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No words or pictures can do it justice. A balloon ride over Cappadocia has to be seen to be believed. The landscape is something out of a fairytale with the rock formations, valleys and fairy chimneys that are below you. It is made into an even more incredible sight as you share the sky with so many other balloons. Booking a tour is easy and at €150, incredible value for money. All itineraries are similar so there is no need to pay more than this. Below is a small guide on how to book your balloon ride over Cappadocia and what you can expect.
How To Book It
Booking in advance is definitely recommend. During the busy times, it is almost guaranteed to be fully booked, which is amazing considering 150 balloons fly over Cappadocia daily, each with a capacity of 20 people. If you wish to pay when you arrive, contacting your accommodation in advance and asking them to organise it, is the best thing to do. I was lucky that my guesthouse, Hostel Terra Vista emailed me in advance to tell me that it is likely to be sold out when I arrive and they could book it for me. If you wish to book online, www.getyourguide.com has the best selection. Don’t be fooled into thinking that paying a higher price gets you a better experience, most companies offer the same tour and it will be similar to below.
Tip – Organise your balloon tour for your first morning in Cappadocia. In cases of bad weather, there is a chance that your ride gets moved on to the next day. Booking it for your first morning gives more time to get it done. If you book it on your last morning and it’s cancelled, you will get a refund but won’t get the chance to do it.
The pickup was at 05:45 am from my hostel, luckily I was the last to be picked up in my tour group. The drive to what was essentially an open field was less than ten minutes. Here we were dropped off in the freezing cold and awaited further instructions. There was a table with tea, coffee and a light breakfast (cakes and breadsticks). This kept us warm as the staff began inflating the balloons.
After just over thirty minutes the balloons were ready to go.
Finally, we were up and away, getting any bit of heat we could get from the burner. As we began to climb, the view quickly became what I had always imagined. The image of the fairy chimneys on the ground with dozens of balloons above them was a sight I had always dreamed of seeing.
We moved over Göreme village, getting a view of our accommodation from the sky.
Then came even more spectacular sights as we moved towards the White Valley. The bitter cold was not putting any sort of a dampener on this perfect morning.
Next, we descended into what is called Love Valley, the most famous valley in Turkey. Here we got very close to the ground, seeing the valley from close range before ascending again.
We then cruised at what was possibly our highest altitude of the ride. With so many balloons surrounding ours, it was a rare opportunity to see mass tourism at its very best. The more people that come here, the better it is for everyone.
We then began our final descent into an open patch of what was once a green field. We had to get into our landing positions (Squatting down with our backs to the way we were travelling) before landing perfectly on the trailer waiting below.
We climbed out of the basket where we were met with champagne and a certificate. A great ending to what was an unforgettable experience.
Credit to Asianna Balloons who was my company, their guide was fantastic and everything was done to a highly professional level.
So that is what €150 gets you. What was definitely my most extravagant purchase of all my travels was worth every single penny. It exceeded all my expectations and was truly surreal. There are only so many times you can research a place, read about it and look at pictures before you just have to experience it for yourself. The total flight time was one hour, which was realistically enough time, despite feeling that I could spend hours upon hours up there as it was so peaceful. For any traveller visiting Turkey, Cappadocia is almost guaranteed to be part of their plans and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough, a standout moment from all of my time travelling.
Below are a few more pictures from the balloon ride.
To read more about my time in Turkey, including the best food in Istanbul, click here.
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This looks amazing! Defo on my bucket list! Love all the pictures, the views are incredible. Agree with you about the mass tourism, makes the experience better for once.
What a truly spectacular experience!!! Was it scary at all?!
If I am honest, I was a bit nervous the night before. The weather was so calm though that everything was very smooth. I expected it to be a bit shakier but it wasn’t, it didn’t feel like I was that high up in a basket.
This looks amazing. I am not sure that I would have the courage to do it though.
Brilliant. Sounds like it’s well worth the price. Your photos were excellent really captured it all. I can see why you were eager to write about it and share.
Wow beautiful! I would absolutely love to do this!! Thanks for the useful tips and booking recommendations.
Holly x
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Wow. A hot air balloon ride is definitely on my bucket list and the photos are just…omg…magical almost. I kinda felt like I was there but I’m sure you’re right, photos don’t do it justice
I love watching hot air balloons.
Oh my gosh, how incredible! Adding this to my bucket list!
That is breathtaking!!
I am terrified of heights but these photos are amazing! It ALMOST makes me want to face my fears!
Wow your photos are stunning! I hate heights and would never get in a balloon but those views have me tempted!
WOW this looks amazing!! I really would love to travel to Capodoccia for this experience! Been going through so many photos on social media as it looks so magical!!
Lovely shots from the air balloon 🙂
My boyfriend wants to go on a hot air balloon ride but I’m terribly scared of heights. Any tips?
I think if you are too scared of heights then it might be best to leave it. There is no point doing it if you are in a state of panic the whole time. From my experience though, I was really surprised with how safe and stable it all felt. The balloon moves very slow, especially as it lifts into the sky. You don’t realize you are taking off at times. The baskets were also way bigger than I expected, stronger too. There was 22 people in my basket and it wasn’t a squeeze. I had this vision of it being a picnic basket almost but it was a lot sturdier than that. Plus, if there is any little bit of wind then the balloons don’t run. As I said if the fear is too much then maybe leave it but if you can face your fears, I would definitely recommend it.