Visit Cappadocia: valleys, balloons and itinerary

Göreme is the most practical base: cave hotels, trailheads and balloon pick-ups are all concentrated here. Around the village lie the Rose and Red valleys, best walked in late afternoon for sunset, Love Valley with its tuff columns, and Pigeon Valley, which reaches Uçhisar in about two hours on foot. Trails are poorly marked: download an offline map and carry water, as shade is scarce between June and September.

Uçhisar is crowned by a rock pinnacle riddled with chambers, the highest point in the area, with views across the whole plateau to Mount Erciyes on clear days. Ortahisar, its quieter neighbour, has its own rock castle and carved storehouses where citrus fruit and potatoes are still kept. Both villages fit into half a day and offer accommodation that is often calmer than Göreme, only ten minutes away by road.

North of Göreme, on the road to Avanos, come the most spectacular formations. Paşabağ, known as Monks Valley, groups multi-headed chimneys once inhabited by hermits. Zelve is a former cave village abandoned in the mid twentieth century because of rockfalls, now an open-air museum. Devrent, the Imagination Valley, takes twenty minutes to cross for its animal-shaped rocks. Allow half a day for all three, by car or scooter.

Dug over several levels into the tuff, these cities could shelter thousands of people and their livestock during invasions. Millstone doors, ventilation shafts, chapels and wine presses are reached through passages that are sometimes very low: visitors with claustrophobia or reduced mobility should skip them. Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı lie on the Niğde road, 30 to 40 minutes from Göreme. One is enough to understand the idea; allow an hour on site.

About 80 km south-west of Göreme, Ihlara Valley is a canyon some fifteen kilometres long cut by the Melendiz river. The path follows the water under poplars and leads to painted rock churches. Most visitors walk three to four hours between the main entrance and Belisırma, where lunch is served by the river. At the northern end, Selime Monastery, carved into the cliff, takes an hour to visit. Plan a full day including the drive.

Avanos, crossed by the Kızılırmak, the longest river in Turkey, keeps alive its pottery made from the river's red clay: several workshops demonstrate the kick wheel. Ürgüp is the liveliest small town, with characterful hotels and wine cellars, as Cappadocia has produced wine since antiquity. Mustafapaşa, the former Greek town of Sinasos emptied by the 1923 population exchange, keeps houses with carved facades. One day is enough to link all three by car.

April to June and September to October are the best periods: mild temperatures for walking and often clear skies for balloons. Summer is hot and dry by day, but nights stay cool at over 1,000 m altitude. Winter brings snow and frost, beautiful on the fairy chimneys, with more flight cancellations. Allow three days for Göreme and its valleys, four or five to add Ihlara, an underground city and Soğanlı.