Something most tourists don’t realize before they arrive in Cappadocia is that the hot air balloons don’t fly every day. In fact, when the wind is too strong they can’t fly because there are no brakes on the balloons and it can be dangerous. They need calm weather. This means that many tourists book 1-2 days in Cappadocia and expect to be able to fly in that window. Unfortunately, all too often the weather doesn’t agree and tourists leave without having seen a hot air balloon in the sky.
There are two ways to make sure you fly in a hot air balloon on your visit to Cappadocia.
Firstly, book in advance and make sure you book for the first morning of your trip. If your flight is canceled, you don’t lose your booking or money, you simply get bumped to the next day. Therefore if you arrive and try and book in the town, there may be a backlog of people waiting because the hot air balloons haven’t flown for three days. This is what happened to me. Because of this, we were offered ‘special tickets’ for almost 300 Euros. Out of principle, I declined but I imagine many tourists with only one morning left in Cappadocia will just pay the premium.
So the idea is to book in advance online for the first morning of your stay to give yourself the best chance of flying. once you arrive and possibly missing out because of availability.
Secondly, you should stay for more than 1-2 nights in Cappadocia to give yourself a window big enough to allow for unfavorable weather. I stayed for ten days to explore the trails so I had a huge window, which isn’t necessary but I would suggest allowing at least 3 days if not 4. I know most people have limited time and want to see lots of Turkey but trust me, there are so many spots to visit and trails to walk in Cappadocia that you are making a mistake if you only stay for two nights anyway!
