Turkey
Cappadocia is the landscape that looks invented.
In the heart of central Anatolia, ancient volcanic eruptions laid down thick beds of soft tuff, and wind, rain and frost have carved them into a country of fairy chimneys, honeycombed cliffs and valleys streaked pink, cream and rust. People have been carving into the rock for as long as they have lived here: early Christian monks cut churches and painted them with frescoes, villagers dug homes, dovecotes and stables into the cliffs, and whole communities sheltered in underground cities many floors deep. Today the region around Göreme, Uçhisar, Ürgüp and Avanos is one of the most memorable places in Turkey to spend a few days. This guide books it properly: a sunrise hot-air balloon flight, with honest advice about the weather that grounds it, the frescoed churches of the Göreme Open-Air Museum, a day out to an underground city and the Ihlara Valley, the climb up Uçhisar Castle, a sunset hike or horse ride through the Rose and Red Valleys, Zelve and Paşabağ, a quad-bike safari and a Turkish night in a cave restaurant. Then it matches you to the right cave hotel, from a Relais and Châteaux splurge below Uçhisar Castle to family-run rooms carved into the Göreme hillside and a friendly stone-house hotel by the river in Avanos.
Cappadocia Hot-Air Balloon Flight
The reason many people come: an hour drifting over fairy chimneys and pink-streaked valleys at sunrise, surrounded by dozens of other balloons. Flights depend entirely on the weather, so book for your first morning and keep a spare day.
Göreme Open-Air Museum
A valley of rock-cut monasteries and churches above Göreme village, painted with Byzantine frescoes that still glow after centuries. The Dark Church is the masterpiece. Go at opening time or late in the day to avoid the tour-bus rush.
Green Tour: Underground City and Ihlara Valley
Cappadocia's classic southern day trip in one easy booking: a viewpoint over Göreme, one of the great underground cities, a riverside walk through the Ihlara Valley and the rock-cut monastery at Selime and Yaprakhisar, with hotel pickup and a guide.
Derinkuyu Underground City
The deepest of Cappadocia's underground cities, a warren of stables, kitchens, chapels and tunnels dug down about 85 metres beneath the town of Derinkuyu. Only a fraction is open, but it is enough to leave you amazed and glad to see daylight again.
The reason many people come: an hour drifting over fairy chimneys and pink-streaked valleys at sunrise, surrounded by dozens of other balloons. Flights depend entirely on the weather, so book for your first morning and keep a spare day.
A valley of rock-cut monasteries and churches above Göreme village, painted with Byzantine frescoes that still glow after centuries. The Dark Church is the masterpiece. Go at opening time or late in the day to avoid the tour-bus rush.
Cappadocia's classic southern day trip in one easy booking: a viewpoint over Göreme, one of the great underground cities, a riverside walk through the Ihlara Valley and the rock-cut monastery at Selime and Yaprakhisar, with hotel pickup and a guide.
The deepest of Cappadocia's underground cities, a warren of stables, kitchens, chapels and tunnels dug down about 85 metres beneath the town of Derinkuyu. Only a fraction is open, but it is enough to leave you amazed and glad to see daylight again.
A giant rock pinnacle riddled with old rooms and tunnels, rising above Uçhisar village as the highest point in the area. Climb to the summit for a 360-degree view over Pigeon Valley, Göreme and the distant cone of Mount Erciyes.
Two neighbouring valleys between Göreme and Çavuşin whose cliffs glow pink and red in the evening light, threaded with walking trails, hidden cave churches and orchards. The classic Cappadocia sunset hike, and free.
An abandoned cave village spread across three valleys at Zelve, and a short drive away the mushroom-capped fairy chimneys of Paşabağ, the Monks' Valley. Together they are Cappadocia's most photogenic site on one ticket.
Bounce along dirt tracks between fairy chimneys and valley ridges on a quad bike, or let a driver take you in an open jeep. The sunset quad ride is the favourite; the sunrise jeep safari puts you among the balloons.
Ride into the Rose Valley at golden hour, past rock-cut churches and apricot orchards, on a small-group trek with hotel pickup. Cappadocia means land of beautiful horses, and this is the quietest way to see its valleys.
A big, cheerful evening in a cave restaurant: folk dances from across Turkey, a belly dancer, fire and knife dances and drummers, with a set dinner and unlimited drinks. Touristy, yes, and great fun with the right attitude.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
Uçhisar
Cappadocia's only Relais and Châteaux hotel, carved into the slopes below Uçhisar Castle, with cave suites full of antiques, a heated infinity pool that faces the balloons and the Lil'a restaurant. The region's great splurge.
Rates on Expedia →Göreme
The Göreme hotel with the famous rooftop terraces, where carpets and cushions are laid out for balloon watching at sunrise. Cave and fairy-chimney rooms, a Michelin-listed Anatolian restaurant and the village a few minutes downhill.
Rates on Expedia →Göreme
A family-run Göreme classic that grew from a four-room guest house into a 35-room cave and fairy-chimney hotel, with a pool, a cave hammam, a garden terrace over the village and some of the best value in Cappadocia.
Rates on Expedia →Ürgüp
Cave rooms dating back to the fifth and sixth centuries and a nineteenth-century Greek mansion, stacked up a cliff above old Ürgüp. Elegant, peaceful and a short walk from the town's wine bars and restaurants.
Rates on Expedia →Avanos
A characterful, good-value hotel in the old quarter of Avanos, the pottery town on the Red River, made from a cluster of old stone houses with a garden, terraces and free parking. The budget pick, and a calmer base than Göreme.
Rates on Expedia →The practical primer for a first visit: the balloon flight and how to plan around the weather, the few things worth booking ahead, airports and transport, how many nights to stay and where the headline sights fit.
How to choose your base in Cappadocia, from the balloon views and buzz of Göreme to the high terraces of Uçhisar, the town life of Ürgüp and the calm of Avanos, with the cave hotel we recommend in each.
