Cappadocia

Cappadocia

Carved by volcanic ash and centuries of wind, Cappadocia looks like nowhere else on Earth. Its soft tufa rock has been hollowed into homes, churches and entire underground cities where early Christians once hid from invaders. Today you can sleep inside a boutique cave hotel and wake before dawn for the region’s signature experience: a hot-air balloon flight, rising silently over the fairy chimneys as hundreds of balloons paint the sunrise sky.

By day, hike the rose-tinted valleys, explore the frescoed rock churches of the Göreme Open-Air Museum, descend into the Derinkuyu underground city and watch a master throw clay in Avanos. A Cappadocia tour is the unforgettable highlight of any Turkey itinerary.