Cappadocia Green Tour: Derinkuyu, Nar Lake & Ihlara Valley

Overview

If Derinkuyu is the reason you are booking, this is the Green Tour that gives it the most room. Where many day trips allow 30 to 45 minutes underground, this one sets aside a full two hours — the most of any single-day tour on the route — so the guide can take the lower levels slowly rather than herding the group back to the van.

It also states plainly that there are no forced shopping stops, which is the single most common complaint about cheaper Green Tours. The day adds Narlı Göl, the striking crater lake known as Nar Lake, to the usual Ihlara Valley walk and Selime Monastery, and includes lunch, tickets, transfers and a licensed guide.

It costs more than the entry-level Green Tours, and that is the trade: fewer people, more time in the one place you came to see, and a day that is about the sites rather than the sales stops.

Itinerary

• Morning. Hotel pickup in Göreme, then the drive south to Derinkuyu.
• At Derinkuyu. A full two hours underground — time to reach the deepest open level and take in the ventilation system, wells and stone doors properly.
• Nar Lake. A stop at Narlı Göl, a deep crater lake in a collapsed volcanic caldera.
• Lunch. An included lunch before the afternoon walk.
• Ihlara Valley. A walk along the canyon beneath the cliffs and their rock-cut churches.
• Selime Monastery. The rock-cut monastery at the valley's end, then the return to your hotel.

What’s included

Meeting point

Hotel pickup and drop-off in Göreme and the nearby Cappadocia villages is included in this tour, so there is no separate meeting point to find. Bring a light layer for the constant 10–15°C underground and flat, grippy shoes for the carved staircases. There are no toilets inside the underground city, so use the facilities in the town first.

Traveller reviews

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