To arrive to Kapadokya you can fly from Istanbul (you can get quite good prices if booked ahead). Or, if you continue the itinerary we did (Istanbul-Ephesus-Pammukale-Kapadokya), you can travel from Denizli to Göreme via night bus (we did it with Kamil Koc for about 70 TL each). We chose Göreme because it is basically at the heart of the Kapadokya region (Kapadokya means the land of beautiful horses btw).
We arrived to Göreme early in the morning and went straight to breakfast at the Gedik cave hotel. And yes, our room was carved into a cave! After resting a bit and fueling up, we went on a hike through rose valley (we did this one). I highly recommend going on hike around the evening to see the sunset and how light changes the scenery. To get back, we tried find a dolmus, but we lost the last one, so we hitchhiked (first time for me!). Apparently it is common to do in the area and it felt safe ;)
On the following day, we woke up at 5 am to fly up on a balloon. We got picked up from the hotel, got taken for some sweets and then driven to the flight site. We had a wonderful experience with Air Kapadokya, and if you have the budget for this in your trip, don’t doubt it. The price is around 140 euros per head depending on the company. Is it really worth it? Yes, absolutely. Perhaps you can also go up on a balloon in your country, but what is very special about Kapadokya (besides its crazy beautiful natural parks) is that you see many other balloons at the same time. If it is not within your budget, I wake up early to hike, so you can see the balloons rise into the sky.
That same day we went on the green tour (they offer different guided tours that you go in a minibus with other people). This tour costs around 30 euros (all entrances + transport + lunch where included). The highlights were the underground city (entrance costs 25 TL) and the Ihalara Valley (entrance 35 TL) And Selime monastery. Tour or no tour? I think that if we’d have more time, it would have been better to do it on our own with a car. However, it is nice that you have a guide that tells you about the different places you visit. Otherwise, you can miss out on what you are seeing.
If we had had more time, I would’ve loved to go on more hikes. I think it is one of the best activities to do in Kapadokya if you like to go on walks. On our last day we visited the Open Air Göreme Museum (entrance was 30 TL + 15 TL audioguide + 10 TL to visit the dark church). This one is an absolute must: you can see ancient carved houses with frescos of christian iconography from 10-12th century CE. It contains in-rock-built churches with beautiful frescoes whose colors still remain.