Cappadocia Turkey

We had a to make a similar decision when we visited Turkey last May--we were flying from Cappadocia back to Istanbul. To conserve time, we decided to fly from Nevsehir Airport rather than going to Ankara. It was about 30 minutes from where we stayed in Urgup. We flew Turkish Airlines (there are other airlines that fly as well--AtlasJet, Onur, and Pegasus) for less than 50 Euro each. Although Ankara is the capital of Turkey we heard from others that there wasn't a lot to see there so we spent more time in Cappadocia rather than Ankara.

Hope that's helpful--hopefully someone that has been to Ankara will also post.

Ankara is worth a visit if you have a day to spare. It's quite different from other Turkish cities--featuring broad, tree-lined boulevards in the main part of the city, although there is the old walled part of the city, which is not as touristy as, say, the walled part of Antalya. It's more like a village within a city. The Museum of Anatolian Culture is a world class anthropological-archaeological museum, and the Anitkabir, or Ataturk mausoleum, explains well the role of Ataturk in crafting the modern Turkish state with its insistence on secularization.

You can easily reach Ankara by bus from Cappadocia--you get a minibus from Goreme or Urgup or wherever you are staying and then transfer at Nevsehir to a big, fancy bus for the remaining journey. If you go to Ankara, I recommend Angora House, in the old walled city just across from the Museum. It's an Ottoman era mansion lovingly restored, and the owner is charming and an erudite conversationalist.