The Best Way to See the Hot Air Balloons in Cappadoccia
Join me as I reflect on a moment I had been dreaming of for years - seeing the hot air balloons in Cappadoccia. We visited Turkey in June and stayed for 10 days in total, giving us plenty of time to explore the diverse landscapes the country has to offer. However, a real highlight was seeing the hot air balloons in Cappadoccia. This was truly a bucket list experience, and I got to see it in three very different ways.
From a Rooftop
The first, and probably the most common, was from a rooftop. Most hotel and restaurant rooftops are scattered with Turkish cushions and carpets, for tourists to sit and watch the balloons float over at sunrise. We were lucky enough to stay in a hotel with an unobstructed view of the sky from our bedroom window. At about 6 am, I drew back the blinds, discovering many balloons already filling the sky. I rushed to get dressed as I thought I was going to miss out if I wasn’t fast enough. We soon realised the balloons in eyeshot were only the very start, and many more spilled over the mountain behind us in herds. Unlike many other touristy experiences, it was peaceful. Only the sound of birds and the whispers of the flames shooting hot air into the balloons above us could be heard. While we watched the balloons dance slowly across the sky, we heard an English couple behind us describing their experience in Cappadoccia. This was our first morning, and it was their last. They made a recommendation which I’ll touch on later, but it’s an absolute must.
During our days in Göreme, we dipped in and out of our hotel pool, explored the valleys and journeyed to the underground city via local buses. In the evenings, we explored shops heavily draped in Anatolian rugs and ate traditional Turkish meals. Yet nothing could beat the hot air balloons at sunrise.
2. From the Sky
The second morning, I had booked a hot air balloon ride. I set my alarm and laid out my clothes the night before in anticipation. By 5 am I was out the front of my hotel, anxiously waiting for a minibus to pull up beside me and call out my name. After countless buses drove past, continuing onto hotels up the road, I had started to lose hope. Remembering all the negative reviews and Reddit forums about tour providers arriving an hour late or sometimes not at all. My worries and fears all faded away when I was seated at the front next to the driver, who handed me a paper bag. Inside it was a juice box, a bottle of water, a croissant and a piece of fruit. I felt like I was back in school with Mum’s packed lunch. We swiftly took off along the dusty streets of Göreme, making our way towards a large field of balloons, which were being inflated slowly by large pumps. The only light came from the bus interiors or flames from hot air balloons that were almost ready for take off.
Once our bus was allocated a balloon, we were given a safety briefing and one-by-one, instructed to get inside the basket. I scored a spot around the edge, giving me one of the best views. As we took off, I saw the ground disappear below me, and it suddenly became a lot more real that I was floating through the air, being held up only by a large piece of fabric and a flame.
We had been blessed with a cloudless and windless sky, the perfect conditions for a hot air balloon flight. We floated in and out of the Valleys, very nearly missing some of the chimney-shaped rock formations. I squinted my eyes to try to spot my hotel in Göreme down below. One of the more exciting parts of the flight was the landing. They raced cars with large trailers across fields next to Love Valley to line the basket up with precision. Once we were helped out of the basket, we enjoyed champagne and watched the operators deflate the balloon. Which didn’t look nearly as easy as I would have expected!
3. From the Valley
Our final morning was magical. As I mentioned earlier, our English friends at the hotel made a recommendation that truly made our experience in Cappadoccia. The morning before we arrived, they had taken a taxi to Love Valley, where you could see the hot air balloons land. We left our hotel at about 5 am and arrived at the landing spot less than 10 minutes later. We asked the taxi to meet us back at the same spot at around 6:30, giving us enough time to walk along the valley edge. The drop-off point wasn’t much more than a dusty carpark, but it was littered with tourists, extravagant red ball gowns, brides taking pre-wedding photos, and classic cars. We grabbed a coffee and browsed the souvenir shop before we tread along the cliff edge, with some balloons coming within metres of us. If you’re afraid of heights or just don’t have the finances for a hot air balloon flight, experiencing the balloons this way is just as good.
If I could go back, I wouldn't have changed anything about my time in Cappadoccia. We were lucky enough to have perfect weather conditions, which helped. But the city is so unique that I would have enjoyed it no matter the weather. One thing we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy in any weather was the hot air balloons flying at sunrise. While I expected the best way to see them would be from our hotel rooftop, I would recommend that any of my friends and family book the flight and head to Love Valley to watch them land.