Rides in Turkey

Getting around Turkey, in this section, happens on two levels: in the air and on the ground. Two places hold the air. Cappadocia lifts off over the Göreme valleys before sunrise, an hour above the rock cones, landing wherever the wind delivers you. Pamukkale puts a balloon over the white terraces, with a flight certificate from some operators, and tandem paragliding off the slope above town. The ground belongs to the Taurus range behind Antalya: jeep safaris with lunch by the Dimçay river near Alanya, buggies and quad bikes out of Side and Belek, where the route follows riverbeds and dusty switchbacks rather than asphalt.

Cappadocia works at ground level too — quad bikes on the tracks around Göreme, a two-hour horseback ride at sunset (the region's name translates as the land of beautiful horses, which is etymology rather than marketing), camels at Nevşehir, and a two-hour electric bike loop for anyone who wants the same valleys without an engine. Istanbul is a different proposition: here you ride through the city — an evening segway past lit mosques, a bicycle circuit of the old town, an hour of canoeing on the Bosphorus, horses at the waterline.

Practical notes. Balloons answer to the wind: flights are set for first light and cancelled on any doubt, so keep a spare morning in Cappadocia and Pamukkale. Jeeps, buggies and quads run April to November and come back dusty — leave pale clothing at the hotel. Riding tours need no experience, the pace is set by the group. Segway and bicycle tours in Istanbul cross cobblestones, so closed shoes are the right call.