ITINERARY - TURKEY BICYCLE TOURS

DAY 1: Our bicycle tour begins!

Our Turkey bicycle tours start at either Kayseri or Nevsehir Airports. From here we'll take you to your hotel - a unique & luxury cave hotel that is literally built into the rock overlooking Urgup. Very unique & memorable! Urgup, surrounded by vineyards, is a town of stone houses & cobbled streets that was formerly home to a large Greek population. You'll have time to explore the town and then we'll meet for a delicious traditional Turkish dinner and stay in our unique cave hotel.

DAY 2: Terraced farmland & vineyards

We'll start by checking everyone's bikes and going over the basics. We'll then embark on a picturesque warm-up ride that will take us along the Uzengi Stream and past lush farmland. We’ll break for lunch at Ortahisar, a quaint farming village that Lonely Planet rightly describes as 'a gem waiting to be discovered'. After lunch we’ll return to Urgup via a fun downhill track that weaves its way through vineyards and apricot trees, arriving just in time to reach the Urgup fortress before sunset. From here we’ll enjoy a panoramic view of the entire town. We'll have a well-earned dinner and glass of local wine in Urgup and then head to our luxury cave hotel.

Distance: 30 km/19 miles
Off-road: 90%
Climbing: 700 meters
Descending 700 meters

DAY 3: Sleepy villages & ancient Roman city

We’ll spend the morning biking through traditional Cappadocian countryside, following streams and rivers and passing an ancient Caravanserai (a staging post for camel caravans) that was once important along the 13th century Silk Route. For lunch we’ll stop in the village of Avanos, an ancient Roman city now famous for its prolific pottery industry. Our afternoon ride will take us to a sleepy, off-the-beaten track village whose houses are carved into a steep rock cliff. The day’s ride will culminate in a pleasant ride through Love Valley, after which we’ll head to Goreme for dinner. The magical village of Goreme, set among honeycomb cliffs and surrounded by vineyards, is home to a Roman castle and a maze of cobbled streets. After dinner we'll return to our cave hotel.

Distance: 70 km/43 miles
Off-road: 90%
Climbing: 1000 meters
Descending: 1000 meters

DAY 4: Off-the-beaten-track villages

Our bicycle tour continues with another ride through quiet farmland trails and off-the-beaten-track villages. We’ll return to Ortahisar and then cycle deeper into the countryside where we’ll stop for a picnic lunch at a small village. Our after-lunch ride takes us through potato fields, several villages, and a picturesque valley. By evening, we will reach Soganli, which Lonely Planet describes as 'a magnificent place to explore which you'll often have to yourself'. One of Cappadocia’s earliest settlements, Soganli is famous for its ancient churches and monasteries that are cut right into the rock face. Then we'll return for our final night at the cave hotel and enjoy a delicious dinner.

Distance: 40 km/25 miles
Off-road: 70%
Climbing: 800 meters
Descending: 600 meters

DAY 5: Explore underground city

For sheer fascination and mystery you can hardly beat the underground cities of Cappadocia. There are 200 underground cities in the region and some are as old as 4000 years. These cities housed entire villages of people and protected them from Roman soldiers and raiding Arab tribes. Today we'll ride to one of the largest underground cities, Derinkuyu, a maze of rooms and tunnels that go 7 levels (85 m) underground. Seeing an entire town built underground is a unique and humbling experience! After lunch at our favorite local restaurant, we’ll cycle through the Turkish farming villages of Kiledere and Yazihoyuk before arriving at the village of Komurcu. We’ll rendezvous with our vehicle here in order to transfer to Guzelyurt (“beautiful land” in Turkish), a sleepy Cappadocian town nestled amongst citrus groves and filled with stone houses and rock-cut churches. Set against a striking backdrop of fairy chimneys, the Guzelyurt landscape is punctuated by the shining, often snow-capped peak of Mount Hasan Dagi. Home to rock-cut churches and underground cities, Guzelyurt is surprisingly non-touristy. You’ll have ample time to absorb its natural splendor as we stop for dinner and a night in a local boutique hotel.

Distance: 60 km/37 miles
Off-road: 85%
Climbing: 700 meters
Descending: 500 meters

DAY 6: Mountain trails

We transfer to Komurcu village in the morning hours and begin biking to Baglama from the main road. After a smooth off-road period, we’ll cycle 9 km up a mountain road to reach Cinarli village where it’s situated on the summit of a small mountain. Afterward, we’ll enjoy a long downhill ride through mountain scenery before ending up at the historic village of Ciftlik. After lunch here, we’ll continue to our bicycle tour back to Guzelyurt, where we'll have dinner and another night at our boutique hotel.

Distance: 65 km/40 miles
Off-road: 80%
Climbing: 1000 meters
Descending: 800 meters

DAY 7: The Turkish Grand Canyon

This morning, we’ll cycle along Ihlara canyon which is commonly called the “Turkish Grand Canyon”. This valley, a favorite retreat of Byzantine monks, is home to dozens of painted churches carved into the rocks. The 16 km valley starts wide and then narrows to form a spectacular gorge. Biking in here is an unforgettable experience thanks to the dense greenery lining the stream and the deep red walls of the canyon. Although relatively non-touristy, many guidebooks cite the Ihlara Valley as one of the highlights of traveling in Turkey. Leaving the canyon in the afternoon we'll take a 35 km trail that crosses the mighty Kucuk Hasan Mountain. Upon reaching the mountain pass, you'll be rewarded with a long and exhilarating downhill ride. At the end of the day we'll jump in our vehicle to be transfered back to our unique cave hotel in Urgup.

Distance: 65 km ride/40 miles
Off-road: 95%
Climbing: 1050 meters
Descending: 1300 meters

DAY 8: World Heritage Ruins & The Valley of the Fairy Chimneys

Today our bicycle tour will take in some of Cappadocia's most impressive sights. Our morning ride will take us to Cappadocia's crown jewel, the Goreme Open Air "Musuem". This World Heritage Site is made up of a cluster of Byzantine churches, chapels & monasteries all built into the rock and all sporting impressive frescoes. After a short ride through Rose Valley, we’ll arrive in Cavusin, a quiet, picturesque village off the beaten path with one of the oldest churches in Cappadocia. We’ll ride through the cobbled streets of Cavusin on our way to Zelve, where 3 valleys of abandoned homes, churches, mosques and tunnels converge. Our ride home will take us through the unforgettable "Valley of the Fairy Chimneys", so called for the remarkable rock formations that dot this region. Upon returning to Urgup we'll back our bags so we can transfer back to Kayseri Airport for an evening flight to Istanbul. Those who would like to stay another night and be transfered to the airport in the morning can choose this option from our optional extras.

Distance: 40 km/25 miles
Off-road: 70%
Climbing: 1000 meters
Descending: 1000 meters