Avanos has produced pottery from Red River clay for over 4,000 years. In a workshop you sit at the wheel yourself, learn the traditional techniques from working craftsmen, and make a piece of your own to keep.

Crafts here have long local roots. Byzantine monks painted the cave churches, and Ottoman-era potters settled along the Kızılırmak river in Avanos, where workshops still use the same red clay today.

Visitors interested in crafts and religious history will find plenty here. Pottery workshops in Avanos take walk-ins for short lessons.

First-time visitors and solo travelers both manage easily here. The main villages are small, and tour operators handle transport between sites.

Local restaurants serve regional dishes such as testi kebab, often in cave dining rooms. Carpet and pottery shops sell handmade work; ask how a piece was made before you buy.