“Explore the magical land of Cappadocia!”
8 Day Comfort Trail Horse Riding Vacation in Cappadocia, Turkey
Ürgüp, Nevşehir Province, Cappadocia, Central Anatolia, Turkey
Guided Horse Riding Vacation in Turkey
Ride into the heart of Turkey and discover Cappadocia's breathtaking landscape and the Avlak Mountain on horseback! This updated horse riding program by Kapadokya Ranch offers you a new progressive ride, called the comfort trail, 5 days, on incredible horses. On this tour, you don't have to lead your horse on long walks uphill or downhill, except on rough terrains. If you chose the deluxe tour, you also won’t have to groom your horses as it will be all taken care of by Kapadokya Ranch. Be ready to enjoy the magnificent trails off the beaten tracks!
Key information
- Rider weight limit: 90 kilograms / 198 pounds
- Horse height range: 15 hands
- Tack type: McClellan light trailing saddles and saddles made by Kapadokya Ranch
- Horse breed: Anatolian, cross-Arab, and pure Arabian endurance horses
Meet the instructors
Nicolas
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Highlights
- 6 days of horse riding adventure
- Approximate daily riding time: 5 to 6 hours
- The loan of a horse and your riding equipment
- Horse grooming and English-speaking guide service
- Daily tasty breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- Local and airport transfers
- 7 nights’ accommodation
Skill level
- Intermediate
Styles
6 days with instruction in English
The organizer also speaks: Bulgarian, French, Russian
Group size: 2-8 participants
Airport transfer included:
Erkilet International Airport
Airport transfer included:
NevÅŸehir Kapadokya Airport
Accommodation
Check-in Time:
12:19
Check-out Time:
08:13
There are two kinds of accommodations available. You can choose between standard and deluxe accommodation. All accommodations are located very close to each other. If you choose the standard option, you will stay for six nights in a double / twin or triple room in hotels and guesthouses, while for the deluxe one, you will stay in a double / twin room in superior boutique hotels and stone or cave houses.
- First and second nights in Melis hotel in Urgup (with a swimming pool)
- 2 nights in Ayvali (swimming pool nearby the hotel)
- 2 nights in Uchisar
- Last night in Urgup (Surban hotel)
Surban Hotel
The rooms at Surban hotel are decorated with refinement and various handicrafts. They are equipped with central heating and double glazing, a telephone, a television satellite, a bathroom with marble washbasin, a shower, and a hairdryer.
Dilek Tepesi
Dilek Tepesi is located in the traditional village of Ayvali, on a scenic hill where you can receive the positive energy and listen to yourselves. It is a place to enjoy the beauty of Cappadocia, with a nice view of the village and of the valleys around. The hotel is facilitated with suite cave rooms, one archery room, one deluxe room, one standard cave room, three standard rooms, and one arch for family rooms.
Kilim Pension
The rooms, courtyard, terraces, and dining areas of Kilim Pension are decorated with old traditional kilims, wooden handicrafts, pottery, and special fabrics of the Ottoman period. Each room is named to commemorate villagers of important as a celebration of heritage such as Hasan Ali, Cici Ahbap, etc. Most of the rooms have the magnificent view of Pigeon Valley with its countless pigeon lofts. Breakfast is served in the terrace where you can enjoy views are Erciyes Volcano and serene passage of hot air balloons.
Selçuklu Evi Cave Hotel
Selçuklu Evi Cave Hotel offers a blend of past and present in Cappadocia. The hotel is facilitated with a number of cave rooms and a luxury restaurant located in the area of food and cooking.
Gamirasu Cave Hotel
Gamirasu Cave Hotel is located near Urgup, the heart of Cappadocia, Ayvali village, with its 35 meticulously restored and designed cave rooms, it is the first rock hotel of the region, put into service in 1999. The hotel, which was used as a monastic retreat in the Byzantine Era, offers a strikingly beautiful nature, serenity, and contemporary comfort in a pristine village of unspoiled beauty.
The hotel has a pool designed with the antique Roman pool architecture which represents the era. The pool has a 74-square-meter space and floor heating. You can rest with pleasure while enjoying the view of Byzantine ruins and rest up from the day's activities.
Program
Riding level
Confident intermediate to advanced riders.
This is not a slow ride, it’s a very nice compromise for most of the rider, to discover Cappadocia on perfect paces and nice horses.
To take part of all our trails, you must have a competent riding level to be able to stay in control during group canters on forward-going horses, ride or lead your horse on technical passages, get on or off your horse several times a day alone and groom, tack and untack your horse without assistance.
Pace
Everyday some canters that every riders can handle.
Physical condition
Riders must be in a good physical condition to take part in the progressive trail. The circuit includes a few difficult ways where riders will be asked to dismount and lead their horse.
Cappadocia is hilly terrain, you need to be fit to mount an dismount your horse, walk short distance going sometimes strongly uphill.
Rhythms of the trail :
- 5 and an half riding days
- 5 hours on horseback each day, except day 4 (ride in the morning and afternoon at leisure in Uchisar)
- 28 kilometres (average) each day
- Pace: mostly walk, with opportunities for trots and canters each day.
Maximum weight :
Riders' weight on the progressive trail is limited at 85 kg (on riding clothes). Riders upper 85 kg, could book with extra charge, for the loan of a second horse. This option is only on demand, it will depend of the horse riding level of the rider and the availability of our horse.
Riders's contribution :
Riders are in charge of their horses ; they will be asked to tack and untack their horse, to water and feed their horse and to take care of their horse equipment.
Horses
Our stable is composed of forward-going Arab horses who will surprise you with their robustness and their agility. They are small (1,50 m on average - the ideal size for trailing on tortuous paths !).
Responsive, well-balanced and respectful of the rider, they are trained with natural horsemanship method. Our horses live together in a herd, which contributes to their well-being. Don't look for boxes, when they are not on trail, our horses are grazing in the fields around the farm.
HORSE SPIRIT :
Most of our horses are born in the farm or are ex race horses. To train them to become pleasant and trustful, we are training them with natural horsemanship technics. All our horses can lead, all can be ridden alone. In the future, we will continue to select forward going, responsive, sure footed horses which are fun to ride ...
Tack
EQUIPMENT :
The riding equipment includes standard bits and pelhams, McClellan light trailing saddles and saddles made by ourself.
These are fitted with two saddle-bags for you to carry personal belongings for the day.
Itinerary
ARRIVAL DAY :
Arrival at Kayseri or Nevsehir airport. You are met by your chauffeur and transferred in 50 mn to your guesthouse in Urgup, where you have dinner with your guide.
DAY 1 :
You are driven to the ranch in the morning to meet your horse, and get acquainted with the riding equipment. You will have time to try your horse on a training course going around the farm. Short ride till the foot of troglodytic citadels of dovecotes carved out the abrupt rock walls where villagers cook lunch for us on the woodfire.
The afternoon is spent riding through lush vegetation and along the stream of the Uzengi canyon. You are drived back to Urgup where you will spend a secound night. (Driving time : 5 min)
DAY 2 : MUSTAFAPASA
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 magnifcent encompassing view of Cappadocia. The rocky hills could provide the perfect background to a Western movie... Arrival 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, where shepherds lead their focks, before arriving to your guesthouse in Ayvali.
DAY 3 : KESLIK MONASTERY
We start this day by cantering through fields of the high Anatolian plateau (1600 m high) : barley, wheat, oat and beans fields. We ride throught a steep single trail down to Damsa lake. Villagers cook lunch for us on a woodfrein. Opportunity to visit the monastery.
Passing by and overlooking a valley of fairy chimneys, the afternoon scenery is made of bare hills surrounding the lake. Visit of the underground village of Golgoli.
You canter along tracks of soft red clay leading you to the village of Ayvali through a hidden canyon, and stop at your hotel, for the second and last night in this village.
DAY 4 : UCHISAR (HALF RIDING DAY)
Today’s itinerary takes you to the beautiful valleys of north Cappadocia, and to the village of Uchisar. You trot and canter through vineyards and orchards and over rolling hills of white tuffa to reach Ibrahimpasa.
From this picturesque village, you start ascending the ‘twin hills' of Cappadocia. A nice canter at the top takes you to 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.
Your reach the village on horseback and enjoy a late lunch on the terrace.
You may spend the rest of the day exploring the village, visiting the churches of Goreme’s Open Air Museum or hiking through the Pigeon Valley.
DAY 5 : RED VALLEY
Optional hot-air balloon fght in the early morning: travel with the wind over Cappadocia’s magical landscape at sunrise.
You enter another beautiful canyon called the White Valley. You sneak your way through arches, rocky labyrinths and lush vegetation, then into the Sword Valley and Red Valley. With its citadels 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 felds, surrounded by the rocky hills of north Cappadocia.
The winding paths of the Shepherd’s valley take you back with a long canter to your guesthouse in Uchisar, in time to admire north Cappadocia in the sunset light.
DAY 6 : BALKAN VALLEY
Leaving the village on horseback, you ride through the rock tunnels, arches and small woods of the spectacular, 4 km-long canyon called the Green Valley. You make a detour through the famous Love Valley and its gigantic phallic rock formations, then ride till the village of Ortahisar, where you will have lunch.
You canter on a sandy track lined with trees. You cross the Valley of Pancarlik and it’s multicoloured fairy chimneys, and you arrive at the ranch in the afternoon. Short transfer to your hotel in Urgup.
DAY 7 : departure day
After breakfast, departure to Kayseri (or Nevsehir) airport for your flight to Istanbul.
Included excursions
"Land of the beautiful horses"
Just try and imagine a 30 x 40 km wide, giant meringue formed between 2 and 10 millions years ago by a couple of hallucinatory volcanoes on the Anatolian plateau.
While cooling, the warm ashes turned into layers of "tufa" of varied colours and density.
Water, wind and man have eroded and carved the soft rock, giving birth to a wonderland of deep canyons and fantastically shaped rock formations that are simply unique in the world.
From prehistoric times, civilizations have flourished here, and the Hittites, Persians, early and Byzantine Christians, Mongols, Greeks and Ottomans have left abundant evidence of their passage.
Cappadocia is unique, and, as such, is listed World Heritage by UNESCO.
Instructors
Nicolas Guillo
Kapadokya Ranch is owned and managed by French-born Nicolas Guillo. Nicolas decided to make Cappadocia his home over nineteen years ago and has been organizing horseriding trails since then. He speaks English, Turkish and French.
Location
This horse riding vacation will take you to explore Cappadocia in Turkey. Your journey will start and end in Urgüp.
Food
You will be served daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the whole duration of the tour. Dinners will be taken all together with the group, while breakfasts (Turkish or continental) will be served in the hotels where the riders sleep. Vegetarian meals are available on request.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
- Other dietary requirements on request
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation
Things to do (optional)
- Balloon flight (depending on the weather forecast): 300 EUR per person
Spa treatments
- Hamam in Urgrup including wellbeing treatments for body relaxation): 50 EUR per peson
What's included
- 5 and half days of riding
- The loan of a horse and riding equipment
- 7 nights' accommodation
- Daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- English-speaking guide service (1 guide for 8 riders)
- Local transfers
- Transfers from and to Kayseri Erkilet Airport (ASR) or Nevşehir Kapadokya Airport (NAV)
What's not included
- Plane tickets
- Optional activities (balloon flight, open-air museum visits, hammam, etc.)
- Airport transfers for late night arrivals and early morning departure
How to get there
Recommended Airports
ASR
Erkilet International Airport
52 km
Transfer included
NAV
NevÅŸehir Kapadokya Airport
36 km
Transfer included
Airport: Erkilet International Airport
Airport transfer included: Erkilet International Airport
No additional charges. You can request this in the next step.
Airport: NevÅŸehir Kapadokya Airport
Airport transfer included: NevÅŸehir Kapadokya Airport
No additional charges. You can request this in the next step.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 14% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.
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