What you need to know about the Red Tour:
- It includes all of the most iconic places of Cappadocia
- You will enjoy some spectacular views
- It takes about 7 hours
- You won’t have to walk on foot too much, if it’s a concern
It goes like this. You will be picked up from your hotel at about 9:30am, and then we will proceed to the foot of Uchisar castle, which served as a fort for many-many years, protecting the locals from the enemy attacks. Though at some point, the atmosphere became more peaceful and it was basically turned into a giant dovecote. There are hundreds of tiny windows for the pigeons in walls of rock castle and the surrounding rock formations. Those pigeons had a very special purpose: they provided Cappadocian farmers with the best fertilizer – the pigeon droppings.
Next stop: Goreme Open Air Museum. Here, I’ll guide you through one of the most impressive monuments of early Christianity as this museum gives you a a very good idea of how the Christians of the Byzantine empires used to live, work and persevere for their faith. The frescoes, depicting the classic scenes from the Bible, are very well-preserved inside some of the cave churches. My personal favourite is Tokali Kilise (meaning “church with a buckle”) with its stunning frescoes standing against the blue background. But we can compare our findings after you see all of the cave churches in Goreme.
Then we drive to admire the Love Valley. It’s hard to describe but definitely admirable. You gotta see it.
From the Love Valley, we proceed to the old village of Cavusin (pronounced “ch-AH-voo-sheen”)famous for its ceramic workshops. There you can see the craftsmanship of local masters but – more importantly – you yourself can don an apron, sit at the pottery wheel and get your hands dirty! It’s an awful lot of fun and leaves you with a very special kind of souvenir. You can also climb up the rock dominating the old part of the village to see some of the abandoned cave dwellings, barns, chapels and rock tombs.
Next up, the town of Avanos or, as the Romans called it, Venessa. It is a pretty small town but very charming. It sits on the banks of Kizilirmak (meaning “the Red River”) with its slow waters and hundreds of geese and ducks residing on a special island built for them. The river gets its name from the reddish colored clay found at the bottom of the river. Similar to Cavusin, Avanos is famed for its pottery traditions. There is even a whole museum dedicated to the ceramic art: Guray Muze. A word of advice: make sure you have a jacket or a cardigan with you, as it gets pretty chilly in there – the museum is located underground.
After some rest in Avanos, we go to a very curious place called Pasabag, where you can see dozens of huge rock pillars. Walking among them feels absolutely surreal and makes you realize how enormously powerful the forces of nature are because those pillars were formed entirely by wind and water over thousands of years.
And on we move to the Devrent Valley. The name means “Imagination” and you will see why it is 100% appropriate. Those crazy rock formations will make your imagination run wild: is it a camel or a turkey? Is it Virgin Mary or a candle? Hmm, hard to tell. All in all, the landscape is phenomenal. Extra-terrestrial even.
Finally, we drive to see the Three Beauties. Though some locals call them Catal (pronounced “ch-ah-tAH-l”), meaning “fork” because these three fairy chimneys look a bit like the teeth of a giant fork. Sort of. But if you ask me, the Beauties definitely sound more enigmatic. This iconic spot offers a fantastic view, especially, at sunset.
