Exploring Cappadocia: Our Red Tour Adventure

This post is part of our Europe Travel Series. We started our journey in Istanbul, and if you’d like to follow along with our experiences from the beginning, please start here.

Cappadocia is one of the most beautiful and unique places in Turkey. Long ago, volcanic eruptions covered the land with soft rock. Over thousands of years, wind and rain shaped the rock into unusual formations called fairy chimneys. The region is also known for its deep valleys, cave homes, and underground cities carved into the rock.

Cappadocia is especially famous for its hot air balloons. Every morning at sunrise, hundreds of colorful balloons float across the sky, creating one of the most breathtaking views in the world.

We stayed at Sultan Cave Suites in Goreme, one of the most popular cave hotels in Cappadocia. The hotel is built into the natural rock, and the rooms are carved directly into stone, just like the traditional homes people lived in here for centuries. It is also listed in the Michelin Guide, which adds to its reputation.

The hotel has a lot of charm, with stone walls, arched walkways, and terraces overlooking the valley. It is especially known for its rooftop terrace, where guests gather at sunrise to watch hundreds of hot air balloons floating in the sky.

Staying in a cave hotel was one of the best parts of our trip. The peaceful setting, unique rooms, and beautiful views made it a special way to experience Cappadocia.

We woke up early in the morning and went up to the terrace to watch the sunrise and the hot air balloons. The sky slowly turned golden, and colorful hot air balloons began rising over the valleys. It felt almost unreal, like a painting coming to life. It was one of the most breathtaking moments of our trip.

There was also a beautiful setup that felt like something from Instagram—a traditional Turkish breakfast displayed on colorful rugs, with a big brass tray filled with nuts and small dishes. There were also glasses of fresh juice, all arranged very nicely. It was a fun and picture-perfect spot to take photos and enjoy the experience.

Sultan Cave Suites has an amazing restaurant, Seten Restaurant. After watching the balloons, we headed there for breakfast.

The food was beautifully arranged in a cave-like setting, featuring an impressive spread of cheeses, fresh breads, spreads, traditional Turkish dishes, juices, and desserts. The combination of warm, freshly prepared food, crisp morning air, and the stunning surroundings made it the perfect start to the day.

Later, we joined a pre-booked Red Tour arranged through the hotel, which covers the northern part of Cappadocia. A minibus picked us up from our hotel at 10 a.m. There were only eight people in the group, which made the tour feel very personal and relaxed.

Our guide was knowledgeable, showing us around the region and explaining the rich history behind each place we visited. Our first stop was Pasabag, also known as Monks Valley. It gets its name from the Christian monks who once lived there in small rooms carved into the rocks. They chose that quiet valley to pray and live a simple, peaceful life. The valley is famous for its unique fairy chimneys—tall rock formations with mushroom-shaped tops.

 

Next we visited Zelve (Open-Air Museum), an old cave village where people once lived inside rock-cut homes and churches. It is now an open museum, and we walked through empty cave houses, tunnels, and narrow paths carved into the soft volcanic rock. It felt like stepping back in time and seeing how life used to be in Cappadocia many years ago.

There are small openings carved into the rock walls, known as pigeonholes or pigeon houses. These were built long ago to attract pigeons, which played an important role in farming life in Cappadocia. Farmers collected the pigeon droppings and used them as a natural fertilizer for their fields.

Pigeons were also sometimes used as a source of food, and their eggs were eaten in small amounts. In some cases, pigeons were even used to carry short messages over distances. Some of these pigeon houses were also decorated, showing how valuable the pigeons were to the local people.

Next was Devrent Valley, often called Imagination Valley, where nature has shaped the rocks into fascinating forms that look like animals, people, and other objects. It was a fun stop because we played a game, trying to guess what each rock looked like. We spotted shapes that resembled a camel, a dolphin, a giant hand, and many more. It was amazing to see how wind and rain had naturally carved these unique formations over millions of years.

  

We also visited Uchisar, home to the highest point in Cappadocia. Its famous Uchisar Castle is a massive natural rock formation that was carved into homes, storage rooms, and lookout points many centuries ago. From the top, we enjoyed breathtaking panoramic views of the valleys, fairy chimneys, and surrounding landscape, making it one of the best viewpoints in Cappadocia.

Our lunch stop was at a charming farm-style local restaurant, and getting there was an adventure in itself. Our minivan could only take us so far, so we switched to an old jeep driven by a gentleman who looked to be around 80 years old. He skillfully navigated the narrow, bumpy road that led us to a privately owned farm nestled in the countryside.

When we arrived, a couple of local women were preparing lunch in a simple outdoor kitchen. The meal was absolutely delicious—fresh, homemade, and bursting with flavor. Every dish was prepared using traditional local recipes with ingredients grown or sourced nearby. It didn't feel like eating at a restaurant at all; instead, it felt as though we had been invited into a relative's home, welcomed with genuine warmth and heartfelt hospitality.

Surrounded by lush greenery and the peaceful sounds of nature, it was the perfect place to slow down, relax, and enjoy an authentic local experience before continuing our sightseeing.

Our last stop was Avanos, a town known for its long-standing pottery tradition dating back to Hittite times. We visited a pottery museum where beautifully decorated, artistic pieces were on display, and we watched artisans' hand-painting pottery.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long enough to see a live pottery-making demonstration because there was a waiting time. The pottery here is made using clay from the nearby Red River, which has been central to the town’s craft for centuries.

Throughout the tour, our guide shared fascinating stories about the region’s geology, history, and the people who once carved homes, churches, and entire communities into the soft volcanic rock. The Red Tour provided a wonderful introduction to Cappadocia, blending history, culture, and some of the most extraordinary landscapes we have ever seen.

Even though the tour was wonderful, the afternoon sun was quite strong. We had arrived late the previous night and started our day early, so by the time the tour ended, we were very tired. We went back to the hotel, rested for a while, had dinner, and then returned to our room.

That night, we went to bed early because we had to wake up before dawn for our hot air balloon ride the next morning. We had been looking forward to this experience for a long time and couldn't wait for it. 

Click here to read about our unforgettable hot air balloon experience.