Cappadocia in 2 days: a self-guided itinerary

When the weather allows, the Cappadocian day starts with dozens of balloons rising over the valleys at once. You do not need to fly to see it: walk up to the ridges west of Göreme before first light and watch the burners flare one by one in the dark as the balloons inflate on the launch fields. Once the sun is up they drift between the fairy chimneys and right over the town. If you want to fly, arrange it the day before; flights go up at the very start of the morning, so hotel pick-ups are early too.

This valley just outside Göreme was the heart of a monastic community from the 4th to the 13th century AD, and almost every rock mass was carved into a church, chapel, refectory or seating area. In the Apple, Snake, St Barbara and Sandal churches some paintings were applied straight onto the rock and others onto dry plaster; look closely and you will spot the difference. The Dark Church, which has its own ticket, is named for how little light gets in, and that is exactly why its frescoes keep the strongest colours in the region. On the way out, do not skip the Buckle Church (Tokalı) down the road; it holds the largest and most detailed painted cycle of the site.

Walk back towards town and turn into the Zemi Valley, and you reach El Nazar, a church carved into a lone cone of rock. It has a free-cross plan with three apses and a central dome; the walls run from the Nativity to the Resurrection, with prophets and martyrs on the lower parts of the domes. At the bottom of the west wing, Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena close the decoration. It is far quieter than the main museum, so you can study the paintings at your own pace.

In Çavuşin, just north of Göreme, the old village is carved step by step into a cliff face. As the rock has fallen away, the house fronts have collapsed and the rooms lie open, so you can see inside a cave house almost in cross-section. From the path that climbs towards the top, the new village lies below and the Kızılırmak valley stretches into the distance. The small eateries around the village square are good for a simple lunch of gözleme or a local stew cooked in a clay pot.

Paşabağları, once known as the Valley of the Monks, is one of the most photogenic corners of the region, with fairy chimneys that split into several bodies and caps. Some of these natural formations were hollowed out as chapels and living spaces. Inside one three-headed chimney is a chapel and cell dedicated to St Simeon, the ascetic said to have lived on top of a column near Aleppo. As you follow the paths between the chimneys, you can easily pick out the ones that were carved inside.

Spread over the steep northern slopes of Aktepe, Zelve is a rock village of three valleys, abandoned because of the danger of erosion. The first valley has a mill once used to make bulgur, the Fish and Grape churches and a winery; the second has the Church of the Holy Cross; the third holds the village square, a monastery carved into a dome-shaped rock and the mosque opposite it. At the end of the valley are pigeon houses cut high into the cliffs, their facades decorated with simple motifs, and at the exit stands the Church with Columns. Unlike Göreme's churches, what you see here is the trace of everyday village life.

On the road from Zelve towards Ürgüp, Devrent has no churches or carved houses; it is purely the work of nature. Masses of pink and cream tuff look like a camel, a seal or figures holding hands, depending on where you stand; the most famous is the camel-shaped rock you can make out even from the road. It is made for a short break: step out of the car, wander for fifteen or twenty minutes and decide for yourself what each shape resembles.

Avanos sits on the banks of the Kızılırmak, Türkiye's longest river, and has made pottery from the river's red clay for centuries. Cross the footbridge over the river and stroll along the bank, then climb into the narrow lanes between the old stone houses on the hillside. Some workshops in town still use kick wheels, and watching a potter turn a lump of clay into a jug in a few minutes is the real reason to stop here.

End the day at the lookout over the Kızılçukur Valley, between Çavuşin and Ortahisar. As the sun drops, the folded rock walls turn orange first, then the red and pink that give the valley its name; the vineyards and poplars below fall into shadow while the slopes keep glowing. Looking down in the evening on the valley the balloons rose from at dawn is one of the moments that stays with you from these two days.

Four levels of Kaymaklı have been uncovered so far, with the rooms gathered around the ventilation shafts. The passages are low, narrow and sloping, believed to be designed to slow down an enemy. The first level has stables, the second a single-nave church with two apses, and the third storerooms, wineries, kitchens and an andesite block with 57 holes carved into it for crushing and grinding. Villagers still use the tunnels beneath their houses as cellars and storerooms today.

South of Kaymaklı, Derinkuyu reaches a depth of about 85 metres and is one of the best known of the 150 to 200 underground settlements estimated in the region. It contains stables, cellars, dining halls, churches and a room for boiling grape molasses, and a missionary school on the second level. The 55-metre ventilation shaft also served as a well. Only about a tenth of the city is open to visitors today, yet as you descend from level to level you still feel how vast it is.

From the lookout at the edge of Uçhisar you look down on hundreds of small pigeon houses cut into the valley walls. For a long time pigeon droppings were the main fertiliser for the region's vineyards and orchards, which is why so many roosts were carved into the rock. A trail along the valley floor runs all the way to Göreme; if you skip the underground cities on the second morning, that walk is a good alternative.

Uçhisar Castle is a huge mass of rock riddled with rooms and one of the highest points in the region. After the steps to the top, all of Cappadocia opens out below you: the Göreme valleys, Pigeon Valley and, on a clear day, the snowy peaks of Erciyes and Hasan on the horizon. The lanes at the foot of the castle are lined with stone buildings converted from old rock houses, and you can have lunch on one of the village's terraces with a view.

Between Uçhisar and Göreme, the Bağlıdere Valley is popularly called Love Valley; here the fairy chimneys reach their most extreme form, tall and slender with dark caps. From the lookout on the upper rim you see the whole line at a glance. With a little more time, you can follow the path down from the rim to the foot of the chimneys.

With its rock castle rising from the middle of the village square, Ortahisar is like Uçhisar's quieter sibling. The village is also known for its cool stores cut into the rock: long tunnels that are still used today to keep lemons, potatoes and apples. A short walk from the square to the castle and the back lanes shows you an everyday Cappadocian village, away from the crowds.

Just outside Ürgüp, the Three Beauties are among the region's best-known symbols: three fairy chimneys that still wear their caps. These rocks of different heights formed because a hard cap of basalt protected the soft tuff beneath it; once a cap falls, the column below wears away quickly. Hearing the family legend told about them from locals turns this into more than a photo stop.

Ürgüp grew as a town by adding stone facades to houses carved into the rock, and finely worked doors and window surrounds still line its back streets. A short climb in the middle of town leads up Temenni Hill to a viewing area with a small tomb, where you can watch the sun set over the rooftops and the valley. Ürgüp is also one of the region's wine-growing centres; at dinner you can try wines from local grapes and regional dishes such as pottery kebab.