Top 10 Things to Do in Cappadocia, Turkey

You’ve probably seen the pictures on the internet – the fantasy-like landscape of Cappadocia, where hundreds of hot air balloons float across the morning sky across an other-worldly spread of desert sand and volcanic rock chimneys. This ancient district in Turkey is famous for it’s subterranean cities, which were intended to protect the locals from foreign invasion. Today, the Göreme National Park and other rock sites in the region are a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. It really is a special place, and I feel so blessed to have been able to cross this one off my travel bucket list. Here are my top 10 things to do in Cappadocia, Turkey.

Related Post: Why You Should Visit Istanbul, Turkey

TIP: We flew into Cappadocia from Istanbul, and arrived at the Kayseri Airport. For headache-free travel, I highly recommend booking your airport transfer directly through your hotel. Our transportation cost around 25,000 Turkish Lira and the driver was waiting for us at the gate.

1. Stay in a local cave hotel

There are so many cave hotels to choose from while in Cappadocia, especially if you stick to the main tourist village of Göreme. If you’re a first-time visitor to Cappadocia, I’d highly recommend you stay in Göreme for the easiest access to restaurants, hotels, tour companies, and shops. Perched on the hillside, these cave hotels offer magnificent views over the rock valley, must most importantly, give you access to the best panoramic views when the hot air balloons light up the sky every morning.

We stayed at the Mithra Cave Hotel which was conveniently located in the heart of Göreme, and has one of the most sought-after terraces in the region! It was also super affordable compared to some of the other hotels in the area. The hotel is also famous for it’s resident dogs – Findik and Zeus; these adorable little playmates were always running around the property entertaining guests, and even photobombed some of our hot air balloon photos during our stay there.

We also spent some time at the Museum Hotel in Uchisar. Although the hotel is further away from the central tourist attractions, it offers a bit more of a ‘luxury stay’ experience (check out that epic pool!). Other popular options with great reviews include the Local Cave House Hotel (another stay with an epic pool) and Artemis Cave Suites.

2. Wake up early to see the hot air balloons

Of all the must-do experiences in Cappadocia, this one ranks at the very top. Over 100 hot air balloons fly over the region every day (even in the snowy months from November to February), weather permitting. We visited Turkey at the end of September and the weather was absolutely perfect for the hot air balloon lighting – dry and warm weather without the high temperatures.

TIP: If you can, try to stay in Cappadocia for at least 3 days to give you enough opportunities to see the hot air balloons. Flight cancellations do happen. You don’t want to fly all the way to the middle of Turkey and have your trip ruined because of poor weather conditions!

Although we chose to skip it due to limited time and budget, most tourists flock to the region of Cappadocia to actually ride the hot air balloons. This is a super popular activity so make sure to book in advance! Typically, you’re picked up before dawn (exact times are confirmed the day before based on the time of year and expected weather conditions), and then driven out into the various balloon launch sites where you can watch the balloons getting inflated.

Since we were staying at a pretty popular hotel, we ended up waking up SUPER early (around 4:00am; balloon take off typically happens around 5:00-5:30am) to make sure we were able to get a prime viewing and photo spot on the hotel terrace. I can still remember waiting patiently on the terrace, wrapped up in a blanket in the pitch-black, and suddenly seeing little dots of light scattered across the horizon…like lightning bugs! It was truly a magical experience being able to see hundreds of balloons start to inflate, and float up with the sunrise.

If you want to see the hot air balloons but don’t feel like rubbing elbows with other hotel guests (or maybe your hotel doesn’t offer a terrace), there are several other great locations for balloon viewing in Cappadocia. One of the most popular spots is from the hill above Göreme, which is recognizable by the red Turkish flag on the top. There are also numerous viewpoints located in the Rose, Pigeon, and Love Valley. Note – all of these options will likely require a short hike to an elevated viewing area.

One important thing to mention – don’t be fooled by these dreamy solo photos! By 6:00am, the hotel terrace was absolutely packed with tourists. While everyone was fairly civil and took turns taking different photos, it was still a fairly stressful experience. I’m so glad that we woke up early and had some time to ourselves before the madness started!

3. Visit Uchisar Castle

For great views over Göreme, head to the highest point in Cappadocia to Uchisar Castle. While this castle was historically the main defense structure in the region, it has since been hollowed out and many of the rooms are no longer accessible due to erosion. At one point, over 1,000 people lived in the various rooms and tunnels.

You can visit Uchisar multiple ways – there’s a bus option that departs every half hour from Göreme bus station to Uchisar Village, or you can rent a private driver. There’s also a third option which is to rent a sturdy ATV for the day to get around town! I highly recommend this option if you’re feeling up for an adventure – it gave us a lot more flexibility to tour the area the way we wanted to, and we also got to explore some off-the-beaten-paths. The ATV we rented was around $45 for 2 hours.

Check out the weird structures at Love Valley

One of the most unique things to do in Cappadocia is to visit Love Valley, which is located about a 10-minute drive from Göreme, or a 15-minute drive from Uchisar. The hilariously penis-like natural rock structures are made from eroded volcanic ash. There are multiple ways to visit Love Valley – you can either choose to go to the viewpoint from above, or you can take a 2.5 mile hike through the valley itself.

Buy an authentic Turkish rug

A great souvenir to bring back home with you from a trip to Cappadocia is an authentic hand-woven Turkish rug. There are multiple rug shops in the region, but the most popular ones are Sultan Carpets and Galeri Ikman. Both of these rug shops have been made so famous by Instagram that the shop owners have had to charge for entry (around 12 Euros for 10 minutes). We didn’t end up having to pay the entry fee because we actually went in to buy a rug, and the owners graciously allowed us to take a few photos while we were trying to decide on which one to purchase.

Choosing the right rug was no easy feat – there are huge differences in cost depending on the materials, colors, dyes, weave style, etc. The primary materials for Turkish rugs are cotton, silk, or wool, with the most expensive ones being made of silk. Hand-woven rugs are also much more expensive compared to machine-made, and older carpets are generally considered to be more valuable. I have to admit, it was super intimidating trying to navigate the shop and haggling the price…but we ended up taking home a beautiful hand-woven and colorful mat that now brightens up our piano area!

TIP: Most rugs go for 4-10 times the base costs, so always negotiate (we got ours for around 50% off asking price).

Hike the Rose Valley Trail

One of the best things to do in Cappadocia is to go on a hike! There are numerous trail options to choose from, but we ended up choosing the gorgeous pink-tinted Rose Valley hike (around 3-4 hours round trip). The pink tint comes from the minerals in the sandstone, and the color becomes more and more vibrant throughout the day (peaking at sunset when the sun directly glows over the valley).

The starting point to the Rose Valley hike is a small shop titled ‘Buffe’ on Google maps (you can get there by walking from Göreme, or taking a bus to the village of Cavusin). Be warned – there are very few trail markers on the hike, and several of them (especially the red spray signs) actually point you in the wrong direction, so we got pretty lost. Everything ended up being okay thanks to the fact that we had downloaded offline maps ahead of time, so I would highly recommend doing this.

The best part of the Rose Valley hike was around friendship with a kind stray dog, who decided to randomly take us on as her companions for the day while we were in Cavusin. We’re still not entirely sure why she chose to follow us because we hadn’t offered her any food, or even acknowledged her when we walked past, but alas, she came trotting down the path behind us (around 5 minutes after we left the village and entered the trail) and stuck with us for hours. We named her Rose.

Rose literally followed us up mountains, down steep cliffs, through bushes and caves. When we stopped for rest, she sat near our feet. She didn’t beg, whine, or touch us…just maintained a short 1-2 foot distance from us at all times. When Kevin and I separated from each other so that he could get a good photo of me from a distance, she even struggled to decide who to follow, and then ended up situating herself somewhere in-the-middle and watched us both like a hawk…like she was our protector! It was the sweetest thing. When it was time to say goodbye at the end of the evening, she wouldn’t leave our side. We ended up buying her ice cream from a food stand in Göreme so that she’d be distracted when we disappeared. It was heartbreaking.

Enjoy the sunset

You’re on holiday, so don’t forget to kick-back and relax. Sunset is a special time in Cappadocia – there’s just something about the way the sun hits the rocky valley! Popular spots during sunset are either from your cave hotel terrace or rooftop, or the famous Sunset Hill (a short 10-minute walk from Göreme; head up the road to Ascension Suites and you’ll find your way to the top).

Try the local food

Turkish cuisine is one of my favorites, and is best described as a fusion of many neighboring regions such as the Mediterranean, Middle East, Central Asia, and Balkan cuisines. A must-try dish while you’re in Cappadocia is pottery kebab, which is an Anatolian specialty of meat (usually lamb, beef, or chicken) with vegetables, sealed in a clay jug, and simmered in a clay oven for several hours. The best pottery kebab we had while in Cappadocia was at the restaurant Dibek, which is located in a 475 year old building (must reserve in advance)!

Another must-try dish is Turkish gozleme, which is a savory flatbread filled with ground meat, spices, herbs, and cheese. This popular street food can be found at several road side food stalls around Göreme.

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Explore Pasabag

Pasabag (also known as Monks Valley as it was a once a seclusion place for monks) is one of the best places to see fairy chimneys in Cappadocia. The valley features several rock monasteries, tunnels, and churches which can be explored by foot. The most famous one is the tri-level chapel dedicated to St. Simeon.

Visit the Göreme Open Air Museum

Among the list of top things to do in Cappadocia is a visit to the world-famous Göreme Open Air Museum, which features some of the earliest churches in history. It’s a stunning collection of historical monasteries and painted cave churches, and we really enjoyed seeing the cave walls decorated with ancient Byzantine frescoes. Apparently, Christian pilgrims journeyed to Cappadocia for spiritual refuge in the 10th and 11th centuries – I had no idea that Göreme was such a hive of religious activity! If you can, I’d highly recommend that you book a tour guide (or bring a guidebook with you) so that you can appreciate the history behind the various churches and paintings on the walls.

And there you have it, my top ten list of things to do in Cappadocia, Turkey. What an awe-inspiring place…and definitely worth the trek to get there. If you have questions or comments, leave me a note below!