Cappadocia is one of the most unusual places I’ve ever visited. We originally came here for one reason only — to see the famous hot air balloons. Instead, we discovered a place that feels straight out of a fairy tale, with a surprisingly fascinating history.

Cappadocia in a Nutshell

Located in central Turkey, Cappadocia is famous for its surreal rocky landscapes, semi-desert valleys, underground cities (more on those later), and, of course, hundreds of hot air balloons filling the sky at sunrise.

The region’s iconic cone-shaped rock formations, known as fairy chimneys, were carved into homes by Bronze Age civilizations and later used as shelters by early Christians. If you enjoy history even a little, you’ll love this place.

The best time to visit is between April and October, when you have the highest chance of seeing hundreds of balloons take off at sunrise.

How to Get There

Getting to Cappadocia takes a bit of planning. It’s located far from Turkey’s coastline, so you’ll need to head inland. You can fly to Nevşehir, although flights aren’t daily and tickets tend to be expensive. Another option is taking an overnight bus from Istanbul, Antalya, or other major tourist destinations. The journey takes around 10 hours. In my opinion, the best option is renting a car and driving to Göreme via Konya.

The drive takes around 6–7 hours, and having your own car makes exploring Cappadocia much easier since many attractions aren’t accessible by public transport.

Where to Stay

I highly recommend staying in Göreme. Most of the main attractions and balloon viewpoints are located there. You could also stay in Ürgüp, Uçhisar, or Nevşehir, but I wouldn’t go any farther than that. Göreme has plenty of accommodation for every budget, but if you can, book one of the famous cave hotels. How often do you get the chance to sleep inside a cave? Many hotels offer beautifully designed cave rooms with traditional décor, and the experience is unforgettable.

Hot Air Balloons

Now, the reason we’re all here. I’ll start with a confession: we didn’t actually fly in a balloon. For me, watching hundreds of balloons floating across the sky from the ground was far more magical than being inside one of them. If you do want to fly, expect to pay from around $200 per person. I also recommend staying at least two nights. Balloon flights depend entirely on the weather, so if they’re cancelled one morning, you’ll have another chance the next day.

Flights begin at sunrise. You can check whether they’ll operate on the official Cappadocia flight monitoring website. One thing you can’t predict is where the balloons will launch from. There are several launch sites across the region. We stayed for two nights and were lucky enough to witness balloon flights on both mornings — and they started from completely different locations. Göreme is definitely the best base for balloon watching. On our first morning we watched baloons from a hill near our hotel. On the second, we literally chased the balloons around in our rental car!

Sometimes Instagram oversells a place, and reality is a little disappointing. Cappadocia was the exact opposite. The sunrises completely exceeded my expectations. It honestly felt magical, especially the moment of a baloon flying over us. We visited in early June during calm weather, and thankfully enough people had booked balloon rides to send hundreds of balloons into the sky. So, to everyone who paid for those flights — thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Watch my balloon sunrise videos from the first morning and the second morning.

Rocks, Churches and Underground Cities

So you’ve woken up before sunrise to watch the balloons… now what? Luckily, there’s plenty to do for the rest of the day.

Göreme Open-Air Museum. As I mentioned earlier, Cappadocia isn’t just about balloons—it’s also packed with history. During the early centuries of Christianity, believers fleeing persecution found refuge here, settling inside caves that had originally been carved into the rocks thousands of years earlier. Many of these monasteries are now open to visitors. On the lower levels you’ll find kitchens, dining halls and living quarters. Higher up are tiny chapels with remarkably well-preserved Byzantine frescoes dating back to the 10th century. As an atheist, I’ve always found the history of religions fascinating. Before visiting these cave churches, though, I’d honestly never thought much about the period when Christians themselves were the ones being persecuted.

Underground Cities. Several enormous underground cities are scattered around Göreme, where Christian communities lived between the 4th and 13th centuries. These cities contained everything needed for daily life: kitchens, living quarters, storage rooms, stables and impressive ventilation systems. The two most famous are Kaymaklı, which is closest to Göreme, and Derinkuyu, the largest underground city in the region. We visited Kaymaklı, and I’ll be honest… This is definitely not an attraction for anyone with claustrophobia.

The Valleys. Cappadocia is filled with rocky valleys covered in cone-shaped formations. Officially, they’re called fairy chimneys. Unofficially… well… they mostly look like giant penises. To Turkey’s credit, they gave these valleys wonderfully poetic names like Sword Valley (sure…) and Love Valley. As we all know, penises and love aren’t exactly the same thing, but I suppose “Love Valley” sounds better than “Penis Valley.” You can explore the valleys on an ATV tour, admire them from a hot air balloon, or simply enjoy the views from one of the many panoramic viewpoints.

What Else to Do in Göreme

Wander Around the Old Town. Take your time walking through Göreme’s charming stone streets, browse the carpet shops and souvenir stores, or even have your photo taken inside one of the famous carpet galleries (for about $15).

Watch the Sunset. Spend the evening on a hotel terrace or at a restaurant overlooking the sunset valleys, with live music, cocktails and, naturally, a hookah.

Visit the Panoramic Viewpoints. There are countless viewpoints around Cappadocia. We chose the Lavender Panorama, where you can drink Turkish tea, relax on giant swings and stroll through a small lavender field while taking in the incredible views.

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