Göreme is the village at the centre of the postcard. Around it, in the valleys and ridges of the Cappadocia plateau, stand the fairy chimneys, tall cones of pale tuff capped with harder rock, and every other cliff face is pierced with windows and doors. The place has the odd, dreamlike quality of a landscape shaped by ash, water and patient hands, and people have lived inside it for as long as anyone can say.
The cleverest thing about it is what the Christians made there. From the early centuries of the Byzantine period, monks and villagers carved churches, chapels and monasteries into the rock, and the Göreme Open Air Museum, a short walk from the village, preserves a cluster of them. Inside, painted ceilings and walls show saints and scenes from the Gospels in reds, ochres and blues, some of them worn, some astonishingly fresh. Two of the churches are famous for their frescoes, and a dark one retains vivid colour because little daylight reached it. Together with the surrounding area, the site has been listed by UNESCO since the 1980s. Opening hours and ticketing are managed, so check before you go.
The ride around Göreme is a pleasure. Roads wind between cones and fields on good surfaces, quiet outside midday, and every turn brings a new shape. Sunrise is the time to be on the move, with dozens of balloons filling the sky above the valleys, and sunset turns the tuff pink and gold. Wind can pick up in the afternoons, and tour buses and quad bikes can clog the lanes in season, so give yourself time. In winter the weather is cold, with occasional snow, and the landscape takes on a hush.
The village itself is touristy but charming, with cave hotels built into the rock, cafés with carpeted terraces, and restaurants serving testi kebab, a stew cooked in a sealed clay pot that the waiter breaks open at the table. Pottery, carpets and lamps fill the shops. Fuel is easiest in Nevşehir or Ürgüp, each a short ride away, as Göreme itself has limited options. Car parks fill early, but motorcycles can generally squeeze in.
Take time to walk one of the valleys, such as Rose or Love Valley, where the rock changes colour with the light. The scale is human and the calm unexpected.