Side-Turkey.

Our 2-day Cappadocia tour from Side costs EUR 75 per adult and EUR 50 per child. That price covers the round-trip transfer, one night in a 3-4 star hotel, dinner on the first evening, breakfast on the second morning, professional guiding and travel insurance. It does not cover the hot-air balloon flight, museum entrance fees, lunches or drinks - and this page itemises every line honestly.

I am Murat Atalay, and my team runs the 2-day Cappadocia tour from Side throughout the season. I wrote this page because two-day trips cause more confusion than anything else we sell. Guests see one headline price, then hear about balloon tickets and entrance fees on the coach, and nobody told them beforehand where the line sits. Here is exactly where it sits.

What the EUR 75 actually pays for

Six things are inside the price, and they are the six things that carry a two-day trip: getting there and back, a bed, two proper meals, a guide and insurance.

• Round-trip transfer. We collect you from your hotel in the Side area and bring you back the following night. Cappadocia is a long journey inland from the coast, so a comfortable coach with rest stops is a bigger part of the value than most people assume. Departure is early; the exact pickup time is confirmed the day before and varies from hotel to hotel.
• One night in a 3-4 star hotel. You sleep in Cappadocia itself, which is what makes the second morning - and the balloon option - possible at all. Day trips from the coast cannot offer a Cappadocia sunrise; an overnight tour can.
• Dinner on day one. Served at the hotel after the first day of sightseeing.
• Breakfast on day two. At the hotel, before the second day begins.
• Professional guiding. A professional guide leads the programme across both days.
• Comprehensive travel insurance. You are covered for the duration of the trip.

Children join on exactly the same inclusion list for EUR 50. Beyond the exclusions listed below there are no hidden costs - the listing states this plainly and we hold ourselves to it. You can reserve your seats online without any prepayment and pay on the day of the tour, so there is no risk in locking places in early.

What is not included - read this before you book anywhere

The hot-air balloon flight is not in the price. That is the single most important sentence on this page. The balloon is the photograph everyone books Cappadocia for, and a EUR 75 two-day excursion does not include it - ours does not, and neither does anyone else's on this coast, whatever a street agency lets you believe. EUR 75 gets you to Cappadocia, houses you, feeds you twice, guides you and insures you. Flying costs extra.

Here is the full list of what you pay separately:

• Hot-air balloon flight tickets, and also the organised sunrise balloon viewing for guests who would rather watch the launch from the ground than fly. Both are separate tickets.
• Museum and historical site entrance fees. Cappadocia's headline sights - the open-air museums, the underground cities - charge their own admission at the gate.
• Breakfast on day one and lunches on both days. Only the first dinner and the second breakfast are covered.
• Extra beverages and personal expenses. Drinks with meals, snacks, souvenirs.
• Optional activities such as the horse safari, ATV rides and professional photo shoots. Nobody will push you into these, but they exist and they cost money.

How balloon booking works once you are there

Since the balloon sits behind most Cappadocia bookings, here is the honest mechanics. If you want to fly, tell your guide as early as possible on day one. The guide arranges a seat with a licensed balloon operator for the sunrise slot on the second morning, and you pay the operator's current rate directly. I am deliberately not printing a balloon price on this page: it moves with the season, the operator and the basket size, and a figure I typed today could mislead you in a month. Ask your guide for the current rate on day one and decide with a real number in front of you.

Balloon flights are also weather dependent. Wind and visibility are checked every morning, and the decision on whether balloons fly is made by the aviation authority, not by the pilots and certainly not by us. If flights are grounded on your morning, you do not fly, and no operator anywhere in Cappadocia can promise otherwise in advance. If the flight is the entire reason for your trip, build that small risk into your expectations. The sunrise viewing option - watching dozens of balloons lift off over the valleys - is the fallback many guests choose, and that is also a separate ticket.

Included and excluded at a glance

Meals and the other day-to-day costs

Two meals are covered: dinner at the hotel on the first evening and breakfast at the hotel on the second morning. Note what that means for day one: the coach leaves before hotels serve breakfast, so eat beforehand or buy food at the first rest stop. Lunch on both days is taken at restaurants along the route, and you pay for what you order there, just as you pay for any drinks with the included meals.

Entrance fees work the same way at every stop: Cappadocia's open-air museums and underground cities collect admission at the gate. I will not quote entrance prices here because Turkish site fees are revised regularly; your guide will tell you the current amounts on the coach before each stop, and you choose what to enter. Carry some cash for gates, lunches and small purchases - faster than hunting for card terminals in a village.

Budgeting the real total

Start from EUR 75 per adult and EUR 50 per child, then add four honest categories: two lunches, entrance fees for the sites you choose to enter, drinks and small personal spending, and - only if you fly - the balloon, which is the largest single extra by a wide margin. Skip the balloon and your extras stay at ordinary food-and-fees money spread over two days. Fly, and the balloon becomes the biggest line in your budget for these two days; that is normal everywhere in Cappadocia and no reason for suspicion.

Be suspicious of any seller who lets you believe the flight sits inside a EUR 75 package. It does not, anywhere. Knowing this now lets you budget the trip properly instead of discovering the real total on the coach.

Prices from Belek, Alanya and the three-day option

We run the same Cappadocia programme from other resorts along the coast, and the inclusion list works identically in every case: transfer, hotel night, first dinner, second breakfast, guiding and insurance are in; the balloon, entrance fees, lunches and drinks are not. You can read the full two-day programme on our Cappadocia tour from Side listing.

The three-day version suits guests who want Cappadocia at a slower pace, with the same split between included and excluded. Whichever departure you pick, hotel pickup is part of the package: tell us where you are staying - Side centre, Colakli, Kumkoy, Evrenseki, Titreyengol, Gundogdu or the Belek and Alanya strips - and the transfer from your door is already in the price.

The honest bottom line

EUR 75 per adult and EUR 50 per child buys the structure of the trip: transport, a hotel bed in Cappadocia, dinner, breakfast, a guide and insurance. The extras - the balloon above all, plus gates, lunches and drinks - carry their own price tags, and now you know that before you book rather than on the coach. That is the entire purpose of this page. When you are ready, book the 2-day Cappadocia tour from Side, reserve without prepayment and settle up on the day of the tour - if your plans change, you have not lost a deposit chasing a photograph.

Frequently asked questions

Is the hot-air balloon flight included in the EUR 75 price?

No, and this is the most important thing to know before booking any two-day Cappadocia tour. The flight and the organised sunrise balloon viewing are both separate tickets. If you want to fly, tell your guide on day one; the seat is arranged with a licensed operator for sunrise on day two, weather permitting, and you pay the operator directly.

Which meals are included on the 2-day Cappadocia tour from Side?

Dinner at the hotel on the first evening and breakfast at the hotel on the second morning. Breakfast on day one, lunches on both days and all drinks are at your own expense, so budget for restaurant stops along the route.

Are museum and site entrance fees included?

No. Entrance fees for the museums and historical sites are paid at the gate. Fees are revised regularly in Turkey, so your guide announces the current amounts before each stop and you decide which sites to enter. Beyond the exclusions listed on this page there are no hidden costs.

What does a child pay, and is the inclusion list the same?

A child pays EUR 50 and receives exactly the same package as an adult: round-trip transfer from the Side area, one night in a 3-4 star hotel, dinner on day one, breakfast on day two, professional guiding and travel insurance.

Do I have to pay online to reserve seats?

No. You reserve without prepayment and pay on the day of the tour. Pickup from your hotel in the Side area is included in the price; the exact departure time is confirmed the day before and varies from hotel to hotel.