Drive, fly, or take bus from Istanbul to Cappadocia?

I flew and it was incredibly quick and cheap. (maybe cheaper than renting a car)

There is a world-class museum in Ankara, The Anatolian Civilizations Museum, which is not to be missed. Artifacts and exhibits dating from 1900 BC. I didn’t know there were so many civilizations and cultures that came through and settled in Turkey! Went on the RS Best of Turkey Tour in October and our whole group of travelers were blown away by this museum. It is beautifully organized as well. I believe you can take the bus there and then fly to Cappadocia. Well worth your time.

Fly to Kayseri which is next to Cappadocia with bus (1 hour). Kayseri airport is bigger than Cappadocia so u will have more options to fly there. See Kayseri, its beautiful city, and take the bus to go to Cappadocia. I would not recommend u to drive from Istanbul but you can or you should rent a car in Kayseri..

We are considering driving IF there are good sites to see on the way. If we fly from Istanbul to any of the airports near Cappadocia, should we rent a car to get around? Sounds like any of the airports near Cappadocia are about one hour away. Do most hotels pick up guests at the airports? Or do we need a car to get around Cappadocia anyway? If yes, maybe the best option is to fly to Kayseri and rent a car from there?

Hi. We drove this summer from Macedonia to Cappadocia, with many, many stops. Getting from Istanbul to Cappadocia is I must say a very interesting ride, that took us about 8-10 hours. We decided to drive, because gas was cheap, we anted to visit many places and it was our honeymoon trip. If you want some adventure, I recommend driving. You can visit Ankara as well..and the salt lake city closer to Cappadocia. The scenery changes all the time, from dry flat land to the greenest forests and mountains. We arrived in Cappadocia at night, and it was on of the best trips we ever took. We stayed there for 6 nights before we drove down to Alanya. Hope this helps!

One thing I forgot to mention is that on the way to Cappadocia you can visit the Kaymakli Underground city in Nevsehir. This depends on what time you get there or whether you feel claustrophobic or not! But it's so worth it!

Hi Michelle -- I would recommend flying from Istanbul. When we flew, it took just 90 minutes to fly from Ataturk Airport to Kayseri.

There were just two of us, so we took the hotel shuttle to the Kelebek Hotel in Goreme (about one hour away). Wonderful hotel.

With several people, it might make sense to rent a car in Kayseri for the drive to and from Goreme, and to have transportation while you're there.

We did a sunrise hot air balloon flight with Butterfly Balloons -- highly recommended. I would suggest staying at least 3 nights in Goreme in case bad weather prevents balloon flights on your first morning there.

I once took a 13-hour overnight bus on that route and don't recommend that method.

Laura wins. That beats my night train from Rome to Catania.