Cappadocia is Turkey’s mountain bike paradise. Its dramatic volcanic landscape offers challenging and rewarding slick rock trails, lush green singletrack and a world of caves, canyons and secret paths to explore. The Cappadocia region has what many believe is Turkey’s most stunning and varied landscapes – one look at our photo gallery will give you a taste of this, but the reality is a whole lot more breath-taking.
Terrain:
The whole tour is made up of fast flowing singletrack on the mountains and in the cannons of the Cappadocia region, which sits right in the centre of Turkey. These trails have a wonderful flow, sometimes smooth and fast, sometimes peppered with rocks for some technical challenges, or slimming down to a pencil line, slicing deep into the slopes of a canyon. The nature of the landscape means steep climbs and descents are common on this trip, so good fitness and ability level are required.
Usual daily distances:
45 - 60km
28 - 37 miles
Ride Description
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Day 1 - Arrival
Saturday
Today is a travel and setup day. If you fly to Turkey from the UK or mainland Europe you will usually depart in the middle of the day and, with the 3 hour time difference, arrive in the evening into Kayseri (after a change at Istanbul). It’s a short 20-minute transfer to our hotel, which is right in the centre of Kayseri city.
Once at our hotel we can unbox and assemble our bikes in the grounds, then any of your questions can be answered over dinner, which is an informal pre-tour briefing.
The hotel has plenty of space for you to relax in, a good bar and café. For those people who are renting bikes, we may have time to set them up this evening, otherwise, we’ll do it in the morning.
For those on their own bikes, our guides are expert mechanics and will help you to get everything together and set up perfectly after your flight.
Accommodation: Kayseri Ibis, Kayseri
Meals Included: Dinner
Cycling: 0 miles, 0km
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Day 2 - Underground City
Sunday
After breakfast, we transfer to Soganli valley, which only takes an hour, where we plunge into an epic canyon landscape, where ancient rock-cut churches nestle in lush fruit gardens. After a singletrack circuit, we climb out of the canyon on a combination of dirt roads and rock farming tracks, following the canyon rim for incredible views down over the edge!
We continue to Derbentbasi to enjoy a simple but tasty picnic lunch, then ride on to Derinkuyu where we have time to explore the fascinating multi-story underground city. At the end of the ride, you’ll have enjoyed a first taste of the scenery, the trails and the hospitality of Turkey; you’ll also be ready for a night of comfort in one of Cappadocia’s finest “Konak” luxury boutique hotels.
Located in the charming historical village Guzelyurt there are streets to wander in the evening, as well as some excellent food to set you up for the next day of mountain biking.
Kapadokya Ihlara Konaklari, Guzelyurt
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Cycling: 25 miles , 39km
Ascent: 1968ft, 600m
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Day 3 - Grand Canyon
Monday
Today we get a short uplift in our support vehicle, then start our mountain bike ride by climbing to the rim of Turkey’s most beautiful volcanic crater lake. From the rim trail, with its views across the azure water below, we descend on singletracks through the deserted part of a traditional Anatolian farming village, little visited by tourists, before ascending back to the plateau to Sivrihisar village.
At this point, it’s time to grab a snack and make sure you’re hydrated, as you’ll need full concentration for the descent that’s about to come. From here it is nearly 1800m down into the Monastery Valley, and we fly down the trails as dust, rock and the blazing sunshine combine to test our focus and get the adrenaline pumping.
And this is just the morning – we roll back into Guzelyurt for a restaurant lunch in the town square and celebrate our first major descent with a good feed, in preparation for a great afternoon.
After time spent exploring the lovely old buildings of Guzelyurt, we descend via Yuksek Kilise (High Church) to Ilhara at the start of Turkey’s famous “Grand Canyon”. We ride the tricky (with some hike-a-bike sections) singletrack in the canyon itself, over rocky obstacles and low, wide north shore style bridges and walkways that are a challenge and a pleasure.
At Belisirma cold drinks in a bamboo hut suspended above the river’s fast-flowing waters await! From here the ride down the canyon continues, flowing through patches of woodland, over terraced gardens and sometimes right alongside the stream that eventually brings us out at Selime village, right at the base of the canyon.
Accommodation: Ihlara Akar Hotel, Guzelyurt
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Cycling: 24 miles , 39km
Ascent: 2526ft, 770m
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Day 4 - Rest, Ride, Redemption
Tuesday
This morning we take half a day off the bikes and visit the incredible rock-cut Selime Monastery, where those with a head for heights can scale the 300 steps tunnel, before the hour and a half transfer by support vehicle to Goreme. This lively town is the main hub for this region of Cappadocia, offering a good range of cafes, bars and restaurants.
It’s also right at the centre of an indescribable moon-like landscape that is the main reason people travel from all over the world to visit this area. At first sight, it’s hard to take the multitude of sights in - the combination of steep-sided canyons and “fairy chimneys”, mountainous stacks of rock that have been cut out with ancient cave houses, churches and beautifully decorated pigeon lofts.
Mountain biking out from Goreme after lunch, we take a steady singletrack climb through the gardens and fairy chimneys of White Valley, enjoying some skills training specific to the intensely steep, meandering dirt trails.
After a final climb, we stop for freshly squeezed orange juice at the valley head before continuing to Uchisar- a pretty little village fortified with a hilltop castle. From here we descend Pigeon Valley- at times quite steep, rocky and technically challenging on a classic, satisfying singletrack trail.
Accommodation: Cave Hotel, Goreme
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Cycling: 10 miles , 15km
Ascent: 1312ft, 400m
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Day 5 - Fairy Chimneys
Wednesday
This morning you can choose to get mountain biking once again or take a day off to explore in some other way, or simply relax. It’s sometimes possible to arrange activities such as an early balloon flight or quad / motorbiking, but equally, you may be happy just mooching around town, enjoying the sunny streets and the chance to relax outside and watch the world drift by.
Goreme is one of the 2 places in Turkey (with Istanbul) which first became a member of UNESCO’s World Heritage List, so it really is a lovely place to spend some time and perhaps visit one of the many cave churches in the town.
For those dedicated to getting as much singletrack mountain biking in as possible, today’s ride won’t disappoint you. We start with an easy but rewarding singletrack above Rose Valley before heading down a great 5km singletrack through Meskender Valley (technical at times with lots of challenges from steps to tunnels and berms). Then we climb up through Rose Valley once again but this time heading for the magnificent Church of Columns, descending on a rock-cut bermed track to Cavausin for a picnic lunch.
From Rose Valley in the morning to White Valley in the afternoon, the rest of the day is spent enjoying some great technical mountain biking challenges and fast flowing, super smooth rock cut trails. We return to Goreme through a rolling landscape crisscrossed by slender walking paths – now mountain bike trails for us alone – and punctuated by the stacks of the magnificent natural rock chimneys. Once back at the hotel we rejoin the rest of the group and head out for some great food in one of the restaurants in town.
Accommodation: Cave Hotel, Goreme
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Cycling: up to 14 up to 28 miles, 22km, up to 45km
Ascent: 1640ft, 500m
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Day 6 – To the Moon Jungle and Back
Thursday
Today we begin with an ascent on steepening terraced singletrack climbs, past the 7th century Grape Church cafe and on to Ortahisar- a pretty and unspoiled fortified village. From there we take a rough dirt road to reach an amazing descent through a rocky moonscape into the Gomeda Valley. A great feature of today’s journey is the range of ecosystems we explore and their incredible difference. From the high-level barren moonscapes, we wind our way down into the valley, swapping granite rock for jungle-like, overgrown pathways across streams, under giant rock arches and over challengingly tricky log bridges. Finally, we arrive at a beautiful lunch picnic site in Uzengi Valley where we explore the rock-cut churches and pigeon lofts.
From here we climb on a picturesque dirt road to Ibrahimpasa village, discovering the seldom-seen side of central Cappadocia. A rough track uphill over a superbly panoramic hilltop brings us to Zemi Valley - one of the most brilliant, varied and all-out-good-fun downhills of the trip. The trail passes through narrow rock wall passages, low ceilinged black-out tunnels and in and out of densely forested undergrowth.
Finally, we link up with a fast downhill section of the XC World Championship course and tear down over moonscape rocks back to Goreme. A tough but great day with some of the best riding you will find anywhere in the world!
Accommodation: Cave Hotel, Goreme
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Cycling: 28 miles , 44km
Ascent: 3280ft, 1000m
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Day 7 - The Water Tank – “Relentless”
Friday
Our last day riding is both physically and technically challenging but the rewards speak for themselves… this is how one of our guides described it in his recce notes – these really sum up the enthusiasm that a mountain biker feels for such an incredible day:
“Pass by Goreme Open Air Museum and take the paved road back up to the Panoramic Viewpoint. Then a steep hike-a-bike trail brings us to the plateau summit of Boz Dagi (Table Top Mountain). Incredible panoramic singletrack ends in a ridiculously fast dirt downhill into the Devrent Valley- and finally down into Urgup, for a restaurant lunch.
From Urgup climb on a shady, sandy river track back to the Panoramic Viewpoint, taking in the massive views for one last time before the hardest but most incredible trail… The Balcon. It’s not for the faint-hearted but great riding, and the only way to end this trip! Nobody will be disappointed…
Think traversing steep-sided canyon walls with a precipitous undulating narrow sandy track strewn with rocky obstacles and you just about have it, but don’t look down… And the fun goes on- as the trail continues to Pasabagi fairy chimneys via the Water Tank trail- another relentless singletrack rock garden that is immensely rewarding. Those with the legs will have a chance to go again at the Balcon (it sometimes takes a second go-to nail some of the sections). Then it’s back to Goreme for beers. Perfect.”
Accommodation: Cave Hotel, Goreme
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch
Cycling: 21 miles, 33km
Ascent: 2296ft, 700m
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Day 8 - Heading home
Saturday
On our last day, we pack up our bikes and transfer back to Kayseri Airport for an early flight home.
Once again our expert guides will help with any packing issues if you have any. If you would prefer to spend more time in Turkey, either staying in Cappadocia or breaking the flight home to spend a few days exploring Istanbul, please let us know as we can help with these arrangements.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Cycling: 0 miles, 0km
