Istanbul and Cappadocia Packages: 6, 8 and 10 Days Side by Side

Our packages for Istanbul and Cappadocia run from 6 to 10 days. One short flight inside Turkey links the mosques and palaces of the city with the fairy chimneys of the valleys and their sunrise balloons. Flights inside Turkey, airport transfers, guided sightseeing and lunch on every tour day come with each package, and you choose your own hotel in each city.

Comparing the four packages

Prices for the 6-day package start at $450 per person, hotels not included. Season, hotel choice and package contents all move the price, so ask us for today's figure. This package leaves Istanbul with little time: two nights mean a day in the Old City, another for the Bosphorus plus the car tour, and no slack at all if your flight arrives late. On the 8-day package you sleep four nights in Cappadocia, which matters for the balloon, as the section further down explains. Pick the 10-day package when Istanbul is more important to you than Cappadocia.

What happens on each trip

1. Arrival in Istanbul. Our driver meets you at Istanbul Airport and takes you straight to your hotel.
2. Your Istanbul days. A day with a guide in the Old City that covers Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern and the Grand Bazaar; a private city tour by car; and the Bosphorus, seen either on a dinner cruise or on a daytime boat trip, according to the package you choose.
3. Flight to Cappadocia. Around 1 hour 20 minutes in the air, landing at Kayseri or Nevşehir, followed by a transfer to your hotel in Uçhisar, Göreme or Ürgüp.
4. Your Cappadocia days. Two full-day tours, each with lunch included. The Red Tour stops at Göreme Open-Air Museum, Devrent Valley, Paşabağ and the potters of Avanos. The Green Tour visits an underground city at Kaymaklı or Derinkuyu, followed by a hike through the Ihlara Valley and a stop at Selime Monastery.
5. Flight back to Istanbul, timed so you can connect with your journey home.

Each Cappadocia day tour in these packages includes a guide and entrance tickets. Every package page tells you which parts are private and which run in a small group.

The balloon is not included, and here is why

None of the packages contains the hot air balloon. Whether balloons take off depends on the weather, and a flight you paid for in advance that gets cancelled on your only free morning cannot be refunded. We sell standard, comfortable and premium sunrise flights, all with hotel transfers, priced by basket size and season. Book it for the first morning you wake up in Cappadocia. If wind keeps the balloons on the ground, the next morning is your backup, which is the reason four Cappadocia nights work better than three.

Winter, from December to February, sees the most cancellations. The weather is usually at its best from April to June and from September to October, and these are also the busiest months.

Choosing a cave hotel or a standard one

On the package page you choose one hotel per city, and its price for your dates is added to the total. In Cappadocia the main choice is between cave hotels, with rooms carved out of the rock, found in Ortahisar, Göreme or Uçhisar, and standard ones in Ürgüp or Avanos. Many guests travel mainly for the cave room; it is usually smaller and darker than a regular room. The terraces with the best views of the balloons are in Göreme and Uçhisar. In Istanbul, staying in Sultanahmet puts you next to the Old City, while Galata and Karaköy suit people who want nightlife. You can compare every option on our pages for hotels in Cappadocia and hotels in Istanbul.

What you pay separately

• Return international flights to Istanbul.
• Your hotels, chosen on the package page.
• A balloon flight, if you want one.
• Dinners, except the dinner cruise and the Turkish Night on packages that have them.
• Drinks with meals, tips and personal expenses.

Other ways to combine the two

Already booked your stay in Istanbul? Cappadocia can be added on its own. Flights and a hotel are both part of our two-day Cappadocia trip by plane, and the guide to Cappadocia trips starting in Istanbul compares all the options lasting 1 to 3 days. For a wider look at Turkey, our 8-day private package across Turkey brings in Ephesus and Pamukkale as well. Travellers from Kazakhstan will find flights from Almaty and Astana, plus sample itineraries, on the Almaty departures page.

You can also look through all our packages for Cappadocia and our packages that cover several cities.

Questions we often get