Day Trips from Göreme to Underground Cities
Where the day trips go
Göreme is the base for several half-day and full-day outings. Distances are approximate and depend on your route, and most visitors join a tour or hire a car or driver rather than rely on public transport.
Derinkuyu Underground City
Derinkuyu lies about 30 to 40 km south of Göreme. The known depth is about 85 m in total, but only the upper section, about 55 m, is open to visitors. According to Wikipedia , it could shelter up to 20,000 people and was found in 1963. Entry prices and hours change, and guides quote roughly EUR 13 or about 250 TL for foreigners and opening from about 08:00 to 17:00, so check at the gate. The passages are low and narrow.
Kaymaklı Underground City
Kaymaklı is about 19 km from Nevşehir town and about 30 km from Göreme. It has 8 levels in total, of which 4 are open, and it opened to tourists in 1964. Stay on the lit, marked route, and skip it if you are claustrophobic or have mobility, heart or breathing problems.
Ihlara Valley and Selime Monastery
Ihlara is a canyon walk beside a river with rock-cut churches along the way. Guides describe a gorge of about 14 km with around 380 steps down to the path, and a typical walk covers about 4 km. Selime Monastery is a rock-cut complex nearby, and both are normally combined into a full day with an underground city.
Avanos
Avanos is a pottery town on the Kızılırmak river. The press has reported gondola rides on the river here, so ask whether they are running now. Pottery studios offer wheel demonstrations, so ask about times, and the town sits near the Zelve Open-Air Museum.
Soğanlı Valley
Soğanlı has rock churches in a quiet valley about 60 km south of Göreme. It is a longer drive, so it works best with a car or driver and an early start.
What is too far
Some coastal and lake destinations are advertised near Cappadocia but are hundreds of kilometres away. The Antalya coast is roughly 450 km from Göreme, and Salda Lake is in Burdur Province far to the west, so neither is a day trip.
Tips
Start early and bring water, a hat and sturdy shoes. Check current government advice before you travel, for example on the UK foreign travel page for Turkey .
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Read more: Attraction tours and Multi-day trips .