Anatolian Balloons — Local services in Göreme

The hot air balloon ride was beautiful, of course — but to be fair, you’ll get stunning views no matter which company you fly with in Cappadocia.

Our original flight was canceled due to bad weather (which wasn’t the company’s fault), but we had no choice but to pay nearly double to rebook for the following day. It seems to be standard practice here: if your flight gets canceled, you get a refund, but prices shoot up when you try to rebook last-minute. Again, not entirely the company’s fault, but definitely something important for travelers to know.

What disappointed us most was the flight duration. The experience was advertised — and even confirmed by our pilot — as lasting 1 hour. However, we were in the air for 45 minutes at most. We took off around 5:30 am and were back on the ground by 6:15 am, and considering the time it takes to land, the actual flight time felt even shorter. Since we paid so much for this flight, we really wanted to enjoy every minute of this experience and were disappointed that it was cut even shorter. See screenshots below for timestamps of our flight on April 27th 2025. You can also see an image of us on the ground and so many other balloons still flying.

Another point worth mentioning: we stayed very low to the ground for more than half of the journey, just skimming above the trees, while most other balloons soared much higher. It definitely took away from the overall experience.

All in all, it was a nice ride — but definitely not worth the insane price we paid.

Helpful Tip for Future Travelers: After our flight, we learned that a company called Voyager Balloons is considered one of the best companies to fly with. If you book ahead, their price was only about 10€ more (around 210€). We also found a site called Balloon Scanner, where you can find last-minute flights at much better rates — we saw options for 240€/250€ just two days out. Hopefully this info helps you if your flight...

❗️ Avoid this agency at all costs ❗️

The hot air balloon ride itself is an incredible experience, and no matter how terrible the agency is, they can't ruin the view you get when you're up there. But... everything else was awful.

First of all, when we arrived, we were supposed to pay the remaining balance of €425 in cash. The staff member comes over, asks for my name, and says it's €450. I showed him a message that said we only owed €425, and handed him €430. He says "okay," takes it, doesn't offer any change, and just pockets the €5 and leaves. Of course, no receipt was given either.

The two guys who were operating the balloon were also unfriendly and clearly had no enthusiasm for the job. You could see they just wanted it to be over, take the money, and move on.

After landing, they set up a table and mixed some red drink that opens like champagne, during which they spilled it all over my jacket, shoes, and pants, leaving stains that can't be washed out—without even offering an apology. After you drink, they show you that you can tip them in the glasses, which is the only thing they seem to care about. They even clap for the people who give tips, and those who don't get nothing. Unfortunately, I already gave my tip when I paid the balance without even meaning to, but I got no applause then or afterward.

The final straw was the driver who dropped us off a 5-minute walk from the hotel because he "couldn't find it," even though he had picked us up from that same hotel just a few hours earlier.

When I sent this feedback to the agency, they offered no apology. They just said I paid for the balloon ride and got what I paid for, and that I’m complaining about "small and unimportant things," saying the problem is with me being dissatisfied and that's "my problem." I asked for a receipt multiple times, but never received one.

Avoid this agency at all costs!...

It appears that for a hot air balloon ride here in Göreme, you get what you pay for. This being said, we feel that we had a perfectly adequate and satisfactory experience for what we paid for a last minute (evening prior to) booking after several days of cancellations, meaning lots of pent up demand, even in low season. We booked through our hotel and this was the only company that had available spots. 120 Euros cash per person for an approximately 45 minute ride in a full basket. We didn’t fly as high as the other balloons we saw, presumably due to the shorter flight time. The pilot appeared to be skilled and experienced - meaning nothing out of the ordinary happened during the flight, always a good thing. We had been briefed on how to position ourselves for the landing but as it turned out, the pilot landed directly onto the transport apparatus so we didn’t even have to do anything - it was very smooth. Pickup and drop off were similarly uneventful. The “party” at the end felt a bit contrived and more of a ploy to solicit tips, but it appeared that some people did enjoy the whole spectacle. Disclaimer - all of what I have written is reflective of our experience on a freezing cold day where it was literally -8 to -10 C. Hence why we weren’t disappointed in the length of the flight! And why we weren’t super keen on standing around in the snow to sip on syrupy sweet sparkling juice while club tunes blared. Hot tea would have been a much more welcome option but we got the feeling that they just go through the same routine regardless of what would be more suitable for the weather. Communication overall could have been better but again, you get what you pay for. The hot air balloon experience itself was fantastic - especially with the snow covered landscape, it was a truly magical experience. Just don’t expect a high...