5 reasons to stay in Goreme when visiting Cappadocia

My guest post today features the town of Goreme in the heart of Cappadocia’s ‘Fairy Chimney’ country. Liz from Travelogged tells us more about the area and why you should use Goreme as your base when you visit.

Fairy Chimneys of Cappadocia

If you’re planning a trip to Turkey, chances are people will encourage you to visit Cappadocia to see the unique landscape of “fairy chimneys”, colorful rock formations and caves. But as you begin your research, you’ll quickly learn that Cappadocia is a region so you’ll have to choose a specific town to stay in. Popular choices are Goreme, Uchisar and Urgup. This past June, I decided to stay in Goreme, and I would highly recommend it for these reasons.

1. You don’t need a car

The best reason to stay in Goreme is that you don’t need a car if you stay there. This is particularly important if you are arriving by plane, as the main airport is in Kayseri, which is over an hour away. Our flight from Istanbul arrived at night and the last thing we would have wanted to do would be to get lost trying to find Goreme in the dark. We arranged a pickup from our hotel at 10 euros per person, and the whole transfer went quite smoothly.

When we got to Goreme that night, we were able to walk from our hotel into the town and had our choice of restaurants. The whole place is compact, so as long as your hotel is truly located in Goreme, you will be able to walk to town and therefore go to the restaurants, bars and shops without any problems. You can also walk to the Open Air Museum  and go for a hike in Love Valley – more on those later.

2. The town is a real place

As we were walking around deciding where to eat, we saw males aged 8 to 88 sitting outside and playing backgammon. It’s not a big town, but there must have been well over 100 people there. Goreme is a touristy place, as is that whole area of Cappadocia, but plenty of people live their lives there and aren’t simply dropping in to look at the rock formations (like we were).

3. You can stay in a cave hotel

There are a variety of accommodations in Goreme, ranging from backpacker to luxury. If possible, choose one of the cave hotels. That’s right, you can stay in a hotel where the rooms are carved out of a rock, just like the traditional homes of the area. We enjoyed Sultan Cave Suites , which has the same owners as the better known Kelebek Hotel. Staying in a cave might not be for the claustrophobic, as the room goes deep into the rock and there aren’t many windows. (Although we did have a small skylight, which was pretty cool.) As a desert area, Cappadocia is subject to extreme temperatures but the rock does an excellent job as insulation. Our room didn’t have air conditioning (and this American traveler loves her air conditioning) and despite the hot weather it remained comfortable. I wouldn’t want to take up cave living permanently, but spending a few nights in the cave is a cool experience.

 

3. The Open Air Museum is in Goreme

If you stay in Goreme, you can walk the approximately 2km to the Open Air Museum. (No matter where you stay in Cappadocia, you don’t want to miss this UNESCO attraction.) The Open Air Museum is actually a former Christian religious complex with nunneries, churches, houses, dining rooms, kitchens and more that was built — or, in this case, carved — between the 10th and 13th centuries and has long since been abandoned. The highlight is the Painted Churches, which refer to the well-preserved medieval frescoes adorning the interiors of some of the churches.

5. Visit Love Valley from Goreme

When you’re surrounded by so much natural beauty, you just want to get there and walk around it. Most hikes require some form of transportation, but you can do a short hike in Love Valley, which is on the way to the Open Air Museum. (Take the path off the main road by the Cappadocia Tourist Hotel.) It’s a great area to see the “Fairy Chimneys,” which are rock formations that look like well, fair chimneys, or elongated mushrooms or something else entirely if you have a dirty mind. As you rise slightly in elevation, you get good sweeping views of the whole area. Chances are good that, like us, you’ll have this whole area to yourselves.

Thanks for this guest post to Liz Borod Wright at Travelogged,  the travel blog that will all take you over the world, from the beaches to the slopes, from ancient ruins to modern architecture.

Travel Resources

Kelebek Hotel in Goreme
Sultan Cave Suites in Goreme
Cappadocia Information
Travelogged - Exploring the Painted Churches at the Open Air Museum
Travelogged - Greetings from Goreme, the heartland of Cappodocia

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Guest post - Sightseeing in luxury in Istanbul

I recently took a trip to Istanbul, Turkey. I’m a huge history buff, and love sightseeing, so you can imagine why I was so excited to go to such a gorgeous place, full of history, life, culture and energy. Istanbul used to be the capital city of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Latin Empire and the Ottoman Empire and has a great artistic and cultural scene.

So, it’s not hard to understand why it was selected to be one of Europe’s capitals of culture next year.
Turkey is a pretty good deal for travelers these days, given the strength of the Euro or Pound against the Turkish Lira. 1 Euro is worth about two Turkish liras, and 1 pound is worth 2.34 Turkish Liras, so what you save on touring around, food, transport and other expenses, you can spend on a great hotel .

I chose the Ritz-Carlton Istanbul , which I’d say is one of the best hotels in Turkey  as well as being conveniently close to all of Istanbul’s historic sites and cultural attractions. Because of its height, we were afforded some spectacular views of the city including some of the more interesting sites (palaces and mosques as well as the Bosphorus Straits).

We really enjoyed the Turkish-style décor, and at the hotel’s spa, you can visit an authentic Turkish hamam , which is all part of the Istanbul experience. You can pick up local soaps at the Grand Bazaar and try them out. When you’re finished at the hamam, you’ll feel relaxed, refreshed, clean (and possibly shiny, depending on the soap you use!).

There are so many interesting things to experience in Istanbul but here are some of the must-sees;

The Blue Mosque  has spectacular interior wall-coverings of more than 20,000 blue Iznik tiles, and was commissioned by Sulten Ahmet I in the 17th century. The mosque was considered ostentatious in its time because the six minarets were considered to be trying to outdo the minarets in Mecca itself, so the Sultan had to overcome objections by paying for a seventh minaret to be built in Mecca.

The Hippodrome was the center of Istanbul during the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires and a stadium holding 100,000 people once stood here with the chariot racing track where now the road runs round. You can still see the beautifully carved stone Egyptian Obelisk, Serpentine column which was shipped from Delphi and the column of Constantine along the length of the Hippodrome.

You’ll also need to spend an afternoon at the Grand Bazaar , which is a covered market full of gorgeous clothes, Turkish carpets and all sorts of odds and end. The bazaar is divided into different sections depending on the type of goods being sold with gold and silver at one end, carpets in the heart of the bazaar and leather and clothes at the other side. This is the place to drink a cup of mint tea offered by the vendors while you hone your bargaining skills, always remembering that the skill is mainly on their side.

Lastly, don’t leave town without touring the Topaki Palace  built in the 15th century by Mehmet II after his conquest of Constantinople. The Palace is a complex of buildings, courtyards and gardens which once housed government offices as well as the Sultan’s private apartments and the Harem where his wives, concubines and family lived. There are many wonderful collections of gold and silver in the treasury, ornate Imperial costumes as well as beautiful ceramics and manuscripts. Don’t forget to book your separate tour of the Harem apartments as soon as you arrive, as places are limited and get booked up early.

If you’re looking for some other great Istanbul hotels  you could try:

The Sofa Hotel and Residences : which is perfect if you’re in the mood for a small hotel with a modern look – ideal if you’re traveling for business.

Ciragan Palace Kempinski , which works well for a romantic getaway, as this hotel is in an imperial palace and is right on the water.

A’jia Hotel, which is a tiny hotel (only 15 rooms in a mansion), great for honeymoons or weddings given how intimate it is and how close it is to the water.

Ritz Carlton Hotel Istanbul

Ajia Hotel Istanbul

Note from Heather: If I was having a second honeymoon (with my first and only husband of course) I’d pick the A’jia Hotel -the setting looks so romantic. When I was in Istanbul visiting a girlfriend who was teaching out there, we always used to wander through the Ciragan palace and use the loos, pretending that we were staying there! Even if you’re not staying there you can treat yourself to their wonderful Sunday brunch buffet.

Photo credits: Kiwicollection, Birdfarm, Enderzero, Oberazzi, Michael Tinkler

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Visit the Kozak Mountains on a Day Trip from Dikili Turkey

My Guest post today will take you into the beautiful Kozak mountains near the Aegean coast of Turkey, where Sharon Egin runs a holiday villa in the resort of Dikili, a favourite with Turkish holiday makers. Sharon shares her experiences of  authentic Turkish culture and warm hospitality.

Nothing could have prepared me for my first visit to the Kozak mountains which are situated just off of Bergama on my trip to Dikili in Turkey. I was stunned by its natural beauty as I drove around the gentle curves of the pine clad mountain. This place was lush and green with natural springs and giant rocks scattered all around.  From time time we would past a shepherd herding his sheep or goats and were greeted with a wave and a smile on every occasion.

As you drive higher and higher into Kozak you pass the first of villages which continue all the way up and down again the other side. The inhabitants still retain their traditional tribal Turkish culture. The mountain air, organic food and spring water mean a long and healthy life for the locals is not uncommon. In the main the people live of the land and a large part of their economy is the produce from the pine nut trees. These are extracted by hand by the village women in the Autumn. Livestock and crops are another source of income and sadly also the giant rocks, which are now being dismantled for use as pavements in the surrounding towns and cities.

The Kozak plateau is also famous for its carpet weaving tradition and the high quality wool on wool carpets they produce.

We were visiting the village of a family friend and upon our arrival the children were the first thing I noticed. They gathered all around clearly delighted to see us and made the most of the opportunity to practice some English. We moved on to the house of our friend and were given tea and börek,  a type of Turkish pastie served with a tomato and onion salad and some bread to scoop it up and a side dish of  pine nuts fried in butter.  It was simple but really delicious and our host explained that all of it was produced in the village even the butter which was made from hand milked cows.

We ate in the traditional way on the floor cross-legged with a large tablecloth over our legs to catch the fallen crumbs. After lunch I was taken to see the rest of the village and was fed and watered numerous times. Although fit to burst at the end of my trip the hospitality I encountered left me feeling humble and grateful to have experienced this day and with a deeper insight into the values and culture of rural Turkey.

Sharon Egin runs a holiday villa in the Turkish holiday resort of Dikili - find out more about Dikili and local places to visit at www.villahanorah.co.uk  situated the stunning undiscovered North Aegean region of Turkey as featured on www.yourholidaymatters.com

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