24 hours in Cappadocia
Things to do
If you desperately want to go on this hot air balloon ride (who wouldn’t), then try to give yourself two days to do in case weather interferes with your plans. We booked our hot air balloon ride at Voyager Balloons for $169/person USD. There are a few packages you can choose from. The less people on your balloon, the more expensive, with the top package coming in at $254/person USD.If your flight gets cancelled, you can either reschedule your flight for another day or get a full refund.
Explore Uchisar Castle
Uchisar Castle is the tallest point in all of Cappadocia and the rooms of the castle are all hollowed out into the rock. All of the rooms are connected by tunnels or ladders, that bring you to the various levels. You’re able to climb through this castle today and explore what it felt like to live there in the Byzantine times.It’s estimated that 1,000 people lived within the castle during these times. Parts of the castle are still used today for pigeon houses where local farmers still come to collect pigeon droppings to use as fertilizer. You can enter the castle for just about $1 USD and the top of the castle provides amazing views of the surrounding areas. Just know that some of the stairs and ladders in the castle are a little steep and may be frightening to some travelers. Because of this, it may not be truly accessible for children.
Eat a Traditional Turkish Breakfast
Eating a traditional Turkish breakfast is a must no matter where you are in Turkey. No matter where you are in the country, most restaurants that are open for breakfast will have this as an option and it’s relatively the same throughout all of Turkey. If you’re like me and enjoy breakfast for dinner, this is the ideal situation. A traditional Turkish breakfast is basically a charcuterie board on steroids. It typically includes: a few types of locally-made cheeses, hard boiled eggs, a variety of olives, tomato and cucumber salad, various kinds of sweet spreads, sliced meat, fresh fruit, a never-ending bowl of bread, and coffee or tea.
Wander Through Turkish Rug Stores
In Göreme, there are a large amount of Turkish rug stores that you can explore. If you’ve ever wanted a Turkish rug, this is the place you should get one. They’re affordable, authentic, and gorgeous. Unless you truly have no room in your luggage, it’s also easy to fit a rug in your suitcase. The shop-owners have mastered the art of folding up rugs to make them small and easy to pack.
We ended up purchasing a rug from Arisoy. The owner was so kind and walked us through the history and different techniques of various types of Turkish rugs. The most famous rug store in Göreme is Galerie İkman, which is covered from floor-to-ceiling in Turkish rugs. It’s such a beautiful space and all of the Instagram photos you see are from here. However, you should know that if you want to take photos, you have to pay. There are different prices depending on how long you want to shoot for and the type of camera you’re using. They can also arrange for a professional photographer to take your photos if that’s something you’re interested in.
Discover the fairy chimneys
You can experience the fairy chimneys in a lot of ways: hiking, on a jeep, and even on an ATV--which is whaat we did. Yes, this is pretty touristy and we may have accidentally agreed to go on one, but I’m glad we unknowingly said yes to this. Neither of us have ridden an ATV before, but we had our own guide that led us through the natural wonders of Cappadocia. We were off-road so we were often the only people there at the places we went. Our guide took us to see an ancient hot spring that produces natural sparkling water and took us inside some of the fairy chimneys we passed as well. It was a super fun experience and if you can avoid going in a large group, we highly recommend it.
Where to stay
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