Göreme City in the Cappadocia Valley, Turkey
Okay, so we’re probably opening ourselves up to debate with a statement like “World’s Most Unusual City”.
Clearly, subjectivity plays a big role when making such a comment. But, in our opinion, the eye-catching town of Göreme certainly deserves the title (how can one disagree with a captivating panorama like that?!).
Located in the Nevşehir Province in the heart of the Cappadocia Valley, with a population of approximately 2,500 people, the extraordinary town literally weaves itself around pointy fairy chimneys, ancient caves, eroded rock formations and colourful volcanic canyons.
It looks like something straight out of a children’s fantasy story!
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What is the Most Unusual City you’ve ever visited?
Share your city in the comments section below – we’re curious about what you think!
Read more posts about Cappadocia Turkey:
- Photo Essay: The Magical Landscapes of Cappadocia, Turkey
- Video: Hiking the Goreme Valley in Cappadocia
- Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Tour in Cappadocia, Turkey
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I would have to agree — it’s one of the oddest places around. I spent a week there a few years back and LOVED it!
Isn’t it cool? I had no idea Cappadocia was so unique!
Haven’t made it to Cappadocia yet, but hear it’s absolutely fascinating. Did you stay in one of the cave houses?
Yes, and it was very cool! A little musty and small, but a neat experience.
one of my favorite spots, for sure
Very cool stuff. I’d really like to go there one day. The pictures I’ve seen remind me of that old video game Riven (Myst 2).
Dan
I don’t remember that game? I’ll take your word 😉
Yes, Goreme is very cool – the whole area is fascinating. I spent a month there as artist in residence at the Babayan Culture House in nearby Ibrahimpasa and had a wonderful time walking and riding in the valleys there.
It really is fascinating – did you get a chance to take a balloon tour of the valley?
Still on the list of unusal, but back a few hundred years ago when peeps were living in all those caves it certainly WAS the most unusual city.
Absoultely! The height and size of some of the caves is quite impressive. Kinda freaky actually
Never seen any city like this before. Seems like they keep the city clean and neat. Just curious, what do the city people do for living?
Most are involved in the tourism trade, whether a hotel, tour agency, restaurant or retailer.
Totally agree it’s strange and I loved every second of it. But it did remind me of Drumheller, Alberta in some ways
It does look a lot like Drumheller and the Badlands
Woomera, South Australia, is pretty bizarre. It’s a nuclear town stranded in the middle of the Outback, like a slice of 50s Americana.
Haven’t heard of it before? Will have to do a search and check it out. Thanks for sharing!
Very cool spot! The jutting landscape reminds of the Badlands in South Dakota.
True – it does have a lot of similarities to the Badlands!
Oh, I am so jealous. I wasn’t able to go when I was in Turkey and it made me so sad!
It’s a very unique place, hopefully you’ll get a chance to return someday 😉
That really does look like the setting of a children’s fantasty story. How cool!
Amazing! I’ve just added Göreme City and the Cappadocia Valley to my list of places to visit. It really does look like it’s from a fairy tale. I imagine you half expected little gnomes to walk around a corner at any minute!
That is a very cool looking place, for sure.
At the first glance i thought this is a video game! Looks awesome! Totally fairy-tailish !
I don’t think I’ve really experienced a city that could compete. The closest I could think of is White Cliffs in Outback NSW. Due to the extreme heat, most people live underground. I have fond memories of spending the occasional weekend in the famous white-washed tunnels and caves of the hotel there.
But the place doesn’t *look* special. It’s just another run down Outback down until you get underground.
This is on my travel bucket list! I want to do the hot air balloon tour someday. I’ve heard it’s the best place to float amongst the clouds!
Yes, it is! We did the hot air balloon and highly recommend it!
We were just in Goreme. When I saw it, I immediately remembered the game Myst. We stayed at the Kelebek Cave Hotel although not in a cave room. We were in Room 114 which had a great view looking down into the valley at all the fairy chimneys. We did see several cave rooms. I thought Room 116 was amazing and it had its own private balcony. We also took a hot air balloon ride with Butterfly balloons. My husband and I still can’t believe that we did it. It was one of the most special experiences of our life. Unfortunately we were *sick* when we arrived, so we didn’t have a chance to hike. But, from our balloon flight we could see all the really cool trails weaving through the rock formations. One word of caution, this is no longer the backpackers paradise that it once was. The town is creating a paradise for older people with money – although young people may still be found. And, you won’t see traditional village life unless you get out of Goreme. We felt very insulated there, but considering we were sick, we were lucky to have a comfortable place to recuperate. I hope this helps someone out there.
Wao that’s a cool looking place and it does seem like a different world for children’s stories.. pretty unusual also is the city of the future in Montreal, Canada, where houses are strangely built on top of each others to solve issues with living space.