Best Things to Do in Cappadocia

Fly in a hot air balloon at sunrise. This is the experience most people book the whole trip around, and it generally lives up to the hype — on busy mornings, dozens of balloons can rise over the valleys at the same time, which is not something you forget. It's also weather-dependent and flights get cancelled on windy mornings more often than operators like to advertise, so see our full balloon guide before you book.

Descend into an underground city. Derinkuyu and Kaymaklı are the two most-visited of dozens of underground cities carved into the region, some reaching eight stories deep and once sheltering thousands of people at a time. Claustrophobic travelers should know some passages are genuinely tight — our underground cities guide breaks down which site suits which kind of visitor.

Hike the valleys. Rose Valley and Red Valley (best at sunset, when the rock genuinely does turn shades of pink and red), Love Valley (named for what the rock formations look like — you'll understand when you see them), and Pigeon Valley all offer well-marked trails through fairy chimneys and old cave dwellings, most doable in a couple of hours without any technical hiking experience.

Visit the Göreme Open Air Museum. A UNESCO World Heritage site a short walk from Göreme's center, packed with rock-cut churches and monasteries dating back to the 4th century, several still showing Byzantine frescoes on the walls and ceilings. See our full museum guide for the Dark Church, tickets, and what not to miss.

Explore Uçhisar Castle. A natural rock formation carved with rooms and tunnels over centuries, rising above the surrounding town — the climb to the top gives you a wide view across the surrounding valleys and towns, arguably as good as some paid viewpoints elsewhere.

Try pottery in Avanos. The riverside town has made ceramics using local red clay for centuries, and several workshops let visitors try the wheel themselves — a nice change of pace from valley after valley of rock formations.

Watch a whirling dervish ceremony

Several venues in Cappadocia, including a restored caravanserai along the old Silk Road route, host Sufi whirling ceremonies in the evening — a quieter, more contemplative way to spend a night than another restaurant dinner, and a genuine window into a centuries-old spiritual practice rather than a staged tourist show, though quality and authenticity do vary by venue.

Watch the sunset from a viewpoint, not just a valley

Beyond the valley hikes themselves, dedicated sunset viewpoints near Göreme and Uçhisar fill up with visitors most evenings for good reason — the fairy chimneys catch warm light in a way that's genuinely different from midday, and arriving twenty minutes early secures a spot before the crowd does.