Cappadocia is a perfect place for young and old alike. Its incredible rock formations, its valleys full of rock-hewn churches and its underground cities will impress everyone, no matter how old you are. It is also a region with an incredible nature where you can eat on a river and walk through a valley full of pigeon houses. All plans are perfect for families in Cappadocia.
- Touring the Ihlara Valley
- Hot-air ballooning
- The underground cities of Kaymakli and Derinkuyu
- Touring the Fairy Chimneys
- Off-road touring
- Eating Testi Kebab
- Uçhisar Castle
- Göreme Open Air Museum
Touring the Ihlara Valley
This Ihlara Valley, 14 kilometres long and more than 120 metres deep, is a canyon that holds one of Cappadocia’s most incredible secrets: more than 60 Byzantine Christian churches carved into the rock and now abandoned. It is a fun adventure for the children to walk along the riverbank in search of these temples and admire their paintings of the life of Christ and other saints. In addition, in one of the villages leading to the valley, Belisırma, there is a restaurant on the river, where you can eat grilled fish while listening to the water flowing under your feet.
Hot-air ballooning
This is Cappadocia’s best known and most impressive activity. Remember that only children aged over six are allowed in a hot-air balloon, but the views are so incredible that the family will never forget the trip. If you travel with children under six, you can also go to any of the viewpoints along Rose Valley, where most of the hot-air balloons depart from, to see the spectacle of hundreds of hot-air balloons in the air at the same time.
If you go on a hot-air balloon, remember that the temperature drops quite a lot in the sky, so please take some warm clothes with you.
The underground cities of Kaymakli and Derinkuyu
Kaymakli and Derinkuyu are two of the best preserved underground cities in Cappadocia. Although it sounds a bit claustrophobic, the visit is very surprising because these dwellings are well ventilated and well lit. These underground cities arose in Hittite times to defend themselves against foreign attacks and had everything they needed to survive for a long time: stables, shops, churches and even a bar. The underground city of Derinkuyu is the deepest known, with up to 20 floors down, although only eight can be visited at present.
Touring the Fairy Chimneys
The Cappadocia valleys are full of huge rock formations that have been carved by erosion into whimsical shapes. The most famous and typical are the fairy chimneys, i.e. stone columns that end with a roof at the top because the rock in that part is much harder and more resistant to the force of the wind.
People started to call them that way because they resemble the chimneys of fairytale houses, and stories and legends have already arisen to justify this.
Nevertheless, they are not the only formations that can be found in the region; there are also some curious ones in Love Valley and Imagination Valley.
Off-road touring
Cappadocia is full of mountains, valleys, canyons and even ancient volcanoes. It is an incredible landscape for exploring in off-road vehicles or buggies so that you can go right into the heart of all these magical routes.
Off-road touring usually focuses on several areas of the region of your choice so that you can see the landscape from another point of view and visit the innermost areas that can only be reached with off-road vehicles.
The children will certainly not forget this adventure in an off-road vehicle in the middle of the almost lunar landscape of Cappadocia.
Eating Testi Kebab
Cappadocia’s regional cuisine is full of amazing and flavoursome dishes that will definitely be enjoyed by children. One of the main dishes, both because of its importance for the Turks and because of its surprising presentation, is Testi Kebab. Far from our image of kebab, it is a meat stew in a clay pot that has to be broken just as it is served so that you can enjoy the food. The children will surely want to repeat this hearty but delicious dish again and again.
Uçhisar Castle
This is one of the highest rock formations in Cappadocia and the views from the fortress are breathtaking. It is not a typical castle, but a rock into which rooms have been excavated and connected by different tunnels. You have to climb around 120 steps to reach the top and find out what the soldiers who were stationed there saw so that they could warn of the arrival of enemy armies on the surrounding plains.
These rock dwellings were inhabited until 1960, when the castle was established as a monument to be visited.
Göreme Open Air Museum
This is a magical and spiritual place, full of peace and art that the children will not forget. It is a religious site where thousands of monks lived in buildings carved out of the rock in the 11th and 12th centuries and where each community had its own church.
Today, these Byzantine Christian temples boast the greatest religious frescoes in the region, depicting scenes from the life of Christ or some saints.
In this 1.5-kilometre site, you will also see other rooms such as dining rooms, plus dwellings and even a convent that served as a hiding place for around 300 nuns.
