Me again with a „I visited this place in winter” review. Latest after my Tsunami Award winning visit to Nemrut Dag, I was aware of the existence of snow in Turkiye. But an extended weekend to visit one of the wooden mosques and Catalhöyük brought me so close to this personal bucket list place, that I couldn’t resist.

While the Aksaray region was mostly snow free, it started to pile up close to Nevsehir. Apparently the Turks never heard of snowplows, so driving to Göreme with my rental from Antalya without winter tires became an adventure on its own.

We arrived in the region after sundown, which gave us the opportunity to stop at Uchisar castle, without paying for parking. The castle is well lit by night and it looked fantastic in the snow.

The next morning was sunny and we were able to visit Pasabag Vadisi and Zelve before the tour groups arrived. While the clouds became dominant, we visited the Kaymakli Underground City, before driving back to Antalya.

Is it worth to visit in winter?

Totally! The region is breathtakingly beautiful. But the snow gives it a little extra spice. Despite the -8 degrees and the icy roads, this time of the year comes with many advantages. There are still loads of tourists, but it felt nowhere near max capacity. We did the whole Zelve loop completely alone. The hotel was 50 EUR (instead of the usual 250 EUR) per night, and all restaurants had free tables on a Saturday. The balloons were also running, so you wouldn’t miss out on that in winter.

I loved Göreme and was happy it lived up to my high expectations. I will be back for the remaining components.