Goreme Valley Explorer
Daily Bike Tour

Goreme Valley Explorer (Easy)

Freewheel amongst the magical “fairy chimney” scenery

Goreme – Gorkundere – Zemi Valley – El Nazar Church – Swords Valley – Rose Valley – Columns Church – Cavusin (Restaurant lunch) – St John Baptist Church – Love Valley – Goreme Panoramic – Goreme 

Distance: 22km / 500m Climbing
Start: 10.00 Goreme
Finish: 16.00 Goreme
Grade: Physical 1 / Technical 2
Best for: Discovering the region’s most beautiful landscapes and churches with minimum effort!

Highlights:

• Exploring the miraculous volcanic landscape of Rose Valley
• Marvelling at the towering “fairy chimney” rock towers in Love Valley and Gorkundere
• Enjoying the best local food in one of Cavusin’s best restaurants
• Discovering the “Column’s Church”- rated as Cappadocia’s most impressive
• Sampling mountain biking, maybe for the first time, with a fully trained guide
• The unforgettable view of Goreme village from the “panoramic” dirt road trail

Itinerary:
This relatively easy 22km ride is designed to allow you to experience Cappadocia’s most beautiful sights by mountain bike. It is challenging in places, and there are some sections where you may need to push the bike. Your guide will offer full instruction, and you will gently and securely tackle the route at your own speed over the course of the day. Starting at the Middle Earth Travel office in Goreme, we begin with a gentle spin down through the village, soon turning up into some of the region’s most dramatic countryside. Here, nearby incredible “fairy chimney” rock towers, we have time to explore a little on foot. Your guide will explain how the geology of Cappadocia formed and its social and historical contexts. Moving on, a level and well surfaced dirt road takes us deep inside Zemi Valley- one of the greenest and most captivating places. Returning along the same track, we take a short detour uphill to visit the impressive El Nazar Chruch. From here, a fantastic undulating track passes through an unbelievable area of cave dwellings, rock cut churches and even a monastery complex, known as Swords Valley. Now climbing into Rose Valley we visit one of the most impressive churches in the Goreme area- the Church of Columns. Taking our time, we reach the small, historical village of Cavusin easily and stop for a leisurely and enjoyable 4 course meal at a highly rated restaurant.

In the afternoon we begin with a visit to the 6th Century Church of St John the Baptist- one of the largest and oldest cave churches in Cappadocia. After spending some relaxing time sightseeing in Cavsuin, we head off on the bikes once more, crossing the valley plain and reaching the entrance of Love Valley (sometimes known as White Valley), where we’ll visit an area of incredibly phallic “fairy chimneys”, and possibly stop again here to explore on foot. Returning through the valley along a different path, a last challenging climb takes us to an elevated position above Goreme where you will enjoy unmatched views over to Cavusin, Rose and Red Valleys and the Boz Dagi table top mountain beyond. The end of a fantastic days ride!