GLAMPING IN CAPPADOCIA CAVE, TURKEY

Amruta Khemkalyani

Have you ever slept in a real cave? If you are a trekker or a nature lover like me, you might have camped in caves and spent your night in a sleeping bag. But if you want to experience a luxury stay in a real cave, you need to book your flight to Cappadocia in Turkey!

It has been more than 4 years when me and my husband been to Turkey but whenever we think of Cappadocia we remember our one of the most romantic stay at Divan Cave House in the fairytale town of Goreme. Scroll down to see our photos and you won’t be surprised if I tell you Goreme is one of the popular honeymoon destinations.

We booked a cave suite online and from the response of the hotel staff, we knew our stay is going to be memorable! We stayed in Goreme only for 2 days but the memories we created there are going to stay with us, lifelong.

SUSTAINABLE CAVE HOUSES OF CAPPADOCIA

Like many other hotels and resorts in Cappadocia, Divan Cave house has cave rooms and suites inside fairy chimney, volcanic rock formation for which Cappadocia is famous for. Since ancient times people are staying in these caves houses and best part is now you can also experience the ancient cave dwelling with the luxury of modern times!

Our cave suite at the bottom of Fairy Chimney

These cave houses in the volcanic rock formation called the Tuffa stone are not just beautiful but proven sustainable too, since centuries. The thermal properties of these caves make them perfect place to live in any season. When we visited Goreme in June, it was peak summer and we didn’t feel hot at all. The natural caves keep inside temperature cooler in summer and warmer in winter. So the hotels and resorts mostly don’t provide air conditioning, great natural feature for saving energy.

If you are a fan of rustic decor, cave hotels are heaven for you! The construction material used in these cave houses are natural materials like stone, wood makes it a great example of sustainable renovation. The decor at Divan cave house was natural and rustic perfectly matching the cave!

Divan cave house is situated in the quiet corner of this beautiful village of Goreme. Once you enter Goreme, you need to walk uphill, almost up to the top where Divan Cave House is located. But when you see the view from the rooftop, where the breakfast is served on an outdoor balcony you will know why it is worth coming all the way up here!

 

Our suite was located downstairs, at the bottom part of fairy chimney. The living room had a few constructed walls, as it was on the outer side of the cave and the actual cave was our bedroom.  Our suite had Jacuzzi in the cave toilet, I especially liked the handmade soaps in the toiletry basket.

Cozy fireplace in the living room

During the day, if you don’t open the curtains, the gloomy interior of the suite makes it the perfect place to relax and enjoy the slow life, like Goreme locals! There is also a fireplace in the living room for colder weather.

Lazy, gloomy afternoon in the Cave Suite

After a good night sleep, waking up in our cave bedroom was an amazing experience. It was chilled during the early morning, but the chirping birds and rustic table just for two of us kept outside our bedroom window didn’t keep me longer in the cozy bed. First thing when I opened the door to have my tea outside, was the view of the Fairy chimney! What a perfect Cappadocian morning!

Waking up in Cave bedroom

I think, if you stay on upper floors you might get Fairy chimney view directly from your bed, but not sure of privacy and I have a feeling that the size of the room might be smaller. This is just my guessing though. The breakfast was good and view makes it a must place in Goreme to have at least one meal.

The staff is really friendly here and they make sure to provide you with every information and all the facilities without disturbing you much. While checking out from the hotel, we had a candid chat with the manager and he told his story. He is from nearby Kayseri but didn’t come to Goreme before and went to Istanbul to work in the travel industry. But once he came here to Goreme and couldn’t leave this beautiful place and took a job in this boutique hotel.  We totally understood why he did that if given chance we too would love to move to this dreamy place forever!

 

FAIRY TALE TOWN OF GOREME

If you are wondering why did we choose to live in Goreme when visiting Cappadocia then here is my answer. Goreme is a small, slow town in the heart of Cappadocia, where you can enjoy a relaxed stay and select from abundant hotels. All the places to see in Cappadocia are easily accessible from Goreme by car and one of the Unesco world heritage site Open-air Museum is just outside the town. Rose Valley is closest to reach from Goreme too.

Apart from the town center, this is not a touristy town, you could easily find a quiet corner in this town like us (it was quiet in summer so we loved it). The best way to explore this town is by walking, you come across so many beautiful frames, it is heaven for photography lovers. It is lovely to pass by busy locals, while you are walking on the streets of this town. As most importantly Goreme’s beauty makes it so unique, you have to visit this place to see its beauty with your own eyes.

Join our Sustainability Tribe here to get more sustainable travel ideas from around the world.

You might like to read our Cave Camping experience in Oman here.

Or A chilling Caving experience in Iceland inside a Lava Tube Cave.

Pin it for Later