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The green Ihlara Valley with the Melendiz stream between cliffs 8 more photos
Photo: The original uploader was Morphosis at Turkish Wikipedia. / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain, resized

Nature · Ihlara & Aksaray · Güzelyurt

Ihlara Valley

Ihlara Vadisi Örenyeri

A green gorge cut by the Melendiz stream into the plateau west of Cappadocia, its walls pierced by painted rock churches.

Today: sunrise 06:59 · sunset 17:54 (calculated for this spot)

  • Open now Closes 17:00 · last entry 16:15
  • Ticket €15
  • Visit ~2.5–4 h
  • Museum Pass

Directions See it on the Ihlara & Aksaray map

Build a day-by-day plan with closing-day warnings and ticket totals.

What to see

From the main entrance a long staircase drops to the valley floor; a path follows the stream under poplars, passing churches such as Ağaçaltı and Kokar with frescoes from the Byzantine period. Belisırma village, halfway along, has riverside restaurants.

The walk from the main entrance to Belisırma takes about two hours; the full length to Selime is a day. Allow three to four hours for the usual visit.

Spring and autumn are ideal; in summer the valley is cooler than the plateau above. The ministry's page points visitors to the main gate (no. 2).

Getting there

About 40 km south-east of Aksaray and 90 km from Göreme; most people come on a day tour from Cappadocia or by car.

Transport lines are general directions, not checked against the operator's timetable.

Open in OpenStreetMap See it on the Ihlara & Aksaray map

Nearby

Open now near me →

Eat & drink nearby

Cafés

Listings from ilçemde, our sister directory; ratings from the map service shown. We don't rank by payment. Nearer places come first (within 300 m, then 700 m), then ratings weighted by how many reviews they have. Opening hours can change; “Open now” uses Istanbul time.

Also in this area

Featured in Hidden gems and Viewpoints.

Straight-line distances.

Where to stay nearby

Güzelyurt (Ihlara) has 4 places to stay licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Ministry list, counted on ilçemde on 30 Sep 2026).

Hotels and guesthouses in Güzelyurt ↗

How we rank: Nearby Ministry-licensed places first (matched to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism list), then other places by distance band (within 5 km, 15 km, 40 km; straight line) and public map ratings and review counts. A licensed place never jumps ahead of a closer band. Places more than 25 km away in another town are shown only when there are few options nearby. No business pays to be listed. A high score from a handful of reviews counts for less than a slightly lower score from hundreds. Ratings and counts come from ilçemde's data (source shown on each card, checked 1 Oct 2026); read the reviews themselves on the map services.

Accommodation lists open on ilçemde, our sister directory of Turkish businesses (new tab). We do not take bookings or commissions.

Pharmacies on duty tonight in Güzelyurt ↗ The list changes every day; on-duty pharmacies stay open when the others are closed.

About this page

Location: Wikidata Q22343387 (P625). Ticket, hours and closing days: only from the operator's own pages; anything we could not confirm there is marked “Not verified”. Last checked 30 Sep 2026.