Cappadocia / The verdict
Derinkuyu or Kaymakli: which underground city?
Pick Derinkuyu: descending about 85 m through eight excavated levels makes it the deeper and more dramatic visit, and the refuge story lands hardest there. Kaymakli is the sensible runner-up for anyone nervous about tight passages or traveling with kids, thanks to its wider, more horizontal layout.
By The Real Traveler Experiences team. We earn a commission if you book through our links. It never changes a verdict.
The Cappadocia story
Cappadocia is the strangest landscape in Europe's orbit: fairy-chimney valleys, rock-cut churches with thousand-year-old frescoes, entire underground cities and the dawn balloon armada that has become one of travel's iconic images. Goreme is the right base, walkable, cave-hotel dense and ringed by the best valley trails.
The verdict in 30 seconds
Our pick: Derinkuyu (runner-up: Kaymakli)
Pick Derinkuyu: descending about 85 m through eight excavated levels makes it the deeper and more dramatic visit, and the refuge story lands hardest there. Kaymakli is the sensible runner-up for anyone nervous about tight passages or traveling with kids, thanks to its wider, more horizontal layout.
Go if
- You want one underground city and the strongest engineering and refuge story per euro
- You can handle some crouched, single-file tunnel sections
- You are pairing the visit with southern sights or a full-day tour
Skip if
- Severe claustrophobia or panic in enclosed spaces; reports say both cities are a poor fit
- Limited mobility, knee or balance problems; stairs and low bends are unavoidable inside
- Very young children who may distress in dim, narrow passages
The options
Derinkuyu Go
You want the deepest, most dramatic underground city open in Cappadocia and can handle tight single-file descents.
Good
- Descends about 85 m across eight excavated levels, the deepest underground city open to visitors in the region.
- The ventilation shafts, missionary school and cruciform church give it the strongest sense of engineering scale.
- The steep, narrow descent makes the refuge story feel visceral in a way the wider sites cannot.
- The 13 EUR ticket matches Kaymakli's price for the bigger experience.
Watch out
- The tightest passages of the two sites; reports call it the more intense option for the claustrophobic.
- Some sections are narrow enough that turning around is impractical until a wider point.
- Tour groups create stop-and-go queues through the bottlenecks at mid-morning.
- Minimal signage inside means the rooms blur without a guide or audio guide.
Derinkuyu official museum pageSee Green Tour optionspartner site
Kaymakli It depends
You are nervous about confined spaces, travel with children or older family, or want the easier underground walk.
Good
- The widest, most horizontal layout of the open cities, spread across four visitor levels.
- Daily-life rooms, stables, kitchens, a winery and a church read clearly as a working settlement.
- Wider corridors suit visitors with mild claustrophobia and mixed-age families per comparison guides.
- It is the underground stop on most Green Tour itineraries, so pairing with Ihlara Valley is easy.
Watch out
- Easier rather than easy: low ceilings and narrow tunnels still feature throughout.
- Four open levels versus Derinkuyu's eight make it feel smaller to some visitors.
- Heavy mid-morning bus traffic at the site and in the narrowest rooms.
- Less dramatic overall; travelers wanting the deep-descent sensation usually prefer Derinkuyu.
Kaymakli official museum pageSee Green Tour optionspartner site
| Criterion | Derinkuyu | Kaymakli |
|---|---|---|
| Official price | 13 EUR | 13 EUR |
| Depth and levels | About 85 m across eight excavated levels | Four open levels in a shallower, wider spread |
| Standout features | Ventilation shaft, missionary school, cruciform church, rolling stone doors | Stables, kitchens, winery, church and living quarters |
| Physical demand | Steep single-file descents and the tightest passages of the two | Wider corridors, still low-ceilinged in places |
| Claustrophobia fit | The more intense of the two | The gentler of the two |
| Typical visit | 60 to 90 minutes | 45 to 90 minutes |
| Getting there | Bus via Nevsehir continuing south, or on a full-day tour | Dolmus about 30 minutes from Nevsehir, or on a Green Tour |
What it costs
- Derinkuyu Underground City, foreign adult: €13. Official source, checked Oct 2026.
- Kaymakli Underground City, foreign adult: €13. Official source, checked Oct 2026.
- Museum Pass Cappadocia: €65 (3 days, over 10 Ministry sites in Nevsehir and Aksaray provinces; covers both underground cities). Official source, checked Oct 2026.
What travelers report
Based on 13 traveler reports (Oct 2024 to Sep 2026) and the official sources linked on this page. 0 were negative.
What people like
- The depth sensation wins reports over: descending past ventilation shafts and sealed stone doors feels unlike anything on the surface.
- Both cities read as real settlements, with stables, kitchens, wineries and churches carved into the rock.
- Arrow-marked one-way routes make the self-guided walk workable.
- The underground cool, about 13 to 15 degrees, is a relief after the plateau heat.
What people complain about
- Tight, low passages top the complaints; several reports flag crouching, hunching and one bumped head.
- Tour-group bottlenecks slow the narrowest sections to a stop-and-go shuffle.
- Minimal signage inside leaves unguided visitors guessing what each room was.
- It is not for the claustrophobic; multiple reports warn that turning back mid-route is impractical.
How to do it right
- Pick Derinkuyu if the deep-descent story is the draw; pick Kaymakli if tight spaces worry you.
- Arrive before about 10:00 or in late afternoon to stay ahead of the tour-bus bottlenecks underground.
- Follow the red arrows in and the marked exit arrows out; the routes are one-way.
- Take a guide or audio guide where offered: signage inside is minimal and the bare rooms blur together without context.
- Wear grippy shoes and a light layer; floors are uneven and the underground temperature sits near 13 to 15 degrees year-round.
- Without a car, ride the local bus network via Nevsehir; one forum report covered both cities in a single day that way.
The trap to avoid
Going at mid-morning with the tour buses. The tunnels run one-way through the tightest sections, and groups turn narrow passages into stop-and-go queues.
Why this verdict
Pick Derinkuyu. It is the deepest underground city open in Cappadocia at about 85 m across eight excavated levels, and across 13 logged reports it is the one that delivers the visceral version of the story: steep single-file descents, ventilation shafts dropping into darkness, rolling stone doors and a cruciform church near the bottom. A visitor who did both cities the same day put it plainly: Derinkuyu impresses through depth and scale, Kaymakli through its everyday layout.
Kaymakli earns runner-up rather than loser. Its wider, more horizontal four-level plan reads better as a settlement, with stables, kitchens, a winery and living quarters you can actually parse, and comparison guides steer mildly claustrophobic visitors and families there. It is also the underground stop most full-day tours use, so it slots neatly into a day with Ihlara Valley.
The shared caveats apply to both. Reports warn of crouched, low passages where turning back is impractical, and of stop-and-go queues when tour buses land at mid-morning. Signage inside is minimal at either site, so a guide or audio guide is the difference between carved rooms and a story.
One caution deserves its own line: several reports say these tunnels are a poor fit for severe claustrophobia, limited mobility or very young children, and the fix there is skipping underground cities entirely rather than picking the easier one.
Timing and tickets
Both cities cost 13 EUR on the Ministry fee table and open daily (Derinkuyu 08:00 to 18:45, Kaymakli 08:00 to 20:00). The 65 EUR Museum Pass Cappadocia covers both. Arrow-marked routes run one-way through the cities: red in, blue or marked out. Arrive before about 10:00 or late in the afternoon to stay ahead of the buses; without a car, dolmus minibuses from Nevsehir reach Kaymakli in about 30 minutes and continue toward Derinkuyu.
Book or check times
Derinkuyu official museum pageKaymakli official museum pageMinistry fee tableMuseum Pass Cappadocia
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Questions
Derinkuyu or Kaymakli: which is better?
For most visitors, Derinkuyu: at about 85 m deep across eight excavated levels it delivers the stronger sense of scale and drama. Kaymakli trades depth for width, so its gentler, more horizontal layout suits anyone uneasy in tight spaces and families with children.
How much do the underground cities cost?
The Ministry fee table lists 13 EUR each for foreign adults at both Derinkuyu and Kaymakli. The 65 EUR Museum Pass Cappadocia covers both plus over ten other regional sites for three days.
How long does a visit take?
Reports run 45 to 90 minutes per city, longer when tour groups create bottlenecks in the narrowest passages.
Are the underground cities OK for claustrophobic visitors?
Kaymakli's wider corridors cope better with mild unease per comparison guides, but both involve low ceilings and confined tunnels. Reports advise visitors with severe claustrophobia to skip underground sites entirely.
Can you visit both in one day?
Yes, they sit about 10 km apart on the same road south of Nevsehir. One forum report bus-hopped both in a day via Nevsehir and called it an easy outing; a guide who visited both the same day found the pairing tiring but workable.
How do you get there without a car?
Local dolmus minibuses run from Nevsehir's bus station to Kaymakli in about 30 minutes, with services continuing toward Derinkuyu. The alternative that most visitors use is a full-day tour that includes one of the two cities.