Cappadocian fairy chimneys with two balloons in the distance, early in the day; the balloon flight is an optional activity and is not part of the programme.

Multi-day tour

Cappadocia in two days: the red tour and the green tour

A two-day break in Cappadocia on a scheduled departure with shared services: the red tour on arrival day and the green tour before the return flight, with one hotel night and a dinner in between.

Scheduled departure · Private, tailor-made It can be booked either way: on the scheduled departure, sharing services with other passengers, or privately, with your own vehicle and guide. The quotation states which of the two has been priced.

  • Duration 2 days / 1 night
  • Route Cappadocia 1 destination
  • Quotation Quotation within 24 business hours (72 business hours for groups and MICE)
  • Recommended months April–June, September, October
  • Departure type Scheduled departure · Private, tailor-made
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Cappadocian fairy chimneys with two balloons in the distance, early in the day; the balloon flight is an optional activity and is not part of the programme.

Overview

A two-day break in Cappadocia for travellers who reach the region on their own or connect with a domestic flight. It is a scheduled departure with shared services: the vehicle, the licensed English-speaking guide and the visits are shared with the other passengers on the same departure.
Day 1 begins with the welcome at Kayseri or Nevşehir airport and goes straight into the red tour, without calling at the hotel first: the Uçhisar viewpoint, the Göreme Open Air Museum with its rock churches and Byzantine frescoes, Love Valley and Avanos, where the red clay of the Kızılırmak is still thrown on the wheel. Hotel check-in and dinner. On day 2, after breakfast, the green tour heads into the south of the region: the underground city of Kaymaklı, the walk through the Ihlara Valley beside the Melendiz stream, the Selime Monastery and Pigeon Valley, before the airport transfer.
Entrance tickets to the five sites on the itinerary are included. Flights, international and domestic, are not.

Route: Cappadocia

  • Physical level: Moderate
  • Languages of the guided visits: Spanish, English

Highlights

  • Both classic Cappadocia tours, the red and the green one, in two full days and with a single hotel night.
  • The Göreme Open Air Museum and the Uçhisar viewpoint on the arrival day itself, without calling at the hotel first.
  • The underground city of Kaymaklı, the walk along the floor of the Ihlara Valley and the Selime Monastery on day two.
  • Entrance tickets to the five sites on the itinerary included, and a licensed English-speaking guide on both tours.
  • A scheduled departure with shared services, designed to fit a domestic flight out and back over the same weekend.
  • The same programme can also be quoted privately, with a vehicle and guide for your passengers only.

What is included and what is not

Included

  • 1 night’s accommodation in a listed hotel in Cappadocia, with breakfast.
  • 1 dinner at the hotel in Cappadocia.
  • Both scheduled tours of the region, the red and the green one, with a licensed English-speaking guide.
  • Entrance tickets to the sites listed in the itinerary: Göreme Open Air Museum, Uçhisar Castle, the underground city of Kaymaklı, the Ihlara Valley and the Selime Monastery.
  • Airport – hotel – airport transfers in Cappadocia (Kayseri or Nevşehir).
  • Transport by air-conditioned vehicle for the visits and legs stated in the programme.

Not included

  • International flights and the domestic flights out to Cappadocia and back.
  • Lunches and all drinks.
  • Balloon flight at dawn and Turkish Night: optional activities, on request.
  • Personal expenses (shopping, minibar, laundry, room service, etc.).
  • Tips for the guide, the driver and hotel and restaurant staff.
  • Visa fees and visa handling services, if required.
  • Travel insurance (recommended).
  • Any service not explicitly mentioned as included.

Day by day itinerary

  1. Day 1

    Arrival in Cappadocia and the red tour: Uçhisar, Göreme, Love Valley and Avanos

    You are met at Kayseri (ASR) or Nevşehir (NAV) airport and set off straight on the red tour, without calling at the hotel first: the programme uses the whole of the arrival day, so a morning flight is advisable. From the airport to Göreme is 60 to 80 kilometres depending on the terminal, a little over an hour on the road from Kayseri and around forty minutes from Nevşehir.
    The first stop is the Uçhisar viewpoint, the highest hollowed-out rock in the region, from whose foot the valleys and the fairy chimneys open out. Then the Göreme Open Air Museum, the most complete Byzantine monastic complex in Cappadocia: churches and refectories carved into the tuff, with frescoes of the life of Christ in several of the chapels. They are visited by narrow stairways and photographing the paintings inside is not allowed. Afterwards, Love Valley, with its rock columns lined up along the floor, and Avanos, on the bank of the Kızılırmak, the longest river in Turkey, whose red clay has been thrown on the wheel since Hittite times: you visit a working pottery and any purchase is entirely voluntary.
    At the end of the route, transfer to the listed hotel in Cappadocia and dinner at the hotel itself. Those who wish can book the Turkish Night that evening or the balloon flight at the following dawn; both are optional activities and are arranged separately.
    Visits
    Kayseri (ASR) or Nevşehir (NAV) airport, Uçhisar viewpoint and castle, Göreme Open Air Museum, Love Valley, Avanos (pottery workshop)
    Meals
    Dinner
    Overnight in
    Cappadocia

    Optional activities

    • Turkish Night in a typical cave venue, transfers included
    • Balloon flight at dawn on day 2 (weather permitting)

    Kayseri and Nevşehir airports are assigned according to the flight schedules available on the date; the transfer is included from either of them and the day’s timing follows the confirmed flight.

  2. Day 2

    The green tour: Kaymaklı, the Ihlara Valley, Selime and departure

    Breakfast at the hotel and off on the green tour, which covers the south of the region. It opens with a panoramic stop above Göreme, useful for placing what you saw the day before in the wider landscape.
    The underground city of Kaymaklı is the central visit of the morning: a shelter carved into the tuff over centuries, with eight levels of tunnels, stables, cellars, kitchens and circular stone doors that were closed from the inside. It is visited through narrow, low-ceilinged passages, with sections where you have to stoop; anyone who would rather not go in waits outside with the guide.
    Then the Ihlara Valley: a canyon opened by the Melendiz stream, with poplars, running water and painted hermitages in its walls. You go down a long staircase and walk along the valley floor, stopping at one of the rock-cut churches. The day continues at the Selime Monastery, the largest rock-cut complex in the region, carved on several levels with its cathedral of hewn columns, and ends at Pigeon Valley, with the dovecotes cut into the cliff and Uçhisar Castle beyond.
    Transfer to the airport at the time your departing flight requires. End of our services. The day’s route adds up to some 180 kilometres.
    Visits
    Göreme panorama, underground city of Kaymaklı, Ihlara Valley, Selime Monastery, Pigeon Valley
    Meals
    Breakfast

    Optional activities

    • Balloon flight at dawn, before the green tour sets off (weather permitting)

    The underground city is not advisable for anyone with claustrophobia or reduced mobility. At the Ihlara Valley a long staircase is descended and climbed again; closed shoes.

Expected hotels

City Nights Category Hotel
Cappadocia 1 4* / 5* Suhan Hotel · Avrasya Hotel · Sinasos Hotel · Ramada by Wyndham Hotel Cappadocia · Crowne Plaza Cappadocia · DoubleTree by Hilton Avanos · Remus & Romulus Uçhisar · Temenni Evi · Yunak Evlerior similar

Hotels as listed or similar; the final confirmation is given in the quotation.

How the rate is calculated

Rate tailored to the season, the hotel category and the number of travellers. Request a quotation.

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Departures

Scheduled departure · Private, tailor-made

It can be booked either way: on the scheduled departure, sharing services with other passengers, or privately, with your own vehicle and guide. The quotation states which of the two has been priced.

The exact dates of each departure are confirmed in the quotation, together with hotel and domestic-flight availability.

Request a quotation

Operational notes

  • This is a scheduled programme with shared services: the vehicle, the guide and the visits are shared with the other passengers on the same departure. The exact departure date is confirmed in the quotation.
  • The order of the visits may change according to opening hours, traffic and the day’s operation. The content of the programme stays the same.
  • Seats in the vehicle are not numbered and daily rotation is recommended. In high season a leg may be shared with another English-speaking group.
  • The licensed English-speaking guide accompanies both tours. The arrival and departure transfers are provided on a shared basis, without a guide.
  • The underground city is visited through narrow, low-ceilinged tunnels with sections where you have to stoop; it is not advisable for anyone with claustrophobia or reduced mobility. When busy, the visit is organised in shifts.
  • At the Ihlara Valley a long staircase is descended and an earth path is walked beside the stream; at Göreme and in the valleys there are carved steps and short slopes. Closed shoes throughout the programme.
  • At the Göreme Open Air Museum photographing the frescoes inside the churches is not allowed, and the Dark Church has a separate ticket, which is not included. The sites keep summer and winter opening hours.
  • The balloon flight is not part of the programme. It is confirmed each dawn on wind and visibility and the operator may cancel it at the last moment; with a single night there is only one available sunrise. Pick-up is before dawn and the return to the hotel at around eight.
  • The red tour includes an explanatory stop at a pottery workshop in Avanos, standard on this route. The visit is informative and any purchase is entirely voluntary.
  • Kayseri (ASR) and Nevşehir (NAV) airports are 60–80 km from Göreme. The transfer is included from either of them and the timing of days 1 and 2 follows the confirmed flight; with an afternoon arrival the full red tour does not fit.
  • Between December and March it may snow. Snow does not stop the visits, but it can delay a leg and close the Ihlara road for a few hours. Warm clothing is advisable for early mornings at any time of year.
  • During the religious holidays (Ramazan Bayramı and Kurban Bayramı, whose dates move with the lunar calendar) domestic flights and the region’s hotels fill up early and the sites receive more local visitors.
  • A passport valid for at least six months beyond the return date, the electronic visa according to nationality and compliance with entry requirements are the traveller’s responsibility and depend on their nationality.

Best time to travel

Recommended months: April, May, June, September, October

Cappadocia is a plateau at over a thousand metres and the programme runs all year. From April to June and from September to October it brings clear days, mild temperatures and mornings with little wind, which is what the balloon needs. Summer is dry, hot at midday. Between December and March it snows often and the snow-covered landscape is one of the country’s most sought-after sights, but the early mornings are very cold.

Frequently asked questions

What are the red tour and the green tour?
They are the two scheduled routes around which a visit to Cappadocia is organised. The red one covers the north of the region: Uçhisar, the Göreme Open Air Museum, Love Valley and Avanos. The green one heads south: the underground city of Kaymaklı, the Ihlara Valley, the Selime Monastery and Pigeon Valley. This programme includes both, one per day.

Are the flights to Cappadocia included?
No. The programme starts with the welcome at Kayseri or Nevşehir airport and ends with the transfer back, and those transfers are included; the tickets are not, neither international nor domestic. We can quote the domestic flights together with the programme.

Is the balloon flight included?
No. It is an optional activity booked separately and operated by a licensed balloon company. It is confirmed each dawn on wind and visibility and may be cancelled on safety grounds. With a single night there is only one available sunrise, so if the balloon is your client’s priority a version with more nights is the better fit.

Which meals are included?
Dinner on day 1 and breakfast on day 2, both at the hotel in Cappadocia. Lunches and all drinks are outside the programme: stops are made at restaurants along the route and each passenger pays their own.

How much walking is there and how demanding is it?
Moderate. At the Göreme museum there are carved stairways and short slopes; the underground city is walked stooping in places and is not advisable with claustrophobia or reduced mobility; at the Ihlara Valley a long staircase is descended and an earth path is walked beside the stream. Anyone who would rather skip a visit waits with the guide. Closed shoes throughout the programme.

Is the vehicle shared with other passengers?
Yes. This is a scheduled departure: the vehicle, the guide and the visits are shared with the other passengers on the same departure, and in high season a leg may be shared with another English-speaking group. If you would rather have a vehicle and guide to yourselves, the same programme is quoted privately.

Which hotels are used?
Those on the list of hotels foreseen in Cappadocia shown on this page, in the 4 and 5-star categories. They are foreseen hotels: should one have no availability it is replaced by another of a similar category and we tell you before travel.

Can the stay in the region be extended?
Yes. The three-day version adds a night, spreads the two tours more calmly and leaves a free morning for the balloon. And there is a four-day module from Istanbul, operated privately and with the domestic flights included. Each version is quoted separately.

Booking conditions

Deposit
30% of the total when the booking is confirmed. For bookings made 30 days or less before departure, the full amount at confirmation.
Balance
The remaining 70%, no later than 31 days before departure.
Payment methods
Bank transfer or credit card. Card payments carry a 3% surcharge; charges applied by the issuing bank are borne by the client.
Cancellations
More than 90 days before departure: handling fee only, plus penalties on services already issued · 89–61 days: 25% · 60–31 days: 50% · 30 days or less and no-show: 100%. Reductions in places follow the same scale. Refunds within 10–14 business days of written cancellation.

Read the full booking conditions

Credentials

Legal name
Colorido Tours Turkey Turizm Ticaret Ltd. Şti.
TÜRSAB licence
A-12116
Office
Istanbul
Operating scope
Turkey only. Egypt, Jordan and the Greek islands only as extensions of a Turkey itinerary.
Guides
Licensed guides in Spanish and English
24/7 emergency line during the trip
+90 544 533 53 55
Who handles your request
Your request is handled by our reservations team, and the same person follows the file from quotation through to operation on the ground.

How to verify us

Destinations on this route

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