Ihlara Valley: the canyon walk on the southern route

A gorge in Aksaray province with a river along the floor

The canyon sits well away from the landscape around Göreme. It cuts through Güzelyurt district of Aksaray province, west of the Nevşehir sites, and that drive out and back is what turns the southern route into a 7-9 hour day instead of a half day. The Ministry's site record gives the gorge as about 14 km long and up to 120 metres deep at points; the Aksaray culture and tourism directorate quotes 150 to 200 m for its deepest sections.

What you walk into at the bottom has nothing in common with the dry tuff country above. There is running water, trees along both banks, and two rock walls closing in overhead. The walls are what you came for: hundreds of churches and chapels have been identified inside the valley, carved into the cliff at the height the builders could reach from the floor.

The visit is a walk. There is no viewing terrace that substitutes for it, no lift, and no way to see the painted interiors from the rim. If the walking part does not appeal, this is the stop to be honest about before you book a southern day.

The Ihlara Valley hike: 394 steps and what the floor path is like

From the Ihlara entrance the way down is a staircase of 394 steps, dropping in flights along the cliff face. You go down them at the start and, on the standard shape of the day, you do not come back up the same way, because the walk ends at the village downstream. Take the descent slowly anyway: the steps are the part of the day most likely to leave your legs shaking at lunch.

On the floor the path is earth and loose stone, with roots, rock slabs and short rises where it climbs away from the water towards a church door. It runs level overall and is uneven under every step. Wet weather makes the stone slick, and the sections near the river stay damp longest.

Shade is real but patchy. Trees along the water cover long stretches of the path, then it opens out against the rock and there is nothing. July and August are the months to respect: the Nevşehir station nearby averages daily maxima of 28.5°C in July and 28.7°C in August, with an all-time high of 39.5°C in July, and August is the driest month of the year at 8.4 mm and about 1.7 rainy days. In high summer, go down as early as the tour allows and carry more water than feels necessary.

• Footwear that closes over the whole foot, with a flat sole and some grip in it, picked for stone rather than for comfort on a terrace. Sandals and smooth-soled shoes are the wrong choice for 394 steps and a stone floor path.
• Water, a sun hat and sunscreen from June to September.
• A layer you can take off: the floor is cooler than the rim in the morning and warmer than you expect by early afternoon.
• Something waterproof if you come in spring, because the floor path holds the wet: March brings rain on about 13.1 days, and May delivers the year's heaviest total at 57.9 mm.
• Hands free. You will want them on the steps and at the church entrances.

Ihlara Valley churches and the frescoes worth stopping for

The churches here are nothing like a laid-out museum enclosure. At Göreme the official record lists ten monuments inside one fenced site, with the Dark Church charged separately on top of the €20 entry. In this canyon the chapels simply appear along the path, cut at different heights, some with a few steps up to the door and some opening straight onto the walking line.

Two are named on the Ministry record as the best known: Ağaçaltı Church and Kırkdamaltı, also called St George's. Those are the ones tour groups actually enter, because they sit within reach of the staircase end of the walk. Paint survives on the rock inside, and in the dim light you need a minute standing still before the figures separate from the wall. Give each one that minute rather than photographing from the doorway and moving on.

One oddity from the same official record: 17 cat mummies were recovered from the valley, dated to the 10th to 13th centuries, and 12 of them are displayed in Aksaray Museum rather than here.

How much of the canyon a day tour actually covers

A day tour covers one section of the canyon. The standard shape is the 394-step descent at the Ihlara entrance, then a stretch along the river past the churches nearest the steps, finishing at the village downstream where groups break for lunch at the riverside restaurants. No official walking time is published for that stretch, so treat whatever figure your guide gives as the working one and plan around the clock of the whole day instead.

That clock is tight. The site opens at 08:30 and closes at 17:00 on the Ministry's current listing, with the last tickets sold at 16:15, and the canyon sits a long drive west of Göreme. A southern day that includes an underground city as well has no slack in it, which is why these tours start early and return in the evening.

Walking the full 14 km is a different project altogether and does not fit inside a tour day. The section tours cover gives you the floor, the river, the walls at close to their full height and the two named churches, and it is the part of the valley worth the effort.

Hours, admission and the best months to go

Admission for foreign visitors is €15 on the national tariff, and Müzekart is accepted for Turkish citizens. The green tour listed here has the entry and lunch inside its price, so nobody is queuing at a window with cash in the middle of the day. Hours and ticket-office times do move with seasons and local decisions, so check what is posted at the entrance on the day.

September and October are the months to aim for: the walk is done in comfortable air, the canyon floor is dry, and you are past the July and August heat that makes the open stretches hard work. Spring is green and wet, with March the rainiest month by number of days and May the wettest by volume. Midwinter works if you dress for it, though a frozen or snow-covered staircase changes the calculation.

On balance, book the southern day with the canyon walk, its ticket and lunch included, and keep it apart from your balloon morning. A 7-9 hour drive and a staircase do not sit well on top of a pickup in the dark.

Questions people ask

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