I fell so deeply in love with Cappadocia and want everyone to see for themselves how remarkable it really is. So I put together this ultimate travel guide to inspire others to visit one of my favorite places on Earth! If it wasn’t already on your bucket list, hopefully this will convince you that it totally belongs there.
How to get there: Cappadocia is located in roughly the geographic center of the country. From Istanbul, there are plane, bus, and train options to get there. By far your best bet would be taking a flight, they cost anywhere from a super cheap $20-30 each way and only take about an hour. The bus/train journey is LONG and won’t be much cheaper than the flight at all – not worth the time and trouble. There are two main airports that serve the Cappadocia region: Kayseri Airport and Nevsehir Airport. Most hotels and hostels that you book will have an airport pickup/drop off service for a cheap price. The airports are both located about an hour away from town.
Where to stay: Cappadocia actually spans an entire region of Turkey, consisting of several smaller towns. There’s Urgup, Avanos, Ihlara Valley, Goreme, and more. Goreme is definitely where you should choose to stay – it’s where all of best hotels and views are located, and where tours of the surrounding area start from. I split up my time between a cheap hostel and a hotel to save on a bit of money. I spent 2 nights at Terra Vista Hostel for $8 a night, an eclectic hostel located inside of the classic Cappadocia cave setting, and then stayed at Sultan Cave Suites for an additional 2 nights. If you come to Cappadocia, you cannot leave without spending time at Sultan Cave Suites! It has beautiful cave rooms, fantastic staff including a weiner dog to my delight, and the best part: it’s carpeted open roof top with the best viewing platform of the balloons every morning at sunrise. It was photography HEAVEN. It only cost $65 too! Money well spent.
What to do: Obviously, the #1 thing to do in Cappadocia is taking a sunrise hot air balloon ride. If you don’t do this while you’re here, you are nuts. It tops my list for favorite travel memory ever. I wrote a whole post where you can read more about it here.
There’s lots of other things to do in Cappadocia too. There are 3 main sightseeing tours available, which you can book through your accommodation: Red, Blue, or Green. The Red tour will take you to Dervent Valley and the Goreme Open Air Museum; the Green to the Underground City and a panoramic view of Goreme; and the Blue to Soganili Valley and Mustafapasa. I was low on money at this point in my backpacking trip so didn’t do any of them, but instead took a cheaper public bus to see the sights I really wanted to see myself. From what I heard from other travelers, the Green tour is the most popular and the best bang for your buck. They cost around $20 each for a half-day tour.
I skipped the super touristy stuff and instead took a public bus for $1 each way to Pasabag, a village about 10 minutes from Goreme with fantastic views of the famous fairy chimneys. To take the public bus, head to the main, bigger road in Goreme (this will make sense once you’re there) and look for a little bus stop, and just flag down the next passing bus that says “Avanas” – this is the direction you want to take. Tell the bus driver you want to go to Pasabag and he/she will let you off in front of the little village in about 10 minutes time. There’s awesome rock formations here plus a church in a cave so it’s definitely worth making it out. You could always take a cheap taxi, or rent a motorbike for the day too.
Another must-do is visiting the famous Turkish rug shops in Goreme, easy to find located just off the main street. I walk into this glorious little open-air shop with rugs draping all over the walls, the ceilings, and covering the entire floor. All different shapes, sizes, and colors + sunlight shimmering inside to give the whole place a glowy atmosphere. I walked inside to enjoy the surroundings and take some photos, but somehow within 2 minutes the owner of the shop had me handing over my credit card to buy a $200 rug (it’s TINY too). I think I was so caught up in the whimsical atmosphere that I was not fully with it, but I forked over a week’s worth of my backpacking budget on a Turkish rug that I never even needed! After talking with some other people who had visited, apparently this is a very common thing to be finessed by these sweet-talking Turkish rug owners! Visit the store by all means, but be warned! Don’t get coerced into buying an expensive rug like me! At least it’s a funny travel souvenir that I’ll always have.
Finally, just take some time to walk around and soak up the totally unique atmosphere of Cappadocia. Goreme town has several hilly roads that you can climb to find cool vantage points for views and photos, so take your time and enjoy the surroundings. There’s no place else like Cappadocia in the world!
Other facts: There’s lots of ATMs available for all of your cash needs, but I didn’t see any exchange offices. Food here isn’t all that expensive, but isn’t as cheap as the rest of Turkey: budget maybe $10-$15 per meal at a decent eatery including tip. FYI: the hot air balloons do not fly every single day if weather conditions aren’t ideal, so if that’s one of the primary reasons you’re coming to Cappadocia, make sure to spend at least a couple nights here to optimize your chances.
