Walking and Exploring Cappadocia

Walking and Exploring Cappadocia Overview

On this tour, you’ll explore Cappadocia, one of Turkey’s most enchanting and extraordinary landscapes and also discover the immense capital and key sites of the ancient Hittite civilisation.

“Walking and Exploring Cappadocia and the Land of the Hittites”, combines two of the country’s most enchanting and historically significant regions with Turkey’s modern capital, Ankara. All three lie within the great Central Anatolian Plateau that defines the heart of Asia Minor today as it has done since time immemorial.

Due to its geographic position between seas and continents, Central Anatolia has served as a cultural bridge of immense importance from prehistory to the present, a point of movement and contact, conflict and amalgamation. The number of peoples and cultures that have passed through, settled and interacted here is beyond count, they range from Paleolithic hunter-gatherers and the first farmers of the Neolithic, via the fascinating Bronze Age civilization of the Hittites, the Phrygians, Persians and Romans of antiquity, to the Byzantines, Seljuks, Ottomans, Greeks and Turks. Each of them has left its own distinctive mark on the remarkably diverse history of Central Anatolia.

That fascinating diversity, reflected by landscapes and settlements, is especially tangible in the form of a great wealth of archaeological and historical sites. Ankara, the Hittite heartlands and Cappadocia form a triangle that is not vast, but they are extraordinarily different, each offering a unique and unforgettable experience.

The tour begins at Ankara, where it takes in the city’s important Roman and medieval remains and the vast collection of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, one of the world’s most important treasuries of prehistoric art. The journey then leads you to discover the Land of the Hittites, their citadels, shrines and cities, gaining a deep insight into the complex culture that arose from this country, but also veering off the beaten track to walk and explore many hidden paths through history.

In Cappadocia, you will admire an awe-inspiring geological wonderland of fantastic rock formations endlessly varied in shape and colour, formed over many millennia by volcanic activity and subsequent erosion. Walking through some of the region’s most beautiful valleys and canyons, you will also explore its unique cultural heritage, with countless man-made structures cut into the cliffs and rocks, from simple chambers and dovecotes, to elaborate chapels, entire monasteries and the famous and mysterious Underground Cities. Due to its many painted rock-cut churches, Cappadocia is a veritable treasury of Byzantine Art, which developed and thrived here for over 500 years and provides us with many fascinating details and stories.

With famed highlights like Hattusha, the enormous fortified Hittite Capital, and Göreme Open Air Museum, the very heart of Cappadocia, both UNESCO-listed World Heritage sites, this tour leads you to an intense and memorable encounter with a great and ancient city and with two famous regions, renowned for their history, archaeology and landscape.

Led by an expert archaeologist who is eager to share her knowledge of and vivid enthusiasm for the region and its heritage, this tour explores the long and complex history of Turkey’s capital, Ankara, the ancient Hittite empire of Bronze Age Anatolia, and the vibrant art of Byzantine Cappadocia. On top of all this, you’ll discover off the beaten track historical gems, mostly on foot, and savour some of the finest regional foods and wines.