Goreme Valley Explorer (easy)

Route: 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 chruches with minimum effort!
Lunch: Seyyah Han Restaurant, Cavusin- delicious 4 course menu with choice of main dishes
Includes: transfer to and from your hotel, professional guide, bike and helmet hire, restaurant lunch and emergency assistance.

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!

Goreme Panoramic (Easy – Moderate)

Route: Goreme – Uchisar – Uchisar Castle – Love Valley Panoramic – Cavusin – Swords Valley – Goreme

Distance: (19km / 450m Climbing)
Start: 10.00 Goreme
Finish: 16.00 Goreme
Grade: Physical 2 / Technical 2
Best for: View seekers, photographers, historians and adventurous cycling novices
Lunch: House of Memories Restaurant, Uchisar- delicious open buffet of Turkish meze, soups, main course and dessert in a wonderful atmosphere.
Includes: professional guide, bike and helmet hire, restaurant lunch and emergency assistance.

Highlights:

  • Climbing to the summit of Uchisar Castle for the best 360 degree views of the area.
  • Photographing the towering “fairy chimney” rock towers in Love Valley
  • Enjoying a great lunch from a beautiful, panoramic terrace
  • Taking mountain biking detours through Swords Valley as recommended by your expert guide.
  • The unforgettable view of Goreme village from the “panoramic” dirt road trail 

Itinerary:
This is a circular bike tour from Goreme that takes in many of the regions most unmissable views and stunning landscape panoramas. It’s also possible to start and finish in Uchisar if you’re staying there. The tour is suitable for all, and although there are options in the afternoon to go “off track”, stays mostly on dirt roads and well surfaced paths. Starting at the Middle Earth Travel office in Goreme at 10.00, we begin a steady and fairy long climb, first up through the village itself, and then up towards Uchisar on a dirt road that affords increasingly wide views over the valley below. We pass by Pigeon Valley and stop to fotograph the incredible valley scenery there. In Uchisar we visit Uchisar Castle- a natural rock outcrop fortified to protect Christians during volatile Byzantine times. Climbing to the top of the castle takes us to the highest point in the region, and a chance to capture incredible 360 degree views. We enjoy a leisurely lunch at a characeterful restaurant overlooking Pigeon Valley, Ortahisar and on clear days all the way to Erciyes volcano in the distance.

After lunch, we relax with a long, gentle downhill freewheel along the edge of Love Valley canyon- always on smooth, easy to handle tracks and never too steep. There’s an option to ride into the valley itself to explore the “fairy chamineys” in more detail- your guide will advise. Crossing the valley flats to Cavusin we visit the 6th Century Church of St John set amongst towering, crumbling cliffs. The final section back to Goreme through Swords Valley (Kilicalar) is full of interest, passing through an immense landscape of fairy chimneys, rock-cut dwellings and even a thousand year old monastery complex. Here there are options to try “single track” biking too- ask your guide. You’ll return to Goreme, from where we’ll drive you back to your hotel. 

Goreme Pathways (Moderate – Challenging)

Route: Goreme – Cavusin – Pasabagi – Devrent Valley – Urgup (lunch) – Red Valley Panoramic – Kiliclar – Goreme (Total 30km / 540m Climbing / 540m Descent)

Distance: (30km / 520m Climbing)
Start: 09.00 Goreme
Finish: 16.00 Goreme
Grade: Physical 2-3 / Technical 3
Best for: Anyone wanting to explore the region’s sights on easy to handle dirt tracks and back roads
Lunch: Cappadocia Restaurant, Urgup- a selection of tasty local dishes in one of the best places
Includes: Transfer to and from your hotel, quality bike and helmet hire, professional guide, restaurant lunch. Excludes drinks and tips.

Highlights:

  • Exploring the incredible “fairy chimney” scenery at Paşabağı
  • Biking through the dry and barren Devrent Valley and “camel rock”
  • Sampling the best local food in one of Urgup’s best restaurants
  • Enjoying superb panoramic views and unmisable photo opportunities
  • The best mountain biking on only the easier trails.
  • Descending through the “cake icing” rocks of Red and Rose Valleys

Itinerary:
This circular ride from Goreme is a mid-level dirt road and easy singletrack tour that circumnavigates the imposing table top mountain of Boz Dagi. It is suitable for all, but nonetheless challenging. Leaving Goreme, the ride soon ascends onto a paved and then dirt road which heads north towards the small, historic village of Cavusin. Enjoying fleeting glimses down into Love Valley to the left, and Rose, Red and Kiliclar Valleys to the right, almost instantly we are enjoying the area’s very best views. Stopping in Cavusin to visit the impressive 5th century Church of St John the Baptist, we set off on a relatively flat, sandy dirt track via the incredible “fairy chimneys” of Pasabagi, to the dry, barren landscape of Devrent Valley. From here, a brief asphalt climb rewards us with an easy cruise downhill to the vibrant and youthful town of Urgup- where we enjoy a good restaurant lunch on the town square.

From Urgup we take a gently climbing dirt road up a delightful, shady valley that is awash with butterflies and wildflowers in the early season. We gain height relatively easily, and without too much excertion arrive at the Panoramic Viewpoint above Red Valley- to enjoy one of the region’s most fantastic landscapes. From our high point here, we descend on smooth, ever-narrowing and eventually very steep trails that bisect a spur separating Rose and Kiliclar valleys. The final section of the tour is on singletrack paths, but even first time mountain bikers will enjoy their smooth, undulating nature as we wonders back to Goreme via the stone stacks, rock-cut pigeon lofts and age-old churches of Swords Valley (Kiliclar). The end of a fairly challenging but hugely rewarding day!

Tour Information:

Prices for all tours are as follows: 230 Euros per person (1 pax), 160 Euros per person (2 pax), 130 Euros per person (3 pax), 120 Euros per person (4+ pax).

Prices good quality bike and helmet hire, professional guide, a nice restaurant lunch and car vehicle assistance if required. Good quality E-Bikes are available on request, subject to an additional charge of 45 Euros per person per day.

Tours begin at the Middle Earth Travel office at 09.00 and return at around 16.00.

To make your booking please send us an email with your requirements: info@bikinginturkey.com or call / Whatsapp our office directly on: +90 (533) 134 4346.

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