The nearest airports to Cappadocia are Nevsehir Kapadokya Airport and Kayseri Airport. Cappadocia is around 40 KM from Nevsehir Airport and 70 KM from Kayseri Airport, and it takes around 1 hour to reach there.
From Istanbul, We were flying from the European side, so Istanbul Ataturk Airport was more convenient for us. There were more flights from Istanbul Ataturk Airport to Kayseri rather than Nevsehir Kapadokya Airport, so we decided to take a flight to Kayseri.
Our Journey to Cappadocia:
We had an early morning flight from Istanbul to Kayseri for 1 hour and 25 minutes. The Kayseri Airport wasn’t so big, it hardly took us 10-15 minutes for the baggage collection and exit the Airport.
There are three ways to reach Cappadocia from Kayseri Airport. By Taxi, Bus, or Drive on your own. You can also check with your hotel. Most of the hotels also had shuttle service from Airport for their guests.
There were a lot of Rent a Car companies in the Airport, and we rented a car from Sixt and started our road trip towards Cappadocia.
The drive was quite smooth except for a patch of around 5 KM. The scenic beauty was so amazing - it started with a Green field and gradually turned into Arid land. We stopped for a while to enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery.
There are a few small towns like Göreme, Uçhisar, Ürgüp, Avanos, and Ortahisar with lots of different options to stay in traditional hotels or Cappadocia special Cave Hotels. For the first-timers, I would suggest Göreme or Uçhisar for staying.
Finally, we reached our Cave hotel around 1 PM. Our hotel was in Göreme, around 150 meters from the central Market of the town. The hotel also had a free parking space which was highly convenient for us.
Our Suite:
We had two days and a one-night stay in Göreme, Cappadocia. We had booked a luxurious Suite called “Cappadocia Cave Suites”. The Suite was so cozy, with a great ambiance of traditional Turkish bed cover and sofa sets.
We had a small separate living area with a LED and a bedroom with an attached washroom.
The Suite also offered traditional breakfast and fine dining options and Terrace Cafe with a wonderful view of the valley and the best place to enjoy the sunset. The terrace is also a perfect spot to enjoy the sunrise with an amazing view of hot air balloons.
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The suite also offers different sightseeing tours called Red tour (covers around 50 KM) and Green tour (covers around 220 KM). You can also book your activities like a Hot Air Balloon ride, Turkish night, Dervish shows horse riding, and quad tours with the hotel.
Things to do in Cappadocia
Balloon Ride:
We had one of the most romantic experiences of a Hot Air Balloon Ride over the magical valleys of Cappadocia.
There were hundreds of balloons in the Air with a beautiful view of the Sun rising. The view was so alluring it can’t be explained in words.
Quad Biking:
When we were on our way to Göreme, we saw lots of Quad bikers on the road. We had already made up our minds that this is what we wanted to do in the valleys of Cappadocia. After reaching our Suite, we dropped our luggage and went straight to Göreme town to rent a Quad bike.
We started our off-road adventure. It was so easy to drive the bike, and the terrain was quite convenient and safe. We followed different tracks and enjoyed the beautiful valleys.
You can also book a guided tour, but we didn’t want to restrict ourselves. We preferred to explore and enjoy the different tracks with our Quad bike.
Mountain Biking:
The best way to explore Cappadocia and its surroundings is with a Mountain Bike. It’s also quite cheap and convenient to rent a Mountain bike. There are lots of small companies in Göreme town who rent bike.
We rented a bike for 2 days and explored all the surrounding areas and valleys. It’s a bit difficult to ride a bike in Valleys, but in a minimum time, you can explore a lot of valleys.
The weather was perfect with the bright sun. We had been to Love Valley, Devrent Valley, Pasabag, Pigeon Valley, Uçhisar, Ürgüp, Avanos, and Ortahisar.
Open Air Museum Göreme:
The Museum is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a must-visit place during your trip to Cappadocia. The ancient site has the finest rock-cut churches from the 10th to 12th centuries.
The museum is around 1.5 KM from Göreme town. The price of the Entry ticket is 30 Liras.
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Exploring the Surroundings
Göreme Town:
The town is located among Fairy Chimney and is considered as a center of tourist activities in Cappadocia. The town had a long history back to the times before Christ. During the Roman Era, the Christians retreated from Rome and started living over there.
Nowadays, the town welcomes and hosts thousands of tourists every day. The town has a small market that has a lot of Shops and local Restaurants that offer traditional food Turkish food.
The shops sell Turkish specialties like rugs, hand-woven mats, bed covers, Painted lamps and lights, Souvenirs, painted pots, etc.
Uçhisar Town:
The town is located near Castle Mountain and provides the best view of the valley. The Center of the town has an underground gallery which was linked with the castle and used to provide safe passage.
The town has many restaurants and hotels and is most of the time crowded with tourists. The town also has small open-air stalls of the locals selling Souvenirs and Turkish specialties.
Restaurants in Cappadocia:
View Point Cafe:
The Cafe is located in the narrow streets of Göreme Town. It has both indoor and outdoor seating and a rooftop. The cafe has the best view of the valley from its rooftop.
We tasted famous Lamb chops and Testi Kebap. Testi Kebap is a specialty of Cappadocia, and you should really try it. The clay pot with Meat, Chicken, and vegetables is prepared on heat. The pot is sealed with a batter of bread.
The Meat and bread are cooked on slow heat and served in a unique style. It was being opened in front of us on a platter and served with Rice.
Sedef Restaurant:
Sedef Restaurant is located on the main street of Göreme Town. We were there for brunch and sat outside in the Restaurant and enjoyed our food.
Padishah Restaurant:
One of our favorite restaurants is Padishah Restaurant, located in Uçhisar Town. The Restaurant also has a hotel. The Restaurant is on the hill. We were just exploring the town of Uçhisar and discovered this restaurant.
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It has a great ambiance with a mind-blowing view of the valley. We stayed there for a while for the Coffee and enjoyed the beautiful view.
Ending Note:
You should plan for at least 2-night stay in Cappadocia (One morning for the hot Air balloon ride and another Morning to enjoy the view of the Hot Air Balloons in the sky).