The landscapes in Cappadocia are out of this world. A place we had been wanting to travel to for years, to see and ride the hot air balloons. At the end of August we spent 4 days here. This is how we recommend you spend your time here.

Hot Air Balloon ride
Photoshoot
Goreme Open Air Museum
Green Tour
ATV Sunset Tour

Where to eat in Goreme?

Our favourite meal that we had in Goreme was a test kebabi (pottery kebab). The meal is cooked inside the pottery. Sometimes they bring it out and crack the top open with a hammer, before pouring it into your bowl. The prices were reasonable.

Dibek: This restaurant is in a traditional old house (475 years old) and serves local traditional food. The service was great and they even let us crack open the pottery kebab.

Soffy’s Kitchen: A cave styled restaurant. There were plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. The service was excellent.

Organic Wine House (Cave Wine Bar): We stubbled upon this place and was the perfect option. They served delicious sangria and had seating inside the cave, covered with traditional cushions and carpets. We loved it here so much that we came back here again for food.

Seten Restaurant: located a short walk up the hill from the centre of town. It has a rooftop with one of the best views over Cappadocia. After a lovely dinner we sat on the terrace and listened to the band playing.

Where to stay?

There are 5 main areas to stay in Cappadocia. The towns of Uchisar and Goreme are the most popular because they offer the best views of the hot air balloons at sunrise. Goreme is busier with more options for restaurants and shops. Whereas Uchisar is located 5km outside of Goreme and has spectacular views as it’s the highest point in Cappadocia. We chose Goreme as it’s located close to the fairy chimneys and balloon take off spots

We found it hard to decide on where to stay in Goreme so we booked 2 nights at Carus Hotel and 2 nights at Henna Hotel.

Both hotels are very different. Even though Carus Hotel is modern, the design of Carus Hotel is similar to that of the town. It has an amazing underground spa area which is perfect to escape the heat. Carus has a rooftop restaurant called Haruna which is discounted for hotel guests. We were here on a Saturday night and they had a DJ.

Henna Hotel is an old traditional hotel. They had 2 cocker spaniels that were so cute, their names are Mocha (puppy) and Latte (mother). Breakfast was included on the rooftop and at night the bar opened. From the rooftop there is an amazing view of the balloons taking off at sunrise and La Bel Photography captured it. Some balloons come so close.

Hot Air Balloon

Cappadocia has been rated the best place to Hot Air Balloon. We can see why with the spectacular views and so many balloons in the sky. There was a balloon festival, smaller private balloons with unique shapes took flight after the commercial balloons.

We booked the Hot Air Balloon ride through Carus Hotel and it cost us 60€ per person for a 1 hour flight.

It was interesting watching the big team working together to get the balloon set up. Once it was upright we hopped in. The basket is divided into 10 different sections (5x2 format) with a max of 4 in each. With a few flames being shot into the balloon we slowly took off and went up to 100 metres above the ground. The balloon constantly changed altitude and we couldn’t believe that the balloons touched and came extremely close to the rocks. We celebrated after the landing with champagne as they did after the first flight ever in France.

Sometimes the balloons don’t fly if the wind is too strong so you should give yourself a few days in Cappadocia just incase.

Photoshoot

Looking at Instagram you will find some epic portraits. We booked Hakanerenler Photography for a Sunrise and Sunset photoshoot. He picked us up from our hotel and we made it to Rose Valley where the balloons took off for sunrise. He knew all the best spots and there was a lot of running in order to get photos with the balloons in the background. After that we went to a viewpoint which overlooked Love Valley.

We continued and went to Pasabaglar Archaeological Site and got some photos with the Fairy Chimneys. Tammy was able to hire a pink photogenic dress through the photographer.

We went back to Henna Hotel where we were staying. They have 2 historic Ottoman rooms so we took more photos in there with the morning sunlight coming through the windows.

For sunset, we had a long drive to the rural town of Hurmetci. Cappadocia translates to the land of the wild horses so it was only fitting that we got photos with wild horses.

Another notable location is Galerie Ikman. We didn’t get photos here but we went in and had a look around. It is a photo studio full of traditional carpet. You can pay to take your own photos. The studio has an open roof so you can also get drone photos as well.

Goreme Open Air Museum

From Goreme, we walked 20 minutes to the museum. It cost 100 TL to enter. There are many museums like this in Cappadocia as the Christians used to live like this between the 4th and 13th centuries. It is a complex of churches and living quarters carved into the volcanic room. In the churches, there are decorated frescoes. Although some of the religious faces on the beautiful paintings have been destroyed during the Seljuk and Ottoman eras, and then again in the 19th and 20th centuries when locals transformed them into pigeon houses for example. Now they are being preserved.

On the walk back we visited a pottery showroom called Dilek ağacı (Wish Tree) which have many impressive pieces of pottery on display. Outside there are 2 decorated trees, one is covered in evil eye glass pearls and the other is covered in pottery. Click here to view location on google maps.

Green Tour

We booked the Green Tour through Carus Hotel. It was a full day private tour that cost us 140€. Because it was private we could chose where we wanted to go and for how long so we changed the normal plan a little. We were driven around in a luxurious and spacious van with aircon and water.

We started with a Panoramic View. Click here to view the location on google maps.

Our second stop was Selime Monastery. An amazing network of caves have been carved into the rock mountains. The carved out cathedral is the largest religious structure in Cappadocia. Inside you can find original frescoes that date back to the 8th or 9th century.

We continued on to Ilhara Valley. This area is completely different as it’s so green as a river runs through the valley. We followed the river for 4km. We found a nice spot for a swim to cool down. There is a floating river restaurant called Diker Çay Bahçesi. We stopped here for a drink and pancakes. The platform was like a bed with the water flowing underneath. Ducks surrounded us in search from scraps. We watched the locals cook the pancakes on a large metal plate with a fire underneath. They used a stick to roll the pancake up and place it on the hot plate.

We had a quick stop at Volcano Lake before continuing on to Kaymakli Underground City. There is another underground city nearby called Derinkuyu but we chose Kaymakli as the tour guide suggested it was more adventurous. The tunnels are lower, narrower and more steeply inclined. The rooms are designed around the ventilation shaft although we did notice it was harder to breathe. It was one of the largest underground settlements in the region but currently only a fraction of the complex is open to the public.

Our last stop was a carpet workshop and showroom. They showed us how the carpet is made, the different types and why the best carpet is made in this region. They were very persistent with trying to find a product we would like and we did feel pressure to buy something.

ATV Sunset Tour

We decided to do an ATV sunset tour which covered most of the Red Tour. We were both on 1 bike and most of the time we were on paths dedicated to bikes. We stopped at 3 locations and had a little bit of time to take photos. We were at the back of the group and it was very dusty. We had sand coming out of our nose for days after. We suggest that you were some sort of mask to cover your nose and mouth.

Our first stop was in Rose Valley, then we continue on to Love Valley Viewpoint. The last stop was for sunset. All the ATV tours were here and it looked like a scene from Mad Max. There was a food truck and stall selling drinks and corn. We climbed up the steep sand stone to get the best view of sunset. It was busy and it was precarious on the edge of the cliff. Click here to view the location on google maps.

We hope this blog helps you with your planning and if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to hit us up.

Cappadocia Travel Guide