3 nights 4 days in Cappadocia and Pamukkale.
It surely is a crazy quick trip but it's doable. We started our journey in Dubai with Turkish air at 3:15am. A 5 hours flight with Turkish air was very comfortable. We landed in SAW airport around 7:20am, one of the 2 airports in Istanbul. We rushed through passport control to catch our 8:30am to Kayseri but we couldn't made it due to our late ticket booking. So if passport control isn't too busy you do have enough time to catch your next flight an hr after you landed. We went on a 3:05pm flight then, again with Turkish air but as well Pegasus also fly to Kayseri from SAW and IST airports. I have options to either get my visa on arrival or Evisa with American passport. To save time at the airport I went the the Evisa option for $20. You can check on www.evisa.gov.tr for evisa qualifications. We reached Kayseri in the evening. Our driver was there waiting for us. Keep in mind, Cappadocia/Goreme is about 38 miles (60 km) away from Kayseri airport. Nevsehir airport is closer to Goreme but it's closed at the moment. We booked 2 nights with Sultan Cave Suites and airport shuttle arrangement for €7/person per way. I highly recommend this hotel. The hot air balloons view and sunrise from the rooftop is magnificent. The hotel itself is beautiful. The breakfast is delicious (which included). The restaurant is well decorated (didn't try their food). The staff there are very friendly and helpful.
Our first day in Cappadocia: since we arrived quite late, all we did was dinner in the city center which was 5 mins walk from Sultan cave suites. We had dinner at Old Cappadocia Restaurant and it was very good. You can tell by the reviews on tripadvisor. Since I've had very bad experiences with some restaurants before so I always tripadvisor nowadays. Another restaurant that we recommend is Kebapzade restaurant. The food is delicious and very good service.
We arranged hot air balloon and green tour for the next day. Our friend recommended Gokhan (whatsapp +905079176800) to us and we highly recommend him to you as well. Don't forget to book your hot air balloon the day you're arrived for the next day bc balloon ride can be cancelled due to weather so it's better to get that out of the way.
Hot air balloon tour comes in different prices, depends on the capacity of the basket. A basket can hold from 16-25 people. So make sure you know which one you're choosing instead of going for the cheapest price. The less people the better, then you will have space for pictures or move around.
A hot air balloon ride is from 1 hour to 1hr20 mins. I don't really remember due to the beautiful view so I was distracted. Our package included pick up at our hotel at 4:30am and drop off around 7:20am, light breakfast at the office, then off we went for our magical balloon ride. Our hot air balloon company was Comfort Balloons. It was truly comfortable as its name.
Since the balloon tour ended quite early in the morning, we squeezed in a "Green Tour" as well. The tour included pick up at 9:30am& drop off at 6:45pm at the hotel, all entrance fees, and lunch for 120TL ($35). We went to see the underground city, Selime Monastery, Pigeon Valley, Onyx Workshop, Ihlara Valley, and Goreme Panorama. Wear comfortable shoes bc there will be a lot of walking. You'll be exhausted from waking up early for the balloon ride and walking all day with the green tour. So if you're planning to stay longer than we did then don't cramp them into the same day.
Again the next day we woke up early to catch the view of the hot air balloons at sunrise from our rooftop. 6am is the perfect time for pictures but do come early around 5:45am to reserve the spot for pictures, as well when the first hot air balloon started to rise. It does get very crowded on the rooftop but people don't tend to hog the spots 😜 after the beautiful view and lots of photos, we went back to sleep. Checked out from Sultan Cave Suites at 11am and hung around town til 8pm. Then off we went to Pamukkale.
Pamukkale is 10 hours from Cappadocia by bus. There are no flights between these 2 cities. If you'd like to fly then you'll have to head back to Istanbul. We booked our overnight bus with Suha bus company (the office is right in the center of Goreme town). It has good reputations based on my research. Ticket is 70TL ($20) one way at 7:30pm, 8pm, 8:30 or 9pm. The bus will take you to Denizli, then another bus to Pamukkale which is only 10 km away, this bus ride is also included in your ticket. We took the 8pm bus and arrived in the office in Pamukkale at 6:40am. The bus office is in the center of town. It's a very small town. Right next door is Kale hotel provides shower room for 10TL and breakfast for 14TL. we didn't try their breakfast. We did used their shower room and it was clean. Pamukkale was our last minute trip so we didn't stay there overnight. But if you do plan to stay, I recommend to stay at Bellamaritimo hotel. It's around 100TL for 2people/night with breakfast but of course price is varies depends on the season. We didn't stay there but we went for a coffee and their little restaurant is very nicely set up. The staff were really nice and welcoming especially the manager/owner. He offered to drop us off at Hierapolis so we don't have to walk there.
You can do the tour of Hierapolis- Pamukkale for 90TL with shuttle to north entrance, entrance fee and lunch. It's from 9:30-3:30pm. We did it on our own bc time was limited for us. We only paid 35TL for entrance fee. We started from north entrance as well. We walked through some historical sites such as The Bath-Basilica, The North Necropol, Tumulus Tombs,...checked out the theater, antique pool (the thermal spring, extra 32TL to swim in there) we didn't do that since it was too crowded, and lastly we dipped ourselves in the famous travertines. We stayed there for a good hour. Do start your trip early otherwise you'll be surrounded with too too many tourists. We left the sight around noon when it got too hot and too crowded. We booked the shuttle to the airport for 40TL with the same office where we got dropped off. You can leave your luggages at the office and it's safe. The bus/travel office is literally 2 mins walk from Hierapolis- Pamukkale south entrance. You really don't need to take a tour!
Now Enjoy Cappadocia and Pamukkale ❤️
It surely is a crazy quick trip but it's doable. We started our journey in Dubai with Turkish air at 3:15am. A 5 hours flight with Turkish air was very comfortable. We landed in SAW airport around 7:20am, one of the 2 airports in Istanbul. We rushed through passport control to catch our 8:30am to Kayseri but we couldn't made it due to our late ticket booking. So if passport control isn't too busy you do have enough time to catch your next flight an hr after you landed. We went on a 3:05pm flight then, again with Turkish air but as well Pegasus also fly to Kayseri from SAW and IST airports. I have options to either get my visa on arrival or Evisa with American passport. To save time at the airport I went the the Evisa option for $20. You can check on www.evisa.gov.tr for evisa qualifications. We reached Kayseri in the evening. Our driver was there waiting for us. Keep in mind, Cappadocia/Goreme is about 38 miles (60 km) away from Kayseri airport. Nevsehir airport is closer to Goreme but it's closed at the moment. We booked 2 nights with Sultan Cave Suites and airport shuttle arrangement for €7/person per way. I highly recommend this hotel. The hot air balloons view and sunrise from the rooftop is magnificent. The hotel itself is beautiful. The breakfast is delicious (which included). The restaurant is well decorated (didn't try their food). The staff there are very friendly and helpful.
Sultan Cave Suites
Restaurant at Sultan Cave Suites
Breakfast at Sultan Cave Suites
At Old Cappadocia Restaurant
At Kebapzade Restaurant
Wandering around Goreme town
We arranged hot air balloon and green tour for the next day. Our friend recommended Gokhan (whatsapp +905079176800) to us and we highly recommend him to you as well. Don't forget to book your hot air balloon the day you're arrived for the next day bc balloon ride can be cancelled due to weather so it's better to get that out of the way.
Hot air balloon tour comes in different prices, depends on the capacity of the basket. A basket can hold from 16-25 people. So make sure you know which one you're choosing instead of going for the cheapest price. The less people the better, then you will have space for pictures or move around.
A hot air balloon ride is from 1 hour to 1hr20 mins. I don't really remember due to the beautiful view so I was distracted. Our package included pick up at our hotel at 4:30am and drop off around 7:20am, light breakfast at the office, then off we went for our magical balloon ride. Our hot air balloon company was Comfort Balloons. It was truly comfortable as its name.
Since the balloon tour ended quite early in the morning, we squeezed in a "Green Tour" as well. The tour included pick up at 9:30am& drop off at 6:45pm at the hotel, all entrance fees, and lunch for 120TL ($35). We went to see the underground city, Selime Monastery, Pigeon Valley, Onyx Workshop, Ihlara Valley, and Goreme Panorama. Wear comfortable shoes bc there will be a lot of walking. You'll be exhausted from waking up early for the balloon ride and walking all day with the green tour. So if you're planning to stay longer than we did then don't cramp them into the same day.
underground city
Selime Monastery
Ihlara Valley
Pigeon Valley
Goreme Panorama
Again the next day we woke up early to catch the view of the hot air balloons at sunrise from our rooftop. 6am is the perfect time for pictures but do come early around 5:45am to reserve the spot for pictures, as well when the first hot air balloon started to rise. It does get very crowded on the rooftop but people don't tend to hog the spots 😜 after the beautiful view and lots of photos, we went back to sleep. Checked out from Sultan Cave Suites at 11am and hung around town til 8pm. Then off we went to Pamukkale.
the magical view from Sultan Cave Suites rooftop
Pamukkale is 10 hours from Cappadocia by bus. There are no flights between these 2 cities. If you'd like to fly then you'll have to head back to Istanbul. We booked our overnight bus with Suha bus company (the office is right in the center of Goreme town). It has good reputations based on my research. Ticket is 70TL ($20) one way at 7:30pm, 8pm, 8:30 or 9pm. The bus will take you to Denizli, then another bus to Pamukkale which is only 10 km away, this bus ride is also included in your ticket. We took the 8pm bus and arrived in the office in Pamukkale at 6:40am. The bus office is in the center of town. It's a very small town. Right next door is Kale hotel provides shower room for 10TL and breakfast for 14TL. we didn't try their breakfast. We did used their shower room and it was clean. Pamukkale was our last minute trip so we didn't stay there overnight. But if you do plan to stay, I recommend to stay at Bellamaritimo hotel. It's around 100TL for 2people/night with breakfast but of course price is varies depends on the season. We didn't stay there but we went for a coffee and their little restaurant is very nicely set up. The staff were really nice and welcoming especially the manager/owner. He offered to drop us off at Hierapolis so we don't have to walk there.
Bus ticket to Pamukkale
Bellamaritimo Hotel
Map of Hierapolis
Historic sites of Hierapolis
Theatre
Pamukkale Travertines
Now Enjoy Cappadocia and Pamukkale ❤️
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