Turkey
Ihlara Valley
A 100-metre-deep gorge sliced through volcanic rock, its walls honeycombed with painted Byzantine churches.
The staircase drops you a hundred metres down into the earth, and suddenly the plateau vanishes. A ribbon of green opens below: poplars lining the Melendiz River, their canopy hiding painted cave churches cut into the canyon walls. The air cools, birdsong replaces wind, and the Cappadocia you thought you knew becomes something entirely different.
Ihlara is a 14-kilometre volcanic gorge in Aksaray province, carved by the Melendiz River through tuff laid down by the eruptions of Hasan Dağı. More than a hundred Byzantine churches are hollowed into the cliff faces, many painted with frescoes from the 6th to the 13th century; the Ağaçaltı Church keeps its Ascension in vivid reds and blues. At Belisırma, halfway along the valley floor, wooden platform restaurants serve trout grilled above the stream, a scene unchanged for decades. Unlike the busy valleys around Göreme, long stretches of the full-day walk belong to no one but the river and the rock.
Solo
The 14-kilometre trail is ideal for walking at your own pace, stopping at whichever painted church catches your eye without negotiating group itineraries.
Couple
Riverside lunch at Belisırma, grilled trout on a wooden platform above the water, is one of Cappadocia's most romantic and least crowded tables.
Family
The valley floor is flat and shaded, with caves to explore at every turn. Younger children manage shorter sections happily, with a splash in the shallows as reward.
Friends
The full gorge traverse is a day-long adventure. Add a long platform lunch and you have a story that outranks any balloon selfie.
- The gorge holds over 100 Byzantine rock-cut churches carved between the 6th and 13th centuries.
- The Melendiz River runs along the flat valley floor, and the main trail follows the bank with little climbing.
- Poplars and willows shade the path, keeping the gorge noticeably cooler than the plateau above.
- At Belisırma, wooden-platform restaurants stand directly over the river, serving trout mid-walk.
Şepe, a stiff flatbread rolled thin, griddled, then buttered and filled with cheese.
Sultanhanı aşı, lamb, bulgur and chickpeas cooked as the caravanserais cooked it.
Grövelsjön
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Lake Matheson
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