Red Tour or Green Tour in Cappadocia? The Stops Compared

At a glance

Cappadocia’s two classic day tours are known by color. The Red Tour stays in the north, close to Göreme, and moves between viewpoints and fairy chimney valleys. The Green Tour drives south to an underground city and a river canyon.

The names are a local convention, not a fixed route, so stops vary by operator. Everything below describes the two tours we list. If you are comparing Red Tour vs Green Tour in Cappadocia with another agency, check its stop list against this one.

Red Tour stops

The Red Tour is the northern loop. Distances between stops are short, so more of the day is spent outside the vehicle than inside it.

• Uçhisar Castle viewpoint. The rock fortress stands on the highest point in the region and gives the widest view of the day.
• Devrent, also called Imagination Valley. A photo stop among rocks that erosion has shaped into figures. There are no churches here.
• Paşabağ, or Monks Valley. A walk among fairy chimneys with several caps on a single stem.
• Avanos. A pottery workshop in the town on the Kızılırmak river, and the lunch stop.
• Zelve Open-Air Museum. A rock-cut village spread over three valleys and lived in until the 1950s, with chapels, homes and tunnels.
• Love Valley. A last viewpoint over some of the tallest chimneys in Cappadocia.

Two places that many Red Tours include are not on ours: the Göreme Open Air Museum and the village of Çavuşin. Our route visits Zelve as its open-air museum. If the painted churches of Göreme are your main reason for coming, check the stop list before you book any Red Tour, or visit the museum on your own. It is a short distance from the center of Göreme.

Green Tour stops

The Green Tour is the southern route. It covers much more ground, which makes it the longer day, and it has the two things the Red Tour does not: an underground city and a real walk.

• Göreme panorama. A first look over the valleys before the drive south.
• Derinkuyu Underground City. You go down level by level past stables, kitchens, a church and the round stone doors that closed the passages from inside.
• Ihlara Valley. A walk of about 4 km beside the Melendiz river, under high canyon walls, with stops at cave churches that still have their frescoes.
• Belisırma. The lunch stop, at a village on the river inside the canyon.
• Selime Monastery. A large monastery cut into the cliff at the end of the valley.
• Nar Lake and Pigeon Valley. A crater lake and a valley lined with dovecotes on the way back.

Some passages in Derinkuyu are narrow and low. The route is lit and ventilated, and you can wait above ground if tight spaces bother you. Our guide to the underground cities explains what to expect and how Derinkuyu differs from Kaymaklı, which some other operators visit instead.

Which one should you pick?

Neither tour is the better one. They show different halves of the region, and the right choice depends on what you came for.

• The landscape from the photos. Fairy chimneys, rock villages and wide viewpoints are the Red Tour.
• An underground city. Only the Green Tour goes below ground.
• Walking. The Red Tour is light walking with short optional climbs at the viewpoints. The Green Tour includes about 4 km on a mostly flat but unpaved path, so wear sturdy shoes.
• Time. The Red Tour is the shorter day and returns earlier in the afternoon.
• Time in the vehicle. The Green Tour spends longer on the road. If long drives tire you or your children, choose the Red Tour.
• Tight spaces. If they worry you, the Red Tour avoids them. On the Green Tour you can skip the lower levels.

If you have one free day and no strong preference, ask yourself whether you would rather look at Cappadocia or walk through it. The first answer is the Red Tour and the second is the Green Tour.

Both in two days

The two routes share almost nothing, so doing both is not a repeat. Each one takes a full day, which means two days, one after the other.

The order is up to you. Starting with the Red Tour gives you the lighter day first, which helps after a long trip to get here. Starting with the Green Tour puts the long day and the walk first, while you are fresh. If you would like something shorter for a third day, the Cappadocia tours page lists the half-day and evening options.

Around a balloon morning

Balloons take off at sunrise and land soon after, and the whole morning runs about three hours from hotel pickup to return. That leaves the rest of the day free, so a balloon flight and a day tour can share the same date.

Check the times before you commit. Your operator confirms the balloon pickup the day before, and each tour page shows its own pickup time. In summer, when the sun rises early, there is usually time for breakfast in between. In winter the sun rises late and the gap can close, so it is safer to put the tour on a different day.

After a very early start, the Red Tour is the easier partner because the day is shorter. And if the weather grounds your flight, the tour gives the day a plan while you try for another morning. These are the two tours, with their current prices.