Assistance or guided tour

Admissions

Drinks

Regular

Appropriate age for child ticket from 7 to 12 years