Touring Cappadocia without a car?

Why not self-drive in Cappadocia? It is easy to rent a car at Kayseri and access all the things you want to see, and more, at your own pace.

I used Turkey Insiders (https://turkeyinsiders.com/) to organize my experiences in Türkiye in 2022. They arranged transport from Kayseri airport to my hotel in Goreme, where I stayed for three nights, and they booked all the tours for whatever I wanted to see. Some of those were private tours, some were group tours.

Just be aware that tourism in the Cappadocia area is big business. A lot of tourists and a lot of providers. Turkey Insiders contracted with various local providers. Sometimes you'll be in very crowded vans, as I was to get to the balloon launching site. And sometimes you might have a guide to yourself. And when you are picked up in a van, you may end up driving around for a while to pick up other people at other hotels before you get to where you are going. But you can talk to the folks at Turkey Insiders and ask for more private or small-group experiences, which is what I would do if I went back.

I worked with a lovely woman named Zerrin Yalcin ([email protected]). I have no idea if she is still working there, but I'd recommend emailing her to see if she can help you.

We didn’t have a car. Our reservations for the hot air balloon and regional tour of caves and underground areas picked us up at our small cave hotel. We booked these activities in Istanbul and negotiated a better price. We booked a taxi in advance from the airport to our hotel in advance as we flew in after dark. Actually was able to walk to the bus stop for the overnight trip to Antalya. Can’t remember the town we stayed in but it was walkable. We didn’t stay in a modern hotel. Note: this was 12-15 years ago so the area could be much more touristy and a car would give you the opportunity to explore the area more easily.

We didn’t have a car and saw about everything on your list. Here’s what we did:

Took the bus from Goreme’s main bus stop to both the Kaymakli and Derinkyu underground cities. You change buses in the city of Nevsehir on the main street before first going to Derinkyu which is at the end of the bus line. We visited Kaymakli Underground City on the way back before returning to Nevsehir and then Goreme.
Allow one day for the Derinkyu/Kaymakli Underground City visits It was an easy outing for the day. Nevsehir is a city of 130K residents, so just be sure to take a photo of where the bus transfer stop is in Nevsehir so you can recognize it on the return trip..

We were able to just walk to the Goreme Open-Air Museum and it was quite crowded. Plan to be there at opening hour, if you can,

Toward the southwest edge of Goreme is a beautiful area with mesas and cave dwellings—even a cave church still in use—called “Pigeon Valley.” We took a fantastic hike on the trail and only saw a handful of other thrilled travelers in this uncrowded nature trail just outside of Goreme.

We took a taxi to the Zelve Open-Air museum and it was well worth the time.

Our hotel, of course, had tours of every imaginable kind offered to us. I prefer DIY travel as we get to walk more and get to see more local life traveling the way locals do. The added plus is that—for most outings— you can do it yourself for a fraction of the cost.

Thank you so much for all the input! I got some great ideas from you and now I have a good idea on how to proceed.
Thanks again!

I didn’t rent a car in Cappadocia and still managed to see quite a lot. The hotels in Göreme and Ürgüp are very used to arranging transport — both for day tours and for individual transfers.

The standard “Red Tour” and “Green Tour” cover many of the highlights you’ve listed: Göreme Open-Air Museum, Uchisar, Kaymakli, Avanos pottery, and even some valleys. They’re group tours, but efficient if you want to maximize your time.

If you’d rather focus on specific sites (for example, more hiking in Love and Rose Valleys, or extra time at Zelve), then a private guide/driver is the most flexible. It does cost more, but you won’t feel rushed.

In short, it’s absolutely possible without a car. I was happy with the results — especially combining one group tour with a day on my own for valley walks. That balance gave me both efficiency and some freedom.