The most conservative part of Turkey that we visited, Sanliurfa felt different, more religious. The city seemed genuine, it was what I imagined the ‘real’ Turkey to be. Almost no foreign tourists means that the city had no need to be anything other than its authentic self. Narrow alleyways lead to hidden tea houses with tiny stools, converted caravanserais, tunnels, decorated doorways, churches, market stalls. As we staggered along these streets with our backpacks, desperately trying not to get lost or trip over the uneven cobbles, locals smiled and welcomed us. It’s winding streets reminded me of Chefchaouen’s medina in Morocco (minus the blue).

Sanliurfa turned out to be one of my favourite stops in the whole of Turkey. The architecture, the Middle Eastern feel, the stunning hans that make you feel like you’re back in the times of traders on the Silk Road, the hospitable people, the astounding archaeological museum, and of course the nearby excavated site of Gobeklitepe. This travel guide will help you plan your trip with all the best things to do in Sanliurfa, where to stay, where to eat, how to get there, and the most fascinating day trip!

The devastating Turkey-Syria earthquakes on 6th February 2023 saw fatalities of over 55,000 people and destruction of over four million buildings. Sanliurfa and its nearby provinces were affected due to the fault line running under South East Turkey. 

History of Urfa and Sanliurfa

The history of Urfa is a 12,000 years old saga, so condensing everything down into a small paragraph here is a mission and a half. So buckle up.

12,000 years ago, hunter gatherers began to build sites of worship here, as can be seen in the excavations of nearby Gobeklitepe and Karahantepe. With the building of these sites came more people paying pilgrimage which in turn required more food and places for them stay. This is believed to be the birth of civilisation – political, social and religious organisation.

Fast forward thousands of years to the 4th century BC. The city was under Seleucid empirical rule because of Macedonian Alexander the Great’s conquests. When he died, the city was named Edessa. From this point until 1517, the city was under the rule of many different powers (Assyrian, Roman, Persian, Islamic armies, Byzantine, Mongolian – just to name some of them), before a period of relative stability for the next 400 years under Ottoman rule.

After WW1, as with Gaziantep, the city was occupied by the British before being handed over to the French. The French attempted to incorporate the city into their Syrian territory. After the French refused to leave, an organised Turkish and Kurdish uprising took place. The French were defeated, surrendered and left, and Urfa became part of the Turkish Republic. In 1984, Urfa was awarded the prefix ‘sanli’, meaning glorious, in recognition of their efforts during the war of Turkish independence.

It is believed that Sanliurfa is the birthplace and hometown of Prophet Abraham, therefore religion is really important in this city.

How to Get to Sanliurfa

Sanliurfa domestic airport (GNY) is serviced from Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara.

Buses run regularly to Sanliurfa from the other main surrounding cities.

Buses we got in and out of Sanliurfa:

Gaziantep to Sanliurfa: took two hours, leaving Gaziantep at 12:30. Bus company was Vangolu.

Sanliurfa to Mardin: took two and half hours, leaving Sanliurfa at 10:30.

Sanliurfa to Gobeklitepe: took about 45 minutes, leaving outside the Archaeological Museum at 09:45. Bus number 0.

Gobeklitepe to Sanliurfa: left Gobeklitepe at 12:45. Bus number 0.

Where to Stay in Sanliurfa

Grand Babil Otel rooms are simple and clean. The hotel is in a good location, a basic breakfast is included in the room rate and the hosts are really friendly. It’s a great budget spot in what appears to be a historical han, with beautiful courtyard area and balcony.

Aslan Guest House looks like another great budget option in a beautiful historic building.

Things to Do in Sanliurfa

Walk the Blacksmith Market and Stop for Tea at Barutcu Han

Barutcu Han is hidden away, and unless you wander down to the end of the Blacksmith Market street, you wouldn’t know it was there. When you find it, you’ll realise how huge this complex actually is. A newly renovated caravanserai is full of tables at the bottom floor. Stop for a tea or maybe even a breakfast spread. Make sure you walk up the steps to have a wander round and see the view of the han from the top.

Visit Mevlid Halil Mosque, Prophet Abraham’s Cave

The interior of this mosque is stunning, decorated with blues and reds, stained glass windows and an elaborate chandelier. If you’re female, remember to bring a headscarf with you as there aren’t any available for rent.

Right next door, is the cave in which it is believed that Prophet Abraham was born and raised. Legend has it that evil King Nimrod was told by a seer that a child would overthrow his kingdom. He then ordered for all children to be killed. Abraham’s mother Nuna, when realising she was pregnant, hid in a cave until she gave birth. Abraham then stayed in the cave until the age of 15 to avoid persecution.

In the cave, women have to cover up and wear a headscarf (you can rent them here for a small donation). There are two entrances into the cave, one for men and one for women, and these lead to completely separate parts of the cave. Inside there is an area for prayer, a perspexed-off area and a dip in the ceiling of the cave.

Now, there was little information about the cave, so I didn’t really know what I was walking into and its significance; but when I entered, there were about five women standing below this dip in the ceiling praying and raising their hands to this spot. It was an interesting experience, and as this is one of the holiest spots in Sanliurfa, I really wanted to go and see it for myself.

We were in and out within a few minutes. There really isn’t much there if you’re not using it for prayer/worship purposes.

Reji Kilisesi and the Backstreets

Reji Kilisesi has a beautiful courtyard with an aesthetically-pleasing symmetrical staircase. Definitely worth popping your head in while you’re wandering the narrow backstreets.

Balikligol and Ayn-Zeliha Golu

There are two beautiful small lakes within the religious complex that contain huge fish. There are gardens and buildings surrounding the lakes which make it a lovely and peaceful place to walk.

It is believed that Abraham rejected the idea that King Nimrod of Urfa was God. A huge fire was lit and Abraham was thrown into it. The fire turned to water meaning that Abraham landed safely. The embers turned to fish, and today are considered holy. This was the story of the creation of Balikligol.

On seeing the fire turn to water to protect Abraham, Zeliha (Nimrod’s daughter) converted to Islam and also rejected the idea that her father was God. Nimrod threw Zeliha in to a fire, where she died. The place of the fire then turned into water, creating Ayn-Zeliha Golu.

Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum

One of the most fascinating things to do in Sanliurfa; this museum is amazing. Sanliurfa and the surrounding area is recognised as the birthplace of civilisation so the city has a lengthy history. The museum takes you from the absolute beginning of everything and walks you through each era with loads of information in English accompanied with artifacts.

I could have easily spent over three hours here. The absolute highlights for me were Urfa Man and the Gobeklitepe replica. Urfa Man is the oldest life-size sculpture of a human, dated back to 9000 BC, and walking through the replica of Gobeklitepe was fascinating.

Visit Gobeklitepe

THE absolute stand-out if you are interested in history and anthropology. Gobeklitepe is the oldest religious site that has been excavated, dated back 12,000 years. It is mind-blowing. You can still see some of the intricate decoration really clearly. How is that even possible?!

Try the Traditional Mirra Coffee

One of the tastiest things to do in Sanliurfa. Mirra coffee is traditional to Sanliurfa, Hatay, Adana and Mardin, as well as Lebanon and Syria. The name derives from the Arabic for bitter: mur. Coarser grounds are used than in Turkish coffee, and so to extract the flavour, the coffee is fully brought to the boil a couple of times. The result is thick, syrupy, very strong and bitter. A tiny amount is served in tiny cups. That really is all that you need.

Eat Delicious Food in a Traditional Han of the Ancient Silk Road: Cevahir Han

Sanliurfa sat along the Silk Road and was an important trading centre. Weary travelling merchants would stop at the han. The building has been restored, maintaining its original integrity. It really is a stunning setting for lunch or dinner. The prices are good and there are Turkish vegetarian options (which really are not in abundance in this region of Turkey).

We were served vegetarian cig kofte, two dips, bread, and tea for no extra fee. We ordered Bostana salad, which is a stunner. Diced cucumber, tomato, onion and herbs swimming in a citrus and pomegranate dressing. Then we followed the salad up with a cheese pide and vegetable casserole. 10/10 would recommend. We went back twice! Eating is definitely one of the best things to do in Sanliurfa.

Cappadocia is such a special place with unique, otherworldly, breath-taking scenery. Each and every path that we saw through the valleys, we wanted to explore to see the beauties that would be revealed. Tunnels, abandoned cave houses, phallic-shaped structures; this place keeps you guessing.

We had five nights in Cappadocia and wanted to absolutely maximise what we saw; so went on a mission to do a Love Valley, White Valley and Pigeon Valley hike together with a visit to Uchisar Castle in one day.

It’s definitely doable! It is a long old day (we started at 09:30 and got back about 16:00) but the walking isn’t too taxing; and if you’re anything like us, you’ll be being so amazed by your surroundings that you won’t even mind walking all day!

Up for the challenge?

Top Tips

Number 1: Download Maps.me on to your phone and also download the map of Cappadocia so that you can refer to it offline, and mark the pins mentioned in the post.

Number 2: There are no entrance fees to any of the valleys so you can wander to your heart’s content.

Getting to Love Valley

From Goreme bus station in the centre of Goreme town, walk the main road uphill until you see a black and red sign for Cappadocia Express and Goreme Rental ATV. Just after the sign and the building, take the road to the right leading up to phenomenal views over the valley. (This is a great spot to view the hot air balloons at sunrise away from the crowds, FYI – this link will only work on your mobile device if you have the Maps.me app downloaded.)

Plotting this spot on Maps.me will take you right way. Keep following the path straight until you reach this spot. From here, veer left which will take you down into Love Valley. Once at the bottom, take the next left again and walk towards the crazy phallic-shaped structures – you cannot miss them.

Through Love Valley and into White Valley

These phallic-shaped structures have been lovingly called ‘fairy chimneys’. Some fairy chimneys are as tall as 40 metres, some had living quarters chiselled in to them, some were used as secret entrances to underground cities. Fascinating, eh?

Wander through Love Valley towards this spot. This will bring you into White Valley. You’ll notice the switch in the landscape. The valley narrows, you’ll find tunnels, and then the terrain will change from sandy/dirt to white rock. Follow the path up and over the white rock, until it leads you up and out of the valley about here. Once you get above the valley, there is a man with a juice stand. Buy yourself a well-deserved pomegranate juice.

Uchisar Castle

From here, you are just a stone’s throw from Uchisar. Cross the main road and walk up the steps into the town. The castle is right at the top (obviously), and you will have been able to see the castle from almost everywhere on the hike so far because it is the highest point in the region.

Unfortunately, there is little information inside the castle as to its history, but it is still a fascinating structure to explore. Rooms were carved into the soft volcanic tuff and the outside has started to erode away revealing the honeycomb-like structure inside. Venture all the way to the top for truly spectacular views across the valleys. 

Even though there isn’t information, discovering the hand-carved rooms and the views are well worth the ticket price. We only spent about thirty minutes inside, grabbed a gozleme on the way out and continued on our journey. Note that the entrance is not included in the Turkey Museum Pass.

Getting to Pigeon Valley (Guvercinlik)

Head down towards the mosque here, and keep following the path until it becomes a trodden foot path past Tiraz Kale (another small structure carved into the rock).

In Pigeon Valley

Walk further into the valley to reach this stunning viewpoint over Pigeon Valley here. It is a dead end, so you’ll have to turn back on yourself to continue, but it is worth the slight detour.

Turn back and take a path to the right to go up and over the valley and come back down past Caglar Tea Garden. This is the most beautiful little spot to stop for a cup of tea. The guy that runs the place is lovely and the decor is so interesting! Once you’ve had your tea, carry on down the path to here which is the end of Pigeon Valley and the start of Goreme town.

Facilities Along the Hike

We did this day hike at the beginning of November; the weather was perfect for hiking. If you’re looking into doing this during the warmer months, be aware that you are completely exposed to the sun for the vast majority of the hike. There are a couple of spots where you could get a drink on the way, but Uchisar has plenty of shops and restaurants.

Find more things to do in Cappadocia here.

And another hike to discover abandoned cave churches through Red and Rose Valley right here!

Or fancy exploring an ancient and abandoned underground city? Yeah, it’s as fascinating as it sounds! Find out more here.

Derinkuyu is an ancient underground city hand-carved into the soft volcanic rock, understood to be inhabited from the Bronze Age. It was rediscovered in 1963 by a Cappadocia homeowner who was doing house renovations and stumbled upon a room and tunnels. Can you imagine that?! 

How astonishing that a city was hand-chiselled from the rock below ground way way back before any modern technologies?! Like, incomprehensible in my book.

Anyway, evidently, I was excited to explore Derinkuyu: officially the largest underground city in Turkey. And, yes, that does mean that there is more than one! It is understood that there are 200 underground ‘cities’ in Turkey, many of which link together through miles of tunnels.

In this Derinkuyu travel guide, we will answer all the questions that we had before visiting, in the hope that it will help you all out too!

Where is Derinkuyu?

Derinkuyu is located in Cappadocia in the centre of Turkey, about a thirty minute bus ride from Goreme or Nevsehir. Find out about more things to do in Cappadocia here. And if you fancy hiking through otherworldly landscapes and abandoned cave churches, take a look at our hiking route with Maps.me pins through Red Valley and Rose Valley.

How to visit Derinkuyu from Goreme

Goreme to Derinkuyu

You’ll need to take two buses to get there, but it’s pretty quick and easy. Go to the bus station in the centre of Goreme to get to the bus to Nevsehir. It leaves every thirty minutes. When you get on the bus, tell the driver that you want to go to Derinkuyu.

When the bus reaches the city centre, the driver will point to where you need to go for the next bus: you’ll basically cross the road to get a bus going in the opoosite direction.

The minibus will have Derinkuyu written on it, so you can’t really miss it. If you’re not sure, ask the guy who runs the kebab shop at the bus stop. He was helping everyone with the buses, and even managed to hunt down ‘the captain’ as he worded it (meaning the bus driver) for us.

The bus to Derinkuyu takes about 25 minutes. It will drop you at Derinkuyu bus station which is a two minute walk away from the underground city entrance.

Derinkuyu to Goreme

The buses back to Nevsehir leave Derinkuyu every thirty minutes, so wander back to the bus station and catch the bus to Nevsehir city centre.

When you get out at Nevsehir, stay on the same side of the road this time and wait for the next shuttle bus to stop.

Before getting on double check if it will stop at Goreme by asking the driver. The bus that we got back wasn’t meant to stop at Goreme, but it made a stop there for us anyway.

The buses for each leg are really regular and the drivers are really flexible with where they can stop. Everyone is also really helpful in directing to the correct bus, so don’t be hesitant to ask.

It was a really straight forward journey both ways and we only had to wait 5/10 minutes in between buses.

All buses only accept cash payment on board.

Tickets for Derinkuyu

Tickets cost 300 TL as of 2024. There is next to no signage or information inside, so if you want more explanation, it would be best to arrange a guide. We didn’t have a guide, but had done a load of research beforehand so we had a better idea of what to expect. Derinkuyu entrance is included in the Turkey Museums Pass.

Is there a marked route through the city?

Yes! It’s not easy to get lost in Derinkuyu. There are red arrows which show you the route through the city, and there are blue arrows that show you the quickest way to the exit. However, I would recommend that you don’t just stick to following the red arrows. There are plenty of nooks and crannies for you to explore that are not indicated with the red arrows. Even venturing off to these, you’ll end up coming back to the main route to go any further. My point being, even if you stray from the red arrows, you won’t get lost.

Is it claustrophobic?

I thought that the majority of it was quite spacious and open. Yes, there are some passageways that are particularly narrow with very low ceilings. I (at 5’6’’) had to fold myself in half to get through some of them and Chris (at 6’1’’ and ¾) struggled.

As a self-proclaimed catastrophiser, I had to really compose myself to venture underground. In my head, this entire city could collapse at any time and no one would ever find me because it’s all undergound!

Crazy, I know. But, in all seriousness, I felt fine. There are plenty of ventilation shafts, so it doesn’t get too stuffy. There are signs pointing you to the route through the city, but also to the exit. So, should you need to step out, you know where to go. As long as you visit at a relatively quiet time, it should be fine.

Quietest times to visit

We visited in November and it was relatively quiet. We also made sure that we got there for about midday. From what I had read about the organised tours of Cappadocia, they visit Derinkuyu in the morning or afternoon, and stop for lunch. So we went during the time that any tours would be on their way to lunch/eating lunch. 

Funny Story

Before we scanned our tickets to go in, I asked the guy manning the barrier if there were ‘lots’ of people down there at the moment.

He looked at me confused and told me not to worry, there are no ‘lost’ people down there. Lots and lost, very similar sounding.

My question was a very normal question, the question he thought I asked made me sound like I was unhinged!

And how did I respond?

I said, ‘Thank you very much’, which just confirmed to him that I had in fact asked the question that he thought I had (even though I hadn’t).

Tell me you’re an awkward Brit without telling me you’re an awkward Brit!

How long does it take to explore the underground city?

We spent about an hour, exploring every narrow path we could find. Off the main path, you’ll likely need to switch on the torch on your phone to be able to see. I’m sure you would get through it all a lot quicker if you only followed the red arrow route. Only 10% of the city is open to the public.

How large is Turkey’s largest underground city?

Derinkuyu was large enough to house 20,000 people plus livestock, so pretty big! The city had eighteen levels and was 85 metres deep in to the ground.

History of Derinkuyu

In use since the Bronze Age, Derinkuyu was expanded by Greek-speaking Christians during Roman times into a city with multiple levels. The city was used to house and protect the persecuted Christians in the Arab-Byzantine wars, Mongolian invasions, from the Ottoman rulers, and continued to be used to shelter the Greek Cappadocians into the 20th century. In 1923, Turkey deported the Christian population to Greece, leaving the underground city abandoned and unknown. In 1963, Derinkuyu was rediscovered, and opened to the public in 1969.

How did the population remain undetected and protected in the city?

The city housed up to 20,000 people. Mind-blowing, right?! There were dwellings, schools, churches, wine and oil presses, areas for livestock, ventilation shafts and wells. They would only cook once per month at night so as not to give away their whereabouts to the enemy with smoke from the fires. Water was gathered from the deep wells cut into the rock, which is what gave the city its name: Derinkuyu means ‘deep well’ in Turkish. The underground city was equipped with everything required to sustain life underground.

Heavy circular stone doors were used in case of enemy penetration into the city. The doors could close off entire levels of the city to keep people safe on the other levels. The narrow entryways and corridors meant that intruders could only enter in single file and so could be killed one by one. The city has many concealed exits so that people could flee if the city was discovered.

Derinkuyu or Kaymakli?

This is the question. We only visited Derinkuyu, however, I researched before to help make the decision.

• Derinkuyu is the largest underground city, while Kaymakli is the widest.
• Derinkuyu has wider passageways, while Kaymakli is more adventurous with smaller passageways.
• Derinkuyu is visited as part of the popular organised ‘green tour’, but Kaymakli sees the most visitors.
• Derinkuyu only has one passage to the bottom level, meaning that you have to wait for others to come down before you can go up. Kaymakli has several.
• Entrance fees are the same for both.
• Derinkuyu is a little further away, but for both, you catch the bus from the same location in Nevsehir city centre as mentioned above for Derinkuyu. One bus will say Derinkuyu on the side, the other will say Kaymakli. The buses that go to Derinkuyu, drive past Kaymakli, but do not stop there.

For me, the deciding factors were Derinkuyu being the largest, having wider passageways, and receiving less visitors. I was uncertain about how claustrophobic it would be, so less people and less narrow were the winning factors for me.