Cappadocia is unique in the world with its landscape, fairy chimnies, rock carved churches and monasteries, underground shelters, rock settlements and the rock castles. Many million years ago the ashes and lava spouting from the volcanoes formed a thick layer on the Cappadocian lake. The wind, rain and the flood have eroded the layer of tufa creating a beautiful landscape and those interesting formations the so called fairy chimnies.

The Göreme Open-Air Museum, a monastic complex of rock churches and chapels covered with frescoes, is one of the best-known sites in central Turkey. Most of the chapels date from the 10th to the 13th centuries (the Byzantine and Seljuk periods) and many of them are built on an inscribed cross-plan with a central cupola supported by four columns. In the north annexes of several churches are cut-rock tombs.

Among the most famous of the Göreme churches are the Elmalı Church, the smallest and most recent of the group; the Yılanlı Church with fascinating frescoes of the damned in serpent coils; the Barbara Churches; and the Çarıklı Church. A short way from the main group, the Tokalı Kilise, or Buckle Church, has beautiful frescoes depicting scenes from the New Testament.

The charming town of Avanos, on the banks of the Kızılırmak River, displays attractive local architecture and known for its handicrafts. Every August the town hosts an Art and Tourism Festival where a creative and friendly atmosphere pervades. Pottery is the most popular handicraft and it is usually possible to try your hand at making a pot in one of the many studios. Rug weaving and knotting is also making a revival. .

Leaving Avanos in a southerly direction you come to an interesting Seljuk caravanserai, Sarıhan.

Ürgüp, a lively tourist center at the foot of a rock riddled with old dwellings, serves as an excellent base from which to tour the sights of Cappadocia. In Ürgüp itself you can still see how people once lived in homes cut into the rocks. If you wish to buy carpets and kilims, there is a wide selection available from the town's many carpet dealers. These characters are as colorful as their carpets, offering tea, coffee or a glass of wine to their customers and engaging in friendly conversation. If sightseeing and shopping haven't exhausted you, the disco welcomes you to another kind of entertainment. At the center of a successful wine-producing region, Ürgüp hosts an annual International Wine Festival in October.

The underground cities of Kaymaklı, Mazı, Derinkuyu and Özkonak were all used by the Christians of the seventh century, who were fleeing from persecution. They sheltered from the iconoclastic strife of Byzantium as well as other invasions in these safe and well-hidden metropolises. A complete and self-sufficient environment, these cities included rooms for grain storage, stables, sleeping chambers, kitchens and air shafts. Today they are well-lit, and an essential and fascinating part of a Cappadocian tour.

Mustafapaşa (Sinasos), traditional stone houses with carved and decorated facades evoke another age. Still traveling in a southerly direction, just past the village of Cemil, a footpath on the west side of the road leads to Keşlik Valley where you will find a monastery complex and the Kara Kilise and Meyvalı churches, both decorated with frescoes.

Soğanlı, 50 km south of Ürgüp, is a picturesque valley of innumerable chapels, halls, houses and tombs. The frescoes, from the 8th to the 13th centuries, trace the development of Byzantine painting.

The Melendiz River, at Ihlara Valley, has eroded the banks into an impressive canyon. Byzantine rock chapels covered with frescoes pierce the canyon walls. Some of the best known are the Ağaçaltı (Daniel) Church, the Yılanlı (Apocalypse) Church and the Sümbüllü (Hyacinth) Church.

Continuing on the road out of Göreme, you enter one of the most beautiful valleys in the area. Rock formations seemingly out of a fantasy rise up before you at every turn and entice you to look longer and wonder at their creation. For those who climb the steps to the top of the Uçhisar Fortress the whole region unfolds below. Rugs, kilims, and popular souvenirs can easily be purchased from the shops which line Uçhisar's narrow streets.