Where to stay in Cappadocia: the five towns compared
The planner can base your stay in Göreme, Uçhisar, Ürgüp, Ortahisar and Avanos; it chooses Göreme unless you pick another. The other towns are between about 6 min and 11 min by car from Göreme (road route on OpenStreetMap data; © OpenStreetMap contributors).
This page compares the towns, not hotels: we name none, and where you stay in your town is up to you.
The five towns side by side
The drive from Göreme and from each airport, and the closest sights by car
Town | From Göreme by car | From Nevşehir Kapadokya Airport (NAV) | From Kayseri Airport (ASR) | Closest sights by car |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Göreme itself | about 38 min | about 1 h 8 min |
| |
| about 6 min | about 34 min | about 1 h 9 min |
| |
| about 10 min | about 41 min | about 59 min |
| |
| about 8 min | about 39 min | about 1 h 3 min |
| |
| about 11 min | about 39 min | about 1 h |
|
Where to stay on a first visit
On a first visit, Göreme is the simplest choice: the planner bases your stay there unless you pick another town, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism describes it as the centre of Cappadocia, among its rock churches. Its closest sights are in the table above.
Where to stay to see the balloons
We have not checked on site what you can see of the balloons from any of the towns, so we rank none of them for it. Balloons take off from different places from one morning to the next, depending on the wind, and they fly only on mornings cleared under SHGM rules.
Sunrise and sunset times, for when to be up
How many balloon mornings to allow, with a backup
Where to stay without a car
Our data has no bus timetables between the towns yet. It does show which sights lie under a kilometre from each town’s centre point, in a straight line:
Whom each town suits
Our editors’ view, from the ministry’s descriptions and the records above; none of it is a score.
Göreme
A first visit. It is the planner’s default base, and the ministry places it at the centre of Cappadocia, among rock churches and valleys.
Uçhisar
Staying beside Uçhisar Castle, with Göreme a short drive away.
Ürgüp
A town with many hotels and guesthouses, which the ministry calls one of the region’s most important centres and a good base for the Göreme valley.
Ortahisar
A farming village under a rock castle, between Göreme and Ürgüp.
Avanos
The river and its potteries; the ministry says the Kızılırmak sets it apart from the rest of Cappadocia.
Photos: Wolfgang Moroder, opens in a new tab, CC BY-SA 3.0, opens in a new tab; Ji-Elle, opens in a new tab, CC BY-SA 3.0, opens in a new tab
Göreme or Uçhisar?
Göreme and Uçhisar side by side, with a verdict for each kind of trip.
Çavuşin and Mustafapaşa
Çavuşin and Mustafapaşa are villages to visit, not towns the planner bases a stay in: their pages give the nearest towns to stay in.
Plan your days from your town
Choose your month: the planner builds your days around a balloon morning and a backup, from Göreme unless you choose another town on its page.