You may have thought of going to Istanbul to visit the Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Haghia Sophia, and Topkapi Palace. Your read the Spice Bazaar is a must-see place and one of Istanbul’s most vibrant attractions. You even pondered to include a Bosphorus Cruise, a boat ride that takes you past Ottoman Palaces, as well as beautiful wooden mansions and modern villas of the 19th & 20th century. But even your brief turkey holidays can become more enriching if you tailor in a visit to the animal-like natural formations and gnome-like chimneys of Cappadocia.
From Istanbul you can fly to the Nevsehir or Kayseri airport and begin with Pasabagi in Zelve area where monks worshiped in isolation of rock cut rooms. From here proceed to the pottery town of Avanos where Kizilirmak, the longest river of Turkey, snakes through red clay landscape that has been the raw material of pottery for centuries. In the afternoon visit the rock houses of Goreme, and its early Christian churches.
On the second day of your sojourn in Cappadocia visit the underground settlement of Kaymakli, then continue to the Devrent Valley to marvel at the fairy chimneys in Urgup, the minaret-like rock formations that point to the sky like ballistic missiles. And as grand finally to your tour of Cappadocia, hike in Rose Valley, walk through cave tunnels, visit an ancient cave dwelling and scramble to a cave chapel.
The Goreme National Park and the rock sites of Cappadocia, UNESCO World Heritage Site, is indeed a rewarding part of Turkey to visit, and one of ancient sites of the world to must-see before you die.