Cappadocia’s riding tours attract tourists

NEVŞEHİR - Anatolia News Agency

Tourists are going to different parts of Cappadocia region compared to those traditionally visited such as valleys and rivers. AA photo

The horse farms in Avanos, Cappadocia, are serving a new style of tourist attraction, with exclusive horse tours growing in popularity around the area.

The manager of the horseback riding center, Özcan Gökçe, said the farms are large and have large walking parks. The area is also traditionally known for its beautiful breed of horse.

Tourists can choose different kinds of packages for daily tours. While some of these tours are around the river, some are around other parts of the region. Time is also another option on these tours. While some of the tours are for just one day, some are for a week.

Tourists are going to different parts of the region compared to those traditionally visited such as valleys and rivers, Gökçe said, adding that tourists could choose hourly, daily and weekly horse riding tour packages. “The two alternatives are daily and camp tours. Daily tours are mostly chosen by local tourists. Camp tours are preferred by foreign tourists. Horse riding tours are also becoming more common, with interest in them increasing every year,” he added.

Gökçe said two-hour tours were generally organized around the River Kızılırmak and its surroundings, and that tourists had a chance to enter the valleys when choosing four-hour tours.

“Those with riding experience generally choose tours lasting over two hours … We have a lot of business at weekends. There are also 10-minute paddock tours for children. Foreigners are very interested in horse riding here,” he said.

Camp tours in Cappadocia valleys

Many requests for camp tours have been received from groups of foreigners visiting the region, so two-day, three-day and one-week tours are increasingly organized in the region. The participants of these tours are taken to a different region every day. “The route generally includes the important valleys of the Cappadocia region,” Gökçe said.

He said that after a short brief, travelers chose the most suitable horse and the tour started with the accompaniment of a guide.

“In the weekly tours, they begin from Avanos and continue to Özkonak, where tourists are able to visit one of the widest underground cities in Cappadocia. Then we return to Avanos from the Ziyaret Mountain. On the second day, the tour continues to Sarıhıdır, a small fishing town in Avanos. We give a lunch break in Saruhana Caravanserai, before going to Çavuşin district through Zelve and Paşabağları in the afternoon, and the camping starts here. On the third day, we go to Uçhisar, Güvercinlik Valley and then reach Göreme. The tour finishes with visits to the Zemi Valley, Ortahisar, Mustafapaşa, Ürgüp and the Kızıl Valley,” Gökçe said.

He also added that local flavors of Nevşehir were offered during the tours. The price for two-day tours is 630 Turkish Liras, for three-day tours it is 1,050 liras, and for weekly tours it is 2,450 liras.