Royal Balloon - Cappadocia — Attraction in Göreme

I planned this trip as a birthday surprise for my husband, as he's always wanted to fly over Cappadocia in a hot air balloon. Normally it's him that plans all of our travels (he's addicted), so for once it was his turn to be surprised!

I chose Royal Balloon over the others in the area based on their exceptional rating here on TripAdvisor, and it could not have been more deserved! Throughout the entire process, from first communication to the flight itself, they were quick to respond, friendly, and informative. There was some concern that the flight may not go ahead, as Turkey had suffered from severe snowstorms and high winds in the days immediately prior to our flight, and this had caused other balloon flights to be cancelled. Royal Balloon provided regular email updates with expected weather conditions for the day.

We were booked to fly on the 'Royal King' flight. This is a 90-minute flight rather than the standard 'Royal Queen', which is only 60 minutes. Additionally, the Royal King is limited to 10 passengers where the Royal Queen is up to 25 passengers. This was slightly more expensive, but worth every cent! Seriously, if you're planning a balloon ride, then spend the extra money on the King flight. You will not be disappointed!

On the morning of the flight, we were picked up from our hotel (Aydinli Cave Hotel - also excellent) by Royal Balloon's coach and proceeded to pick up other passengers for that morning's flight from hotels around town. It was a bitterly cold (-22°C [-8°F]) clear morning, but with no wind! We arrived at Royal Balloon's offices, paid our fee, and enjoyed a light breakfast in the 30 minutes before being directed to our coach.

We drove past the other balloons as the sky was beginning to lighten before sunrise, up to a hilly plateau looking down on the other balloons. It was a stunning scene, watching the balloons light up from their butane burners in the pre-dawn light. We boarded to balloon basket and were introduced to our fantastic pilot, Tolga! We were all briefed on the safety procedures for the flight, including emergency actions, and then took off just as the sun was rising over the mountains in the distance.

Over the next 90+ minutes, we floated high and low over the Cappadocian Hoodoos and valleys, sometimes close enough that the basket could touch trees in the vineyards, or soaring many hundreds of metres above the ground. Throughout the whole flight, Tolga entertained and informed us. He was a great pilot, and a very funny guy! His humour and knowledge added to what was already an incredible flight.

On finally landing on a remote plateau, the ground crew appeared and set up a table with drinks and desserts (chocolate-dipped strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, etc.), and we were each presented with a medal for completing the flight. Then a crew member appeared with a surprise birthday cake for my husband, complete with candles and sparklers! We all sang 'Happy Birthday' and enjoyed the cake. This addition was a wonderful touch, and made the day all the more special.

We once again boarded the waiting coach and were driven back to our respective hotels. We were the last to be dropped off, and were presented with Royal Balloon polo shirts (the were unfortunately too small for us, but it was still a welcome gesture).

I really can't recommend Royal Balloon highly enough, and you should certainly book with them when planning your balloon flight...

I’m glad that picked the right company for this once in a lifetime experience.

It’s one of my dreams to take the hot air balloons in Cappadocia and see the sunrise.

Royal balloon offers an organised flow from the beginning til the end. The communicated everything clearly on whatsapp with good English. I asked for a quote on their website and also asked on WhatsApp and they replied to my WhatsApp within half an hour.

In November, the call time is 5:45am at my hotel. They arrived sharp! Their staff greeted me right at 5:45am. Really appreciated that. They picked me up in a small minivan and there were only 3 groups of people so this can avoid delay from driving many many different parties.

I know some people picked another company for a sunrise flight but their call time was at 6:30am. That’s way too late for a 7pm sunrise so they missed the sunrise. I was lucky to choose Royal balloon.

After that, we arrived at the company’s main site for breakfast. At that point, there is a board which shows clearly which table and minivan we should go to. The breakfast is decent that serves different bread, yogurt, drinks and so on. You will find toilets in the site as well.

Paid €130 for the king’s flight (20 people) by using a secure link provided by the company but I think they upgraded me to 16 people baskets which is quite comfortable. But then the person next to me booked only €84 on Viator (but can’t tell it’s from this company from the activity name)

The sunrise view is breathtaking. I was thrilled to see the sunrise on a hot air balloon. The hot air balloon landed successfully without any issues. The pilot communicated with the ground staff in advance to advise them the landing place and time so the ground staff used a trunk to help us land comfortably.

There was a ceremony after landing. All the participants received a medal and champagne. I forgot to take my souvenirs in the tote bag. They sent it back to my hotel which is wonderful.

One small thing: when the staff helped us to get out of the basket after landing, he was too close with me. He gave me a hand and tried to hold me. I felt quite uncomfortable and embarrassed for this. Hope they stay some comfortable distance and avoid skinship with...

We were recommended Royal Balloon Cappadocia by our host Kaan who was our host for our stay in Cappadocia and is also a Balloon Pilot for Royal Balloon. We had the most amazing flying experience with Tolga on 6th July and couldn't recommend this company more!

Our morning started at 4.30am where we were picked up from our doorstep by a shuttle and transported to a sit-down buffet breakfast at Royal Balloon which was simple but delicious (pastries, fruit, juice, tea, coffee, yoghurt). Here we were informed about our pilot for the day and which shuttle bus to board for our launch site. We were then transferred about 10 minutes to the launch site where our balloon was undergoing final preparations. This was a great opportunity to take photos of the surroundings and other balloons in flight. Note that in total 150 balloons operate at once in Cappadocia with 75 in the first slot and another 75 taking off about 30 mins later. We also had a chance to meet other passengers - there were 16 of us in total which is a lot smaller than the larger 28-30 passenger companies.

We then set off for our flight which lasted 75 mins in total (we paid for 60) for 190 EUR per person. Tolga, our pilot was an absolutely lovely guy - chatty, funny and informative and spent the whole flight teaching us about the area, the history of the landscape and about how the balloons work. We also had a brief (