Hot Air Balloon · Tour
Cappadocia 2-Day North and South Tour from Istanbul
The balloon flight is an optional extra on this package, included only with selected booking options, so the fare does not automatically put you in a basket. What it does cover is unusual for two days: both halves of Cappadocia, north and south. Itineraries of this length normally stay on the northern circuit around Goreme and skip the south altogether. Groups are capped at 10 guests, which the operator calls semi-private. Day one goes south. Keslik Monastery is a cave complex with two churches, a refectory hall, a sacred spring and room after room cut into the rock, and the ground under it has been a Roman gravesite, a Byzantine communal monastery and a visitor site across 2,000 years. Sobesos came to light by accident in 2002; its floor mosaics are the reason to stop. Lunch is in a cave restaurant in Ayvali village. Then Pigeon Valley at Uchisar, and Kaymakli, eight levels deep, with kitchens, storerooms and a copper workshop underground. Day two is the northern circuit: the Three Beauties, Goreme National Park and its open air museum, UNESCO listed since 1985, then Tokali Church. Ortahisar and Uchisar castles are seen from outside, since neither is entered. Lunch is testi kebab in Avanos, above the Kizilirmak. Devrent Valley and the fairy chimneys close the day. The flight back leaves between 8:00pm and 9:30pm and lands in Istanbul between about 9:30pm and 10:45pm.
What's included
- Fully air-conditioned, non-smoking vehicles
- Round-Trip Domestic Flights Between Istanbul and Cappadocia
- Lunch
- Hot Air Balloon Ride (Optional – Included Only with Selected Booking Options)
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- Breakfast
- Entrance fee - All entrance fees for museums and ruins listed in itinerary
- Hotel / Airport pick-up and drop-off services
- One night accommodation at cave boutique hotel including breakfast
- Semi-private guided tour (Maximum 10 guests per group)
Itinerary
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Ürgüp
Ürgüp, Nevşehir, Türkiye
Uçhisar, Nevşehir Merkez
Uçhisar, Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Türkiye
Göreme, Aydınlı - Orta, Göreme/Nevşehir Merkez
Göreme, Aydınlı - Orta, 50180 Göreme/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Türkiye
Istanbul
Istanbul, İstanbul, Türkiye
Istanbul
Getting to Cappadocia starts with an airport transfer in Istanbul. The driver picks you up at your hotel reception, or at your Airbnb if parking is accessible, and drives you to the airport for the flight.
Cappadocia
Your driver waits at the exit gate of the arrival terminal in Cappadocia with a sign showing your name, then takes you to your hotel. There is a short break there before the day's guided tour. The operator runs its guided tours as semi-private, with a maximum of 10 guests, which keeps the group small enough for the guide to work with everyone and holds the pace down.
Keslik Monastery
Your local guide meets you at the hotel reception before the day heads out to the quieter corners of the region. Keslik Monastery is a large cave monastery complex: two churches, a big refectory hall, a sacred spring and cave rooms that keep going, all set in a garden. It is the most expansive monastery in Cappadocia. The site has been in use for 2,000 years, first as a gravesite in pre-Christian Roman times, then as a communal monastery under the Byzantines, and now as a place visitors come to see.
Sobesos Ancient City
Sobesos Ancient City came to light by accident in 2002 and took a three-year excavation to uncover. What came out of the ground was a set of motifs worked into coloured stone, and above all the floor mosaics, laid in geometric patterns.
Today
Lunch today is at a cave restaurant in Ayvalı Village, the dining room cut into the rock. The menu is a selection of local dishes put together to give you a run through Turkish cooking.
Pigeon Valley
Pigeon Valley sits in the town of Uchisar and gives one of the best panoramic views in the region. The rock faces are full of pigeon houses cut by the people who lived here in antiquity. There is also the option of a visit to a well known onyx stone factory nearby.
Kaymakli Underground City
Kaymakli is one of the largest underground cities in Cappadocia, running to 8 levels, though as with the others not every floor is open to visitors. The first level was built for animals, with room for them to move. Corridors link the churches and the living quarters, kept apart from the stables. Further in there are storage rooms, kitchens, cemeteries, a communal area and a copper workshop. Tunnels are thought to remain in the city that have not been fully explored.
Cappadocia
You are transferred back to your hotel in Cappadocia at the end of the tour.
Hot Air Balloon Ride (Optional – Included Only with…
Hot air balloon ride (optional, included only with selected booking options, fixed price guarantee, no last-minute price increases). Check which booking option you are buying before you pay. If the flight is part of it, pickup is from your hotel, with time at the launch site to watch the balloon being prepared. Take-off is at sunrise, the only window Turkish civil aviation permits for ballooning in Cappadocia. The pilot climbs to about 700 to 1,000 metres above ground level and on some stretches of the flight drops the basket to within a metre of the rock formations, which is where the photographs come from. The whole activity runs about three hours, roughly 60 minutes of it in the air, and champagne is poured at the end.
The Three Beauties (Uc Guzeller)
The second day starts with your local guide at the hotel reception. The route is the product of years of running it and listening to what guests said afterwards, and it works as a first pass through the region's history, culture and geology. It opens at the Three Beauties, the trio of fairy chimneys that appears on most postcards of Cappadocia, along with the legends told about it.
Goreme National Park
The road leaves the Three Beauties for Göreme National Park, where the valleys, fairy chimneys and volcanic rock that made the region famous are concentrated. The park is UNESCO listed, and inside it you visit the Göreme Open-Air Museum and Tokalı Church, both known for rock-cut architecture and Byzantine frescoes in unusually good condition.
Goreme Open Air Museum
The Göreme Open Air Museum ranks among the earliest monasteries in Christian history. It was cut straight into the rock and used as a teaching centre for spreading Christianity. UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage site in 1985, for the fresco-covered churches and the living spaces carved beside them.
TokalI Church
Tokalı Church, the Buckle Church, stands inside the Göreme Open Air Museum and is rated among the finest cave churches in Cappadocia. The frescoes on its walls are what earn it that, as theology and as painting. It belongs to a larger complex of four churches and a hermitage, all dating to the 9th century. It was once the most famous church in the region and is still one of the most impressive.
Ortahisar Castle
Ortahisar Castle stands in the town of Ortahisar, in Nevşehir, and is called the most spectacular fairy chimney in Cappadocia. Steep valleys drop away on three sides, and that position made it useful for protection and shelter in ancient times; it is said to be one of the first multi-storey settlements in the world. You do not go inside, because of the walking involved and safety concerns, so the stop is a panoramic one. The route then makes a brief visit to a cooperative where Turkish carpets are woven. The craft came out of Central Asia and is still worked in Cappadocia, and the stop shows how it is done.
Avanos Oren Yeri
Lunch is served at a local restaurant in Avanos, and the thing to try is testi kebab, a kebab found only in the Cappadocia region. Vegetarian options are available at the same restaurant. The old town has cobbled streets and views over the water. Avanos, called Venessa in antiquity, looks over the Kızılırmak, the Red River and the longest in Turkey, which separates the town from the rest of Cappadocia. Its potters have worked earthenware since Hittite times, using clay from the red silt of the river, and the workshops still matter to the local economy. There is a short stop to see them.
Uchisar Castle
Uchisar rock castle is among the biggest landmarks in Cappadocia and the highest tuff hill in the area, looking out over a valley full of strangely shaped rock. Going inside is not part of the tour, because of the walking and safety concerns. Instead there is a stop for the panoramic view of it.
Devrent Valley
Also called Imagination Valley, Devrent holds a crowd of rock formations that look like animals, most of them in shades of red. A camel is the shape people spot most often.
Fairy Chimneys
Cappadocia is known for its landforms, and the fairy chimneys are where they show most plainly, together with the way people have lived among them. You will see many of them while covering the area on foot and by car.
At the end of the tour
The tour finishes with a transfer to Cappadocia airport for the flight back to Istanbul.
Upon your arrival at the airport in Istanbul
A driver meets you at the airport in Istanbul and drives you to your hotel. The return flight departs between 8:00pm and 9:30pm, landing in Istanbul roughly between 9:30pm and 10:45pm, which is late enough to leave the whole day in Cappadocia free for the guided tour.
Ürgüp
Ürgüp, Nevşehir, Türkiye
Uçhisar, Nevşehir Merkez
Uçhisar, Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Türkiye
Göreme, Aydınlı - Orta, Göreme/Nevşehir Merkez
Göreme, Aydınlı - Orta, 50180 Göreme/Nevşehir Merkez/Nevşehir, Türkiye
Istanbul
Istanbul, İstanbul, Türkiye
Not included
- Dinner
- Drinks
Good to know
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
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- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- To book your domestic flights, the supplier may kindly ask you to provide your passport details. Sharing this information will help ensure that your flight reservations can be arranged without any issues.
- Your domestic flight e-tickets will be emailed to you by the supplier three days before your departure. There is no need to print your tickets, as both the airline and the supplier accept digital copies.
- Each traveler is entitled to 15 kg of checked baggage and 8 kg of carry-on baggage on all domestic flights. If you expect to exceed the checked baggage allowance, please inform the supplier before your trip. Additional fees may apply for excess baggage.
- If you request any changes to your domestic flight(s) after the tickets have been issued, the supplier may ask you to cover the cost of the new flight ticket(s). Please note that once issued, domestic flight tickets are non-refundable and cannot be modified.
- MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE FOR HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE: All hot air balloon flights are subject to weather conditions and Civil Aviation Authority safety regulations. In the event that your balloon flight is canceled because of unfavorable weather, the supplier will provide a full refund for the balloon ride. Refunds are usually processed within the next day, ensuring a simple, transparent, and worry-free experience.
- FIXED PRICE GUARANTEE FOR HOT AIR BALLOON RIDE: Hot air balloon prices are dynamic and may change daily based on demand and weather-related cancellations. During periods of high demand, especially after weather cancellations, prices can increase by 30–40% and, in some cases, by as much as 70–80%. By booking today, you lock in your current price. Once your reservation is confirmed, your balloon ride price is guaranteed and will not increase, even if rates go up later. BOOK NOW WITH OUR FIXED PRICE GUARANTEE AND SAVE MONEY!
- SEMI-PRIVATE GUIDED TOURS: The guided day tour(s) included in this package are operated with a maximum of 10 guests, offering a more exclusive alternative to standard group tours. With smaller groups, you'll enjoy a more personalized experience, greater comfort, and better opportunities to explore Cappadocia’s stunning landscapes and fascinating historical and cultural heritage.
- Accommodation is based on double or triple room occupancy. Room arrangements depend on the number of travelers: 2 guests will be accommodated in a double room, while 3 guests will stay in a triple room. For groups of 4 or more, accommodations will be arranged in a suitable combination of double and/or triple rooms. Solo travelers will be provided with a single room at no additional cost. A single room supplement may apply if travelers in a group of two or more request separate single rooms.
- Your hotel accommodation (Misty Cave Hotel, Zeydem Suites, or Yunak Evleri) is based on the package option selected during booking. Please select your preferred option carefully. If your chosen hotel is unavailable on your travel dates, the supplier reserves the right to substitute it with another hotel of comparable quality and standard.
- The Hot Air Balloon Ride will be operated in the Standard Category. This category offers an approximate flight duration of one hour, using baskets with a capacity of 20 to 28 passengers. The actual flight time may vary between 50–55 minutes or 65–70 minutes, depending on weather conditions prior to landing. Flight duration decisions are made by the pilot in accordance with the safety regulations of the Civil Aviation Authority. The total duration of the activity is approximately 3 hours.
- If you choose not to use any included service or decide not to participate in scheduled activities, guided tours, hot air balloon rides, airport transfers, or other included services, it will be regarded as a last-minute cancellation. Unfortunately, no refund can be issued for any unused services.
- The children aged 6 and under are not allowed to participate in the hot air balloon ride due to Civil Aviation regulations.
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking.
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required.
- Up to 10 travelers per booking.
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Guiding available in: pt, ja, en, es.
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