19 Best things to see & do in Cappadocia

Arguably the world’s greatest hot-air balloon flight, over Cappadocia‘s spellbinding moonscape-esque landscape of arches, honeycombed hills, striking spires and eye-popping, giant protuberances resembling gigantic mushrooms.

A remarkable natural amphitheatre of rock-hewn, fresco-filled churches and monastic dwellings dating back to Byzantine times. Cappadocia’s most visited site.

The famed dance of the Whirling Dervishes, performed in the atmospheric surroundings of an atmospheric 13th-century caravansaray.

A spectacular 4km stroll through fantastical, magical landscapes. The trail links two of Cappadocia’s best-known towns – Goreme and Uchisar.

A beautiful and undemanding 6km valley trail, with rock churches and formations galore, that offers walkers a grand glimpse of the surreal Cappadocian back country.

An extensive network of biking tracks, passing through striking and unique landscapes and moonscapes, makes Cappadocia a destination for exceptional mountain biking.

Watch master potters at work and buy some outstanding ceramics at this famous crafts town, that maintains this centuries-old Cappadocian tradition.

Cappadocia’s famous carpets are hand-made using locally sourced wool and natural dyes, using centuries-old traditional methods. They’re especially prized for their exceptional quality, intricate patterns, and vibrant colours.

Discover Cappadocia’s excellent wines and learn about its centuries-old history of wine-making with a visit to its wineries and wine shops.

Surely one of the greatest places on earth to horse ride – in these unique, jaw-dropping landscapes of fairy-tale-like rock formations, ancient caves, and scenic valleys.

This extraordinary, 85m deep, multi-level underground city, carved into the soft bedrock, is the largest underground city in Turkey. A visit entails a descent via long lamp-lit tunnels, through chambers and store rooms, into the heart of an apparently endless warren that once sheltered over 20,000 people.

The region is famous for its sunsets, most famously over the Red and adjacent Rose Valley, so-called for the pinkish tones the soft tufa stone acquires at sunset. Watch the show from the Goreme National Park’s Panorama Viewpoint, lined with simple cafes.

This recently-restored hammam occupies a fine old building and is family-run, for unisex visitors, with professional, only-male attendants. (Women-only times available with female attendants). The best place in the region for the quintessential Turkish Bath experience.

An idyllic riverside walk along a wooded valley dotted with rock-carved chapels, many bearing some of Cappadocia’s most beautiful and intact medieval frescoes. About two hours’ duration, but with longer options if desired.

This 2km walk (from the ticket office) leads you through this beautiful Cappadocian valley, inhabited until the middle of the 20th-century, taking in churches, stables, and monks’ refectories.

One of Cappadocia’s lesser-known underground cities, Mazi’s narrow tunnels lead to a maze of carved-out rock spaces including barns, wineries, dormitories and remarkable defensive features. Hire an on-site guide. Located 18km south of Urgup in a scruffy farming village.

Huge underground ceramics museum, with impressive collections of ancient clay pieces and other archaeological artefacts displayed in illuminated halls, plus pottery demonstrations and sales.

Keslik, the Monastery of the Archangels, was hollowed out in the 10th Century, and a selection of rock-hewn dwellings – chapels, refectories, wineries – are still visible today, set among well-tended orchards. There’s a friendly caretaker offering interesting historical explanations and complimentary tea. Signposted off the main road 15 km south of Urgup.

An Aladdin’s cave of a carpet shop, a warren of rooms packed with flat-weave kilims both from the region and Turkey’s other renowned carpet regions, piled, hung and draped in picturesque profusion.