"The Soganli Valleys - Get Away from the Crowds" Soganli by mikelisaanna

Soganli Travel Guide: 7 reviews and 15 photos

The Soganli section of Cappadocia is one of the region's best-kept secrets. The two Soganli valleys (Upper Soganli and Lower Soganli) are located about 50 km south of Urgup and are visited by only a small fraction of the tourists that visit the better known areas of Cappadocia such as Goreme, Uchisar, Derinkuyu, and Urgup. However, if you make the effort to reach the Soganli valleys, you will be rewarded for your efforts. The valleys contain a number of abandoned cave churches and monasteries that you can explore on your own with no crowds to bother you. We explored the Upper Soganli Valley, which had five five cave churches that are open to the public, three of which are accessible from the road and two of which you reach via a short hike (about 1/2 km). The whole time were were there, we only saw about 10 people in total, and most of the time, we had the places to ourselves.

In between the two valleys is the small town of Soganli, which has a couple of places to eat and small shops that sell souvenirs, including the region's famous hand-made dolls. To access the valleys, you have to pay a small fee, which I think was around YTL 5 (about $4).

Pros and Cons
  • Pros:Cave churches and rugged scenery with no crowds
  • Cons:Vandalism to some of the church frescoes
  • In a nutshell:Cappadocia's best-kept secret
  • Last visit to Soganli: Aug 2008
  • Intro Written Dec 8, 2008
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Reviews (7)

Comments (2)

  • nicolaitan's Profile Photo
    Dec 22, 2008 at 1:07 PM

    great page - we loved soganli, bought a few dolls maybe from the same old lady, loved the rock cut churches. BUT - there was one restaurant in town and we ate there - our best meal in turkey believe it or not.

  • lynnehamman's Profile Photo
    Dec 9, 2008 at 10:24 PM

    Amazing that those frescos are in such good condition! The caves also look so mysterious-secretive monks?Good tips

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