02.04.2019 | Travel, Turkey

3 – Day Cappadocia Route Guide: Chasing Hot Air Balloons

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Before this trip, we had some pictures of beautiful balloons in our mind, but what we found in Turkey totally surprised us. Chasing over hundred balloons over the hilly moon landscape was out of a dream and we were so impressed by all the different mountain valleys Cappadocia has to offer. In fact, the landscape, the wonderful and kind people and the amazing food totally let us fall in love with Cappadocia. We promise you, this place has something magical!

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DAY 1

1. Chase the balloons! Best photo spot: Take-off-area “The Dalton Brother´s Travel Agency”

Of course, you want to find the perfect spot to take some pictures with the air balloons as near as possible, when you visit Cappadocia. Let´s tell you the best photo spots! First of all, you have to wake up early, around 5 am with the sunrise they will start at two different take-off areas. You will have the best views on the balloons when you are close to the take-off point. The balloons will be all around you!

You can park your car at “Hot Air Balloon Cappadocia” and explore from there by foot or you drive the hill up to a gravel parking space. From there you can drive the gravel road for a few meters or walk by foot to the perfect spot “The Dalton Brother´s Travel Agency“. Type the Agency in your Google Maps or Maps.me and you will find the take-off area surrounded by the mountains. For the starting balloons, you will have the perfect view and after watching them fly you can walk around the area, hike up the hills and explore the whole Rose Valley. For two hours these balloons will fly from Rose Valley to Love Valley.

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2. Explore Love Valley / Honey Valley: landing balloons

Head to the Love Valley, also called Honey Valley, if you are lucky you can see the balloons landing behind the mountains. They will mostly start in Rose Valley around the perfect spot “The Dalton Brother´s Agency” and will fly with the wind until they will land in Love Valley. But it´s not all about the balloons, the view on the mountain landscape and the little valley with some rocks looking like asparagus was fantastic. A road leads up the hill to the wonderful viewpoint. There was a little café bar, a swing, and a decorated tree as well.

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3. Visit Pigeon Valley

Pigeon Valley is an amazing place to visit. We´ve been there in the evening and had this place on our own. We felt like being on Mars and all the conical rocks with the caves inside looked amazing. We parked our car in the little side streets and walked a hiking trail along the rocks.

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4. Sunset at the best secret spot: Sillon Viewpoint

We have to tell you about this place, although it is a really good secret spot. We found it accidentally and felt overwhelmed by the view. It was truly the best place to enjoy the sunset and we had it completely for ourselves! You might have already walked around Rose Valley to take pictures of the balloons. From there you might have seen the big mountain ridge with a little bench. Our secret spot is next to it. Search for “Sillon Viewpoint” in google maps, the roads leading up the hill and from there you have to drive a few meters on a gravel road (a good road, totally okay with a normal car). Drive until the end and walk up the hill.

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DAY 2

5. Have a balloon flight, a sunrise horse ride or chase the balloons in Rose Valley

If you like to do a balloon ride, it is the best to book it on your first days in case it gets canceled due to weather conditions. We highly recommend to book the balloon ride with Butterfly Balloons, they offered us a great service and they also give a refund when the weather doesn´t allow a balloon ride. It is a once in a lifetime experience for sure! In the high season, you might pay around 180$ for a balloon ride, in the low season around 150$. They will pick you up around 5 am and will take-off with the sunrise. There are hundreds of hot air balloons around you! In high season you should definetely book in advance, because they are always fully booked.

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It´s also a great option to see the balloons from the ground, maybe it´s even better than being in a balloon. You can also book a 1-hour sunrise ride with The Dalton Brothers in Rose Valley and explore the valley surrounded by balloons.
If you like to explore Rose Valley by foot, walk up the little hill called “Sunset Viewpoint” in Rose Valley to have a better view. Type in google maps “Goreme Balloon Take-Off Area”, the viewpoint is directly next to it.

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6. The most beautiful Imaginary Valley

We felt totally in love with this valley! We parked our car next to the road and while all the people stayed at the viewpoint, we took the hiking trail into the mountains. Although there are no balloons, the Imaginary Valley was our second favorite place after Rose Valley. The rocks are beautifully red and you can hike up the mountains to have a perfect view. We found some mountains looking like the rocks on Easter Island.

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7. Visit Fairy Chimneys (Pasabagi) or Open Air Museum

There are two similar places to visit the famous caves in the rocks. The Open Air museum is the most famous one in Cappadocia, but it´s also very crowded. Pasabagi, in the Fairy Chimneys, look pretty similar and are free and less busy.

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8. Enjoy the sunset in the Red Valley: Panoramic Sunset View Point

The Panoramic Sunset Viewpoint is very popular for sunset and beautifully located in the Red Valley. Don´t confuse it with the Sunset Viewpoint in Rose Valley. (With our map below it is easy to find the spots!)
The red color of the mountains looked incredible in the sunset. Walk a few minutes along the hiking trail to get out of the crowds! This place costs 8 TRY (1,40$).

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DAY 3

9. Koza Cave Hotel: Enjoy the balloons from the rooftop

There are so many beautiful hotels with nice rooftop terraces. We booked our nights at Koza Cave Hotel and cannot recommend them enough! We absolutely loved this place, the family was super friendly and they have the highest rooftop terrace! All year long they decorate the rooftop terrace with some beautiful red carpets and pillows to enjoy the balloons from there. Our room was literally in a cave and it felt amazing to stay in the cozy rooms! We payed around 90$ per night. We also heard good things about Artemis Cave Suites.

10. Visit the best carpet shops: Sultan Carpets and Galerie Ikman

There are two amazing carpet shops in Cappadocia which gives you a wonderful photo opportunity. We loved Sultan Carpets with all the lanterns and they immediately invited us for some tea. You have to walk through a shop to get there or enter from a side road.
The other beautiful carpet shop is called Galerie Ikman. It´s the biggest carpet shop with carpets divided over 15 rooms. It is the perfect spot to take some pictures, but you have to pay a little fee to take your pictures.

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11. The most wonderful experience in Kayseri: standing in between wild horses

Now it´s time to tell you about our most exciting experience in Turkey. No, it´s not about the balloons – it´s about wild horses! If you are heading back to Kayseri it is the perfect spot to enjoy the afternoon and sunset, because it´s located 15 minutes away from Kayseri.

Did you know there are wild horses in Kayseri? Did you know there are high snowy mountains in this area?
Very spontaneously we talked to two guys on Instagram who booked us a wonderful photographer and videographer couple. We met them near the location and they lead us to the place where the magic happened. They filmed and photographed us while hundreds of wild horses were running around us, we literally felt the ground quaking! No worries, the horses will run around you for sure!

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We never experienced something like that before! It was our first time seeing wild horses and our first time having two professional photographers and videographers @cappadociaphotographer.couple @mavikasif. (@cappadociaphototours)
My personal highlight was definitely riding on one of the cowboy´s horses and rounding up the wild horses while the cowboys looked at me totally surprised a woman can do this.

Where to eat? Where to drink turkish tea?

• Pumpkin!! (Best restaurant in Cappadocia. It is more pricey but totally worth it and an amazing experience! For 90 TRY (15$) per person, they created a wonderful plant based 4-course-menu for us and it tasted incredibly good!)
• Silk Road (very friendly owner, good wifi, vegan falafel with hummus, good lentil soup, vegetarian plate)
• Sedef Pottery (traditional meals)
• Organic Café (a lot of vegetarian options)
• Dibek (traditional food)

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How to get there? Kayseri to Cappadocia – Rent a car!

Kayseri is the closest airport near Cappadocia. Either you fly there directly or you take a stop in Istanbul. We highly recommend renting a car for 30$ per day. We booked ours with Car del Mar together with a zero liability. It will take you around 1 hour from Kayseri to Cappadocia and you will see the most beautiful high mountains with snow on it. We never expected a landscape like this!

Best time to visit? When do the balloons fly?

Cappadocia is amazing in all seasons. In the midsummer it can get very crowded. The hot air balloons fly all year, if the weather conditions allow it. Chances of cancelled hot air balloon rides are a lot higher in winter, due to strong wind and more rain. We´ve been there in March and on our first two mornings, no air balloon could fly due to strong wind. Nevertheless, I could already wear a dress in the sun :). In winter it can get very cold!

It´s already worth it to fly for one weekend, however, we highly recommend staying for 3 sunrises and sunsets to have a higher chance to see the balloons.

*Anzeige/ad. Da Kooperation mit Kapten & Son / Keen und Empfehlung von Fotografen und Hotels. // Ad because of collaborating with Kapten & Son / Keen and recommendation of photographers and hotels.