Detailed itinerary (The description below is an example of a trail we often do, but for reason like weather forecast or safety reasons the guide can choose to change the itinerary of the trail at the last moment.
Sunday
Arrival at Kayseri airport. You are met by your driver and transferred in 50 min to your guesthouse in Urgup, where you have dinner with your guide.
Monday: Kapadokya Ranch - Mustafapasa - Ayvali
You are driven to the ranch in the morning to meet your horse and to get acquainted with the riding equipment.
The trail begins with one hour of riding through lush vegetation and along the stream of the Uzengi canyon. Villagers cook lunch for you on the woodfire, at the foot of troglodytic citadels of dovecotes carved out the abrupt rock walls.
Your first long canter is the ascension of the Avlak mountain (in case of rain, the Avlak mountain is unrideable and will be avoided), with a magnificent encompassing view of Cappadocia. The rocky hills could provide the perfect background to a Western movie... you will then spend the afternoon riding through expanses of bare hills surrounding Lake Damsa. (In case of hot weather, you can swim in the lake with your horse).
After lunch, you ride through a maze of paths lined with orchards and vineyards, then enter into the village of Ayvali through a hidden canyon, and stop for the night in your hotel nestled in the rock.
Tuesday – Ayvali – Mustafapasa - Ayvali
In the morning, you have a quick start with a canter through the fields of the high anatolian plateau (1600m height): barley, wheat, oat and bean fields which bring us to visit the underground village of Golgoli. Your sure-footed horses take you off the beaten tracks along a scenic path through rock formations, vineyard and orchards, surrounded by table-mountains.
Tying horses in front of the restaurant, we will have lunch in the center of the old Greek village of Mustafapasa.
After lunch, you may stroll among Mustafapasa’s old stone houses, its Ottoman madrasa and its painted church or take a nap on the sofa.
In the afternoon, you can enjoy varied scenery of narrow tracks, small canyons, farmed land and the wide-open spaces of Bahceli, where shepherds lead their flocks. You sneak your way along the lush, narrow canyon of Sorkumlu, before galloping on large sandy tracks.
You arrive to your guesthouse in Ayvali for your last night in the village.
Wednesday: Ayvali – Ibrahimpasa - Uchisar
Leaving the guesthouse on horseback, you can enjoy a varied scenery of narrow tracks and farmed land. You sneak your way along the lush, narrow canyon of a “Gomeda” before a beautiful canter through the fairy chimneys of Gümüslü valley. You ride uphill to reach the lunch at one of our best restaurants: “Babayan evi”.
Very good and healthy local food. From this picturesque village, you start ascending the ‘twin hills' of Cappadocia to reach a panoramic viewpoint encompassing northern Cappadocia and the towering rock fortress of Uchisar.
As you ride towards the village, you can admire the multicoloured rock formations of the famous Pigeon Valley, and Uchisar’s picturesque fairy chimneys. You reach your panoramic guesthouse on horseback and enjoy a drink on the terrace. You may spend the rest of the day exploring Uchisar.
Thursday : Uchisar – Rose Valley - Uchisar
Optional hot-air balloon flight in the early morning: travel with the wind over Cappadocia's magical landscape at sunrise (paid directly to the balloon company).
You sneak your way through the rock tunnels, arches and small woods of the spectacular 4 km-long canyon called Zemi. You make a detour through the famous Love Valley and its gigantic phallic rock formations, then into the Sword Valley and Red Valley. With its cidatels of red, pink and ocre rock, and its beautiful troglodytic churches, this is Cappadocia's most spectacular ensemble of geological formations. A cave cafe located in an ancient monastery welcomes you for lunch. In the afternoon, you
keep exploring the Red and Rose Valleys, then ride out into the fields, surrounded by the rocky hills of north Cappadocia. The winding paths of the Shepherd’s valley take you back to your guesthouse in Uchisar, in time to admire north Cappadocia in the sunset light.
