A town with its basement carved out
The entrance doesn’t look like much. It’s a low doorway in a hillside at the end of Belediye Caddesi, with souvenir stalls lining the approach and selling rugs, dolls and onyx trinkets. Go through it and the soft volcanic tuff closes in around you. The walls are the colour of weak tea, cool to the touch, and marked with the tool strokes of whoever dug them.
Nobody is sure who started it. The earliest chambers may be Phrygian, from the first millennium BC. The city grew into its present shape in the Byzantine centuries, when Christian communities went underground to hide from Arab raids. Cappadocian Greeks were still using the tunnels for storage until the 1923 population exchange. The site opened to visitors in 1964.
Four levels down, and what’s on each
There are eight known levels. Four are open to visitors, and the open part is laid out as a one-way loop marked by arrows. The ceilings get lower as you go down. On a few stretches, anyone of average height ends up bent almost double.
On the way through you’ll pass:
- Stables near the top, where animals were kept close to the surface
- A small church with a single nave and stone benches cut into the walls
- Kitchens with ceilings still black with soot, and hollows in the floor for cooking pots
- Wine and linseed presses, with basins carved straight into the rock
- Round stone doors, like millstones, that were rolled across passages from the inside
- Ventilation shafts running down through every level, which is how thousands of people could breathe down here
Stop at one of the rolling stones and see how thin the gap behind it is. It shows you how the whole place was meant to work: the people inside could seal off a level, and anyone outside couldn’t get through.
Beating the tour buses underground
This is one of the busiest sites in Cappadocia, and down here a crowd gets physical. The passages fit one person at a time. When a group of forty is coming the other way, everyone presses against the wall and waits.
Weekdays are the calmest, and that holds right through opening hours, 8am to 7pm. Weekends are harder. Between 10am and 5pm the big day tours arrive, so avoid that window. Get there right at 8:00 AM, or come after 5pm (the gates close at 7:15 PM), and you’ll often have a chamber to yourself.
Moving through the tunnels without a jam
There are unspoken rules underground. Here’s how visitors and guides generally keep things moving:
- Go the way the arrows point. The loop is one-way for a reason, and turning back in a narrow shaft stops everyone behind you.
- Step into a side chamber to let a group pass, and don’t try to squeeze past them in a corridor.
- Hand-held phone photos are fine, but don’t stop at the bottom of a staircase to take one. The rooms are the place for pictures.
- Carry a light layer. The rock stays cool all year, even when the surface is baking in August.
- Wear shoes with grip. The steps are worn smooth by centuries of use and are uneven.
Tickets are sold at the desk by the entrance, and the current price is posted there and on the Turkish Museums official site. The Museum Pass Cappadocia is accepted. If you’re doing several sites, compare it with single tickets before you go.
If you get anxious in tight spaces, the upper two levels are roomy. The deepest stretch is the part to think about, and you can skip it by following the exit signs early.
Getting to Kaymaklı
Kaymaklı is on the main road south from Nevşehir towards Niğde. From Göreme it’s roughly half an hour by car. Parking is next to the entrance, and so is the row of stalls.
Without a car, take a minibus (dolmuş) from Nevşehir’s bus station. The ones heading to Derinkuyu pass through Kaymaklı. Most “Green Tour” day trips from Göreme include either Kaymaklı or Derinkuyu. Check which one before you book if you have a preference.
Pairing it with Derinkuyu
Derinkuyu Underground City is about 9km further down the same road. It goes deeper, and its rooms are bigger. Kaymaklı’s passages are narrower and more closely packed, so the two feel different. People have long said a tunnel links them, but that stretch has never been opened to the public.
Allow 45 minutes to an hour for Kaymaklı if you’re walking through it properly. Seeing both underground cities makes a comfortable morning or afternoon, especially if you do the quieter one during the weekend rush.
Frequently asked questions
When is the quietest time to visit Kaymakli Underground City?
Weekdays are the calmest, right through opening hours (8am to 7pm). On weekends, avoid 10am to 5pm. That's when tour groups crowd the narrow passages, so get there at the 8:00 AM opening or after 5pm.
What are the opening hours?
It's open every day of the week from 8:00 AM to 7:15 PM.
How long does a visit take?
Most people spend 45 minutes to an hour walking the signed one-way route through the four open levels. Add time if you're also going to Derinkuyu, about 9km south.
How do I get there without a car?
Take a minibus (dolmuş) from Nevşehir bus station on the Derinkuyu route, which stops in Kaymaklı. Or join a Green Tour from Göreme. Many of them include Kaymaklı, but some go to Derinkuyu, so check.
Is it suitable for people who dislike tight spaces?
The upper levels are fairly roomy. Lower down, the passages are low enough that you have to stoop. If you get anxious in tight spaces, you can take the exit signs early and skip the deepest stretch.
Plan your trip to Cappadocia
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