Is the hot air balloon flight included in the 2 Days Cappadocia Tour?

No, the hot air balloon flight is optional and not included in the base tour price. It can be added during booking and is operated early morning on Day 2. Because seats sell out, we recommend booking it in advance.

Which airports are used for the Istanbul–Cappadocia flights?

Domestic flights normally depart from Istanbul Airport (IST) or Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW) and land at Kayseri or Nevsehir Airport in Cappadocia, depending on season, airline and seat availability.

What is the difference between the Red Tour and the Green Tour in Cappadocia?

The Red Tour covers North Cappadocia — Devrent Valley, Pasabag, Avanos, the Goreme panorama and Zelve — focused on fairy chimneys and cave settlements. The Green Tour (also called the South or Yellow Tour) covers Red Valley, Rose Valley, Cavusin, Pigeon Valley and an underground city, with more valley walking and underground exploration.

Do I need to be fit to join this tour?

No special fitness is required. Both days involve short, well-paced walks on marked paths with rest stops. The underground city section does involve some stooping through low passages, which is not recommended for people with claustrophobia or significant mobility limitations.

How much luggage can I bring on the domestic flights?

Domestic flights normally include 15 kg of checked baggage and 8 kg of cabin baggage per person. Extra luggage can usually be added during online check-in for an additional fee charged directly by the airline.

What is the cancellation policy for this tour?

Free cancellation is available up to 48 hours before the tour date. Cancellations made within 48 hours of the start date are non-refundable. Date changes are accommodated subject to availability.

2 Days Cappadocia Small Group Tour of North & South Cappadocia (Red & Green Tour) from Istanbul by Flight

Gallery

A Glimpse of Cappadocia

Hot air balloons rising at sunrise over Cappadocia fairy chimneys

Sunrise balloon flights over the fairy chimneys — an optional add-on to Day 2

Uchisar Castle carved into a natural rock outcrop, Cappadocia

Uchisar Castle, the highest and most dramatic point in Cappadocia

Rock-cut Byzantine churches at Goreme Open Air Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Goreme Open Air Museum — a UNESCO World Heritage cluster of rock-cut churches

Aerial view of the volcanic valleys and fairy chimney landscape of Cappadocia

The volcanic tuff valleys that give Cappadocia its otherworldly landscape

Carved passageways inside a Cappadocia underground city

One of the multi-level underground cities carved by early Christian communities

Tour Overview

Two Days, Two Cappadocias

Cappadocia is really two different landscapes stitched together — a northern half of soaring fairy chimneys, pottery towns and panoramic viewpoints, and a southern half of dramatic red-and-rose-colored valleys, cave villages and vast underground cities. Most visitors only manage to see one half in a rushed day trip. This tour is built specifically so you experience both, properly, without exhausting yourself.

You'll fly from Istanbul directly into the heart of Anatolia, spend the night in an authentic cave or stone hotel beneath the fairy chimneys, and be guided through both the Red Tour (North Cappadocia) and the Green Tour (South Cappadocia, also widely known as the Yellow Tour) with a small group and a licensed, English-speaking guide who actually knows the geology, the Byzantine history, and the best light for photos. This isn't a bus tour that rushes past monuments — it's paced to let each site breathe, with time for photography, questions, and the traditional Turkish lunch that's included both days.

Why This Tour Works

Covers North and South Cappadocia in one trip — most day tours only offer one
Round-trip domestic flights from Istanbul included, saving 10+ hours of driving
One night in a genuine cave or stone hotel, an experience in itself
Small group format keeps the pace relaxed and the guide accessible
Licensed, English-speaking professional guide both days
Traditional Turkish lunch included on both Day 1 and Day 2
Free cancellation up to 48 hours before departure

At a Glance

Duration: 2 days, 1 night
Departure: Istanbul (IST or SAW airport)
Group size: Small group (join-in) or fully private
Difficulty: Easy to moderate — short walks, some steps
Languages: English, with Spanish & Italian on request
Best for: Couples, families, solo travelers, small groups
Balloon flight: Optional add-on, not included by default

Guaranteed Daily Departure

Istanbul
Morning flight

Red Tour
North Cappadocia

Cave Hotel
Overnight stay

Green Tour
South Cappadocia

Istanbul
Evening flight home

Day-by-Day

Full Itinerary

Below is exactly what happens on each day, stop by stop. Times are approximate and adjust seasonally with flight schedules and daylight hours; your guide will confirm exact timings the evening before.

Early Morning: Flight to Cappadocia

A private transfer takes you from your Istanbul hotel to the airport (IST or SAW). You'll board a domestic flight of roughly 75–90 minutes to Kayseri or Nevsehir Airport, arriving by mid-morning, where your guide and driver meet you to begin the Red Tour straight away.

Cone-shaped tuff formations in Devrent Imagination Valley, Cappadocia

Stop 1 · Red Tour

North Cappadocia

Devrent Valley (Imagination Valley)

Your first stop is Devrent Valley, nicknamed "Imagination Valley" for the fantastical shapes wind and rain have carved into its rose-and-grey tuff cones over millions of years. Unlike other Cappadocian valleys, Devrent has no history of cave dwellings — it's a purely geological wonder, left untouched so visitors can wander freely among formations that locals swear resemble camels, dolphins, Napoleon's hat and dozens of other silhouettes. It's a gentle, photogenic introduction to the volcanic forces that shaped every site you'll see over the next two days.

Multi-headed fairy chimneys at Pasabag, Cappadocia

Stop 2 · Red Tour

North Cappadocia

Pasabag (Monks Valley)

A short drive brings you to Pasabag, home to Cappadocia's most famous "multi-headed" fairy chimneys — tall cones capped with a harder basalt layer that resisted erosion while the softer tuff beneath wore away. In the 5th and 6th centuries, Christian hermits carved chapels and cells directly into these towers to live in ascetic seclusion, giving the valley its alternate name, "Monks Valley." You can still climb into a few of the accessible chimneys to see the carved rooms firsthand.

Best forPhotography & short walks

Significance5th–6th century hermit chapels

Riverside townscape of Avanos on the Kizilirmak river, Cappadocia

Stop 3 · Red Tour

North Cappadocia

Avanos & the Red River Pottery Tradition

Next you'll reach Avanos, a riverside town straddling the Kizilirmak (Red River) — Turkey's longest river, whose iron-rich red clay has supplied Cappadocia's pottery workshops for roughly 4,000 years, a tradition said to date back to the Hittites. Your guide will take you into a working atelier to see potters throwing clay on foot-powered wheels using techniques essentially unchanged for millennia, and you'll have a chance to see (or try) the craft yourself before browsing hand-painted ceramics.

Midday: Traditional Turkish Lunch

A stop at a local restaurant for an included traditional Turkish lunch — typically soup, a main such as Cappadocian-style pottery kebab (testi kebabi) or grilled meats, and regional vegetable dishes. Vegetarian options available on request.

Panoramic viewpoint over Goreme valley and fairy chimneys, Cappadocia

Stop 4 · Red Tour

North Cappadocia

Goreme Panorama

After lunch, you'll stop at the Goreme Panorama viewpoint, the single best vantage point over the town of Goreme and the honeycombed fairy-chimney valleys surrounding it. From here you can see centuries of cave dwellings carved directly into the rock face — some still inhabited or converted into cave hotels — set against a backdrop of conical rock formations that make Cappadocia instantly recognizable. It's the photo stop most visitors remember best from the entire trip.

Zelve Open Air Museum rock-cut village, Cappadocia

Stop 5 · Red Tour

North Cappadocia

Zelve Open Air Museum

Zelve was a thriving rock-cut village inhabited continuously from the early Christian period right up until 1952, when the Turkish government evacuated it due to erosion risk — making it one of the last places in Cappadocia to be lived in the traditional troglodyte style. Wandering its three interconnected valleys, you'll see former homes, churches, a mosque and even a monastery carved into the rock, offering a tangible sense of daily cave life here.

Uchisar Castle, the tallest rock formation in Cappadocia, at sunset

Stop 6 · Red Tour

North Cappadocia

Uchisar Castle

The Red Tour closes at Uchisar Castle, a massive natural rock outcrop honeycombed with tunnels, rooms and staircases that served as Cappadocia's highest and most secure lookout point for centuries, protecting residents from historic raids. At roughly 1,400 meters (4,600 ft) elevation, it's the tallest point in the region, and the short climb to the top rewards you with a 360-degree panorama stretching across Goreme, the surrounding valleys and, on clear days, Mount Erciyes on the horizon.

Elevation~1,400m / 4,600ft

Best forSunset views & photography

Evening: Check-In to Your Cave or Stone Hotel

Transfer to your hotel in the Goreme/Uchisar area to check in and settle for the night — a genuine cave room or a comfortable stone-built room with cave-style touches, depending on the category you choose at booking. The evening is free; many guests relax on a hotel terrace or book an optional sunrise balloon flight for the next morning.

Early Morning (Optional): Hot Air Balloon Flight

If pre-booked, you're picked up before sunrise for the region's signature experience — drifting silently over the fairy chimneys as the sky turns pink and gold. Not included in the base tour price; add it during booking below.

Red Valley at sunset showing rose-colored rock formations, Cappadocia

Stop 1 · Green Tour

South Cappadocia

Red Valley & Rose Valley

These adjoining valleys take their names from the striking red and pink hues their volcanic rock takes on in changing light, especially at sunset — a color caused by iron oxide minerals within the tuff. You'll walk a scenic section of trail past rock-cut churches, dovecotes and pigeon houses carved into the cliff faces, with sweeping views that many photographers rate as the most dramatic in all of Cappadocia. Look out for frescoed chapels tucked into the rock, remnants of the monastic communities that once thrived here.

Cave village and rock-cut church at Cavusin, Cappadocia

Stop 2 · Green Tour

South Cappadocia

Cavusin Village

Cavusin is one of Cappadocia's oldest cave settlements, its cliffside honeycombed with abandoned homes stacked atop one another, many still accessible via the original rock-cut staircases. The village is home to the Church of St. John the Baptist, believed to be one of the oldest churches in the region, along with faded but still-visible Byzantine frescoes. Much of the old village was abandoned after rockfalls in the mid-20th century, giving Cavusin an evocative, half-deserted atmosphere.

View toward Pigeon Valley and Uchisar, Cappadocia

Stop 3 · Green Tour

South Cappadocia

Pigeon Valley (Guvercinlik Vadisi)

Named for the thousands of pigeon houses local farmers carved into its cliffs over the centuries, Pigeon Valley reveals one of Cappadocia's cleverest agricultural traditions — farmers kept pigeons for their droppings, prized as a natural fertilizer for the region's vineyards and orchards long before chemical alternatives existed. Many dovecotes were even painted with red ochre designs to attract the birds. The valley connects visually to Uchisar Castle, offering a different, ground-level perspective on the fortress you saw on Day 1.

Midday: Traditional Turkish Lunch

A second included lunch at a local restaurant, again featuring regional specialties, before heading underground for the afternoon's highlight.

Carved tunnels and chambers inside a Cappadocia underground city

Stop 4 · Green Tour

South Cappadocia

Underground City (Derinkuyu or Kaymakli)

The afternoon takes you into one of Cappadocia's extraordinary underground cities — vast, multi-level complexes carved into the soft volcanic rock, likely begun by Phrygians as early as the 8th–7th century BC and massively expanded by early Christians hiding from Roman and later Arab raids. Derinkuyu descends roughly 60 meters (about 18 stories) and could reportedly shelter thousands of people along with livestock and supplies for weeks at a time, complete with ventilation shafts, wells, stables, wine presses, churches and rolling stone doors to seal off passages from intruders. Walking through the narrow tunnels and chambers is genuinely one of the most memorable, slightly eerie experiences in the region.

Depth~60m / 18 storeys below ground

Origins8th–7th century BC, expanded by early Christians

Late Afternoon: Transfer to the Airport & Flight Back to Istanbul

With the Green Tour complete, you're transferred to Kayseri or Nevsehir Airport for your evening domestic flight back to Istanbul. On arrival, a private transfer returns you to your Istanbul hotel, bringing two very full but unforgettable days to a close.

Key Sites

Every Stop, At a Glance

Eleven distinct sites across two tours — here's a quick-reference summary of what you'll see. Full historical context for each is in the itinerary above.

Red Tour