Land of Rock Travel — Local services in Göreme

I arrived in Göreme - Inn Hotel with my sister and my twin nieces. Before arriving in Cappadocia we had no time to do any research about the tours and the activities. Thankfully our hotel was working with this agent.

In our first day we did the Green Tour and the next day we did the Red Tour. In both days we were picked up from our hotel on time. The buses were comfortable, clean and their air-con worked well. The drivers were confident and safe drivers. In our Green Tour we had Umut as our tour guide. He was knowledgeable, intelligent, kind and helpful at all times. He took us under the ground city and he always made sure all travelers (one was claustrophobic) were comfortable and felt safe.

On our second day we had Selim as our tour guide. Selim also spoke very good English, he was also very informative and attentive. He had his IPad and lots of illustrations that he created. I thought that was very clever. Both guides were always happy to be in the picture with us and took photos of us. They even send the photos that were taken by them. Thank you Umut and Selim! We had a magical 2 days.

A tip from me to future travelers: If you have time do the two tours. If you have time to do only one tour then you must do...

We booked thru our hotel Green tour with this agency, as per info given by our hotel receptionist and as per agency brochure it included visiting famous archeologial site like Selime Monastery or vulcano lake. At the end we only went to see Ihlara valley and the rest of time we spend In shopping places where everyone tries to take as money as possible from you and it was quite clear that agency has a deal with shop owners. This includes leather “factory” which is not at all factory it is just “fancy” leather shop where they try to trick you to buy “unique best in the turkey” leaher for “best price ever”, ridiculous. Second shop is “sweet stop” as said by tour guide, which was again just turkish delight store where they again try to sell you whatever they can. Owner of agency should be ashamed because they are tricking people like us, who wanted actually to see things and not go for fake “fancy” shopping. At the end we fight with the owner and paid only half price. If you will have similar experience, fight for your money and do...

After wandering through the town’s numerous travel agencies in Goreme, I’m happy to have found the friendly and helpful staff at the Land of Rock Travel agency. Thank you Serdar, Kadir, boss, the guides, and others!

Pros:

1. Not pushy to make a sale and let me make decisions at my pace
2. Great conversations with informative staff, not only about the tours but other topics as well
3. Price - gave me some offers that I can’t pass on

Cons: (wish list / just being highly critical)

1. more time in some attractions (but at the peak of summer, everywhere is crazy crowded)
2. less time in shopping places (I did learn some new things though, and honestly I’ve never been on a non-private tour that didn’t include shopping - it’s not a deal breaker)

Lots of different travel agencies in Goreme, hope this honest review is helpful for you the reader… safe and...