Trying out an art form traditional for the country you’re visiting can be a truly inclusive and inspiring experience. After all, it’s not just a process of making something but learning the traditions and conventions of a particular form of expression. Plus, you get to take home something you made with your own hands, and such objects make the best souvenirs and provide for great conversations back home.

There are several options of Art Tours in Cappadocia.

First of all, pottery. Cappadocian towns of Cavusin and Avanos boast a ceramic art tradition going back hundreds of years, and you can get to know them through a visit to one of the pottery workshops. You will be taught the ways of turning a slub of the local red clay into something beautiful. Maybe even functional! But beauty is more important, I guess. Also, the therapeutic effect is beyond expectations. Honestly, it’s so soothing. And rewarding because at the end of the day you will take the fruits of your work away with you.

Then there’s the art of ebru (pronounced eh-broo). The ebru artists use a tray of water and oil mixture into which they pour paints and transform the blobs of paint into flowers or beasts or simply beautiful ornaments. At first, the picture exists only on the surface of the water. But when ready, it can be transferred either on a sheet silk paper or a piece of gossamer fabric. So, it can be framed or worn as a one-of-a-kind scarf.

And finally, there are Soganli dolls. If you’re going to visit the village of Soganli (pronounced soh-ahn-lih), you will definitely see local ladies selling the endemic Soganli bebek (it’s Turkish for a doll). Seriously, those are made only in this tiny settlement hidden deep in the rocky valley. You can buy them OR you can try to make one yourself. They are really cute!