Cappadocia is widely known for its hot air balloons, which take off almost every morning just before sunrise. Taking a balloon flight is certainly a must when you visit this part of Turkey. But there are many more things to do in Cappadocia. Think of hiking, enjoying delicious food, exploring underground cities and going on a jeep tour. The latter is one of the many cool activities I did in Cappadocia. Although I have mixed feelings about it, I still think it’s worth considering.
Read this article in DutchDiscover Cappadocia with a Jeep
With a jeep, you can reach places that are normally inaccessible by regular car. And that’s exciting! During this jeep tour, I visited rock churches, beautiful viewpoints and secluded spots in various valleys. The ride gets rough at times. We drive off-road through soft sand and narrow, steep-sided dirt roads. The guide loves to tackle these challenges, driving so high up that you often feel like the vehicle might tip over. My two travel companions and I are laughing uncontrollably in the back seat, but my third companion in the front passenger seat quickly starts to look a bit green. It’s all hilarious! But not for everyone… Since not everyone in the car enjoys the rough ride, we asked the guide to take it a bit easier, which he had no problem doing.
Jeep tour in Cappadocia: make your preferences clear beforehand
Before booking a Jeep tour, decide what exactly you want to see. If you have no specific wishes, you will likely join the standard tour. You’ll drive from spot to spot where there is something to see, but these places can be crowded with other jeeps; sometimes many. Not keen on that? You can request a custom-made Jeep tour before booking, so you can specify what you want to see. My Jeep tour started with the usual sights but soon got boring. It really felt like we were driving in a convoy, part of a large group. When we pointed that out, the guide deviated from the standard route and took us to quiet spots in various valleys. By sunset, we ended up at a beautiful viewpoint with no other people around.
Photographing during the Jeep tour
If you enjoy photography, keep in mind that the tour will be dusty. Our windows were wide open, so not only was it dusty outside the jeep, but also inside. Closing the windows doesn’t help much because the ventilation system brings dust in as well. Definitely don’t bring multiple lenses on the jeep tour. Use just one lens and clean your camera thoroughly after the tour before switching lenses again. Fortunately, most cameras nowadays handle dust and moisture quite well. By the way, when photographing hot air balloons, it is much less dusty!
Accommodation in Cappadocia
Cappadocia offers many beautiful places to stay. If you want to be close to the center of Göreme, where you can easily walk to restaurants in the evening and watch the hot air balloons from the rooftop terrace in the morning, consider lovely accommodations like Arif Cave Hotel, Fairy Chimneys Selfie Cave Hotels and Local Cave House. Prefer to stay near Uçhisar Castle? Then check out Millstone Cave Suites Hotel or Kale Konak Cappadocia.
