Your Tour Guide and Driver will pick you up from your hotel in Cappadocia between 9:30 and 9:45am for a full day Cappadocia Historical highlights tour.

The tour starts with exploration of Devrent Valley, known as Imagination valley, which contains many animal shaped rocks. It is hard to believe that fairy chimneys here have been carved into their fantastic shapes by only the wind and the weather – but it’s true. People can let their imaginations run riot in this valley and they see whole families, pregnant women, buildings, seals, the famous camel and much more in these rocks.

Next stop of the tour is Zelve open-air museum, one of the oldest settlements of Cappadocia. Zelve once housed one of the largest communities in the region and is amazing cave town honeycombed with houses, churches, community centres and only rock mosque in the area.

Lunch will be taken in Avanos. Avanos is on the Kizilirmak River ( Red River ) and for centuries the people here have been using the red clay of their river to make pottery. The town has many small, family run potteries where the work is done in old way and the skills are passed down through the generations.

Tour continues with Pasabag, the type of fairy chimney found at paşabağ is unique to that immediate area. The effect of basalt ‘caps’ protecting the softer tuff is particularly strong and lots of fairy chimneys have two, three or four heads. Next stop is Cavusin village. The old village is largely deserted because of the area has suffered from rock falls. We will visit the church of John the Baptist that probably dates from the 5^thcentury and has paintings from 6^th, 7^th and 8^th centuries. This is thought to be the oldest church in the region. Quite nearby is another church with frescos commemorating the passage of Nicephoras Phocas ( a Byzantine emperor ) through Cappadocia in 964 to 965.Ninephoras may have visited the church of John the Baptist which was an important centre for pilgrimage.

Last stop of the tour is Rose / Red valleys. The pinky-red areas along the side of Aktepe are the Rose and Red valleys which extend from the village of Cavusin to the Nevsehir / Urgup road. These valleys are rightly famous and popular for the colours in the rocks and for the hidden churches they contain.  From the top of Rose / Red valleys you will have an amazing sunset just before returning to the hotel.