Paşabağ: hours, entry fee and getting there
Paşabağ, once called the Valley of the Priests, is a valley of fairy chimneys with several caps on the ministry’s Zelve-Paşabağlar archaeological site, in the district of Avanos, Nevşehir province. It is about 7 min by car from Göreme (road route on OpenStreetMap data; © OpenStreetMap contributors), not counting parking and the walk in, and 4 km in a straight line (map points: secondary source; © OpenStreetMap contributors).
Opening hours: 08:00–18:00, ticket office closes 17:15 (official; source: muze.gov.tr, last verified 16 Oct 2026). Hours change by season and on public holidays: check the official site before you go.
Entry for foreign visitors: €12 per person (official; source: muze.gov.tr, last verified 16 Oct 2026).
Photo: Theugursevinc, opens in a new tab, CC BY-SA 4.0, opens in a new tab, via Wikimedia Commons
When is Paşabağ open, and is it the same ticket as Zelve?
- Opening hours
- 08:00–18:00, ticket office closes 17:15
- Closed days
- Open every day.
- Entry, foreign visitors
- €12 per person
- Shared ticket
- One ticket covers Paşabağ (Monks Valley) and Zelve Open-Air Museum.
- Next fee change
- From 1 Apr 2027: €13 per person
We give information only and never sell museum tickets. Buy them at the ticket office or on the ministry’s official site, opens in a new tab.
The ministry’s page for this site, with its current hours: muze.gov.tr, opens in a new tab.
How long to spend at Paşabağ, and when to go
- How long to allow
- Allow about 45 min for a visit, at least 30 min.Sample data
- Best time to go
- We have no records yet of when it is busiest. Arrive before the ticket office closes at 17:15.
Look for the chimney that holds the chapel of St Simeon, with a hermit’s cell carved beside it.
What makes Paşabağ’s fairy chimneys different?
The fairy chimneys here are natural formations with more than one body and more than one cap. People carved into them to make chapels and homes.
The chapel inside one of them is dedicated to St Simeon. Simeon lived as a hermit near Aleppo; to escape the crowds drawn by stories of his miracles, he went to live on top of a column, first a short one and then a much taller one, and stayed there for a long time.
From your base
About how long the drive is from each town you can stay in, not counting parking and the walk in (plans allow 5 min more for those).
Where is Paşabağ, and how do you get there?
Paşabağ is part of the same archaeological site as Zelve, which the ministry lists under Aktepe village in the district of Avanos.
It is about 7 min by car from Göreme (road route on OpenStreetMap data; © OpenStreetMap contributors), not counting parking and the walk in, and 4 km in a straight line (map points: secondary source; © OpenStreetMap contributors).
Is Paşabağ worth it on a cancelled balloon morning?
Paşabağ is an outdoor valley: you walk among the fairy chimneys in the open air, with only the small rooms carved into them under cover.
On a cancelled balloon morning, Plan B starts the day with indoor places until lunch, so this place fits better later that day.
What else is near Paşabağ?
Zelve Open-Air Museum
1 km in a straight line
Çavuşin old village
1 km in a straight line
Rose Valley walk (Güllüdere)
2 km in a straight line
Devrent (Imagination) Valley
3 km in a straight line
Red Valley walk (Kızılçukur)
3 km in a straight line
Photos: Bernard Gagnon, opens in a new tab, CC BY-SA 3.0, opens in a new tab; Aquinoxmedia, opens in a new tab, CC BY-SA 4.0, opens in a new tab
Plan your days around it
Going at opening? Choose your month: the planner includes this place in your plan and builds your days around its opening hours and a balloon morning. You can remove it before you plan.