It was lovely to walk along the river, take in the scenery, and enjoy the peaceful sound of the water. Yes, the trail is busy with various tour groups going either way - but despite the amount of “traffic” it was still wonderful. Cafés are dotted along the river every half an hour or so, and it was lovely to sit in the sun with a freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. Also I should note that a couple in our group had a baby in a pushchair, and although the path is doable with a stroller be prepared to carry it over some rocks protruding from the ground, and some of the wooden walkways.

We walked from Ilhara to Belisirma. It’s about a 7km walk and need several hours to walk and see all the caves along the way. It is a relatively easy walk, although some caves are difficult if you have restricted mobility. If you don’t have the energy I would recommend walking from Belisirma to the clutch of churches and back again. We paid 300 TL for a taxi back around. Completely over priced but I’m afraid there no competition.

We keep this place in our itinerary. It’s almost 2 hours drive from Goreme. It’s truly natural. Far away from madding crowd of tourists. Very few tourists visit here. There are beautiful shaped rocks on both sides of the river with crystal clear water. There are lots of trees around the both banks of the river. Birds are chirping everywhere. At the middle of the trail there is a cafeteria where you can enjoy drink and food by sitting on the chair placed on the river bed where the fishes are roaming within and ducks on the surface of the river. In the way back there is a restaurant on the bank of the river. Any one can seat on the Turkish style sitting arrangement on the river and have some delicious lunch.

This is a well organized hiking path with a perfect combination of a beautiful nature, history and geography. You can walk around 5km in the canyon. Be sure you have sun protection and hat. Also keep one bottle of water in your bag because there is only one place to buy in the canyon.

Ihlara is on the Green tour route which is a full day taking in other sites. We weren’t to keen to commit a full day. Instead we were able to get a VIP Taxi through one of the booking agents for the same price as two day tour tickets from Ortahisar. Three hour return trip, plus two hours walk was perfect. Entered the valley at mid point and walked to entry point one. Really beautiful scenery and a big contrast to ruggedness of surrounding area.