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Göreme
is the favorite Cappadocia touring
base for many travelers because
of its excellent selection of hotels,
inns and pensions, and its proximity
to the Göreme
Open-Air Museum (map).
Ürgüp has
historically been the tourist center
in Cappadocia,
but a few decades ago budget travelers
discovered the farming town of Avcilar,
set in a steep moonscape valley
only a mile (1.5 km) from Göreme
Open-Air Museum. They started
to fill the beds in its simple, cheap
family pensions.
Avcilar
has been renamed Göreme,
more comfortable pensions,
hotels and inns have been
set in restored Cappadocian houses,
good restaurants opened,
and now the town is the bustling
center of the tourist trade.
With "fairy
chimney" pinnacles of volcanic
rock rising right in the town center,
and cave houses in the valley
walls, Göreme is a worthy rival
to nearby Ürgüp.
Sensitive local people and foreign
residents work hard to preserve the
town's beauty. The Göreme
Charity Restoration Fund takes
donations and organizes volunteers
to restore and beautify the town. (If
you see one of their donation boxes
at a historic site, consider making
a donation. It's a worthy cause.)
If you happen to visit Göreme at
the time of the spring and fall cave
house tours, you can get
a peek into how modern troglodytes
live, with all comforts and mod cons.
More...
You
reach Göreme via either Nevsehir (bus)
or Kayseri (bus, train, plane),
the transport hubs for the region
(map).
Here's how
to get to Cappadocia from
other parts of Turkey.
Distances & Travel
Times
Avanos: 10
km (6 miles) N, 15 minutes
Kayseri: 90
km (56 miles) E, 1.5 hours
Mustafapasa
(Sinasos): 8 km (5 miles) S, 15 minutes
Nevsehir: 10
km (6 miles) E, 15 minutes
Uçhisar: 5
km (3 miles) SW, 10 minutes
Ürgüp: 8
km (5 miles) SE, 18 minutes
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