SCENIC HIKING
Before the intense heat and meandering tour parties of midsummer arrive in central Turkey, now is an ideal time to explore Cappadocia’s fantastical landscapes. While most opt for a hot-air balloon ride at irst light (reputable operators include Butterly Balloons; butterlyballoons.com), consider an early rise to witness the spectacle from ground level instead. Plot a walk between ‘fairy chimneys’ – the conical rock structures shaped by millennia of erosion – and Byzantine-era churches carved into the clif faces. Take in the monastic settlement at Göreme Open-Air Museum, which has been a place of pilgrimage since the 17th century and is now a Unesco World Heritage site, then walk paths far less travelled in the nearby Zemi Valley.