Lay Over in Istanbul

Do we have enough of a window to catch our flight?

Maybe, but it's not a sure thing. It depends.

I assume you are on separate tickets - if that's the case, you're taking a fairly significant risk. OTOH, if you're on a single ticket from Cappadocia to IST to ATH, then even if you miss your connection, worst case they'll put you on the next available flight (which might be in the wee small hours, or might be next afternoon), so they'll get you there but it might wreck you plans for the first day in Greece. If I were you I would find out when the next available flight on your airline is...you should have a "Plan B" if you miss your connection (because there's a fair chance you will).

The IST airport is absolutely gigantic - there's always a lot of walking there, and that's going to take some time. So you really need to get off your incoming flight quickly (hope you're sitting up front or close to a door) and be ready to run through the airport.

Your onward flight departs at 1:40, which means you need to board well before that (the cutoff might be 1:20-ish); check with your airline so you know how much time you really have - assuming your inbound flight arrives on time. If your inbound flight is late, look out (of course your onward flight could be late, too, which could help you...).

Your onward flight is an international one, so there will be a little extra bureaucracy and maybe an extra security screening. These can slow you down more than a little.

Put this all together, and I would be pretty concerned about making that connection. It's possible, if everything goes well. But things do go sideways sometimes. If it's all on a single ticket, I'd worry less. If it's two separate tickets, I'd be pretty worried.

Note: Istanbul has two airports. Double check to make sure your inbound flight is actually going to the "big" international airport IST. If it's not, get a flight that does (the two airports are far from each other).

Good luck.

One effect of the massive size of the IST is that your flight may taxi for a very long time before it even gets to the gate.

One effect of the massive size of the IST is that your flight may taxi
for a very long time before it even gets to the gate.

My flight taxied nearly 30 minutes, it felt like an eternity.

I would give myself more time, especially since it's middle of the night and I don't thrive well when sleepy. Surely there is an earlier flight from Cappadocia? There is more than one airport in that area, you may want to check flights at both. If on separate tickets, even with carry on bags, I would schedule more buffer.

Thanks for the quick response. We will take an earlier flight and allow more time for the connection.