Goreme Travel Forum

Hi!
What would the weather be in April,to be precise 3rd week of April.Do we need to carry heavy woolens or otherwise.
We are travelling by the day train(pullman)from Istanbul to Ankara,and would spend 2 nights in Ankara,and then take the bus to Goreme.Can I buy the Bus Ticket for Ankara to Goreme,in Istanbul and where in Istanbul.Is there a ticketing agency in the city for eg:Sultanahmet,and should I buy a round trip ticket ie. Ankara-Goreme-Ankara.Will be staying in Goreme for 3 nights.
Looking forward to all your wonderfull and most useful suggestions.
Many thanls.
Jayarep.

third week of april should be fairly warm in cappadocia.
just expect chilly evenings.

in sultanahmet you have lot's of travel agencies selling bus tickets and they can mostly arrange a free shuttle from your hotel to the bus station too.

Claus is right. We were there in June last year and we really needed pullovers, jackets and socks at night. Also if you plan to stay in a cave house, they are always cold.

You can buy bus tickets online. I've done a quick search and found this local firm:
http://www.nevsehirlilerseyahat.com.tr/
You can see their bus schedule online here.
The page is in Turkish so:
ticket: bilet
price: fiyat
show: goster
schedule: sefer or tarife

There are alternatives:
http://online.metroturizm.com.tr/metro/buy/

It can be rainy at this time of the year, so bring a raincoat. Heavy woolens will be fine too. If you are on budget, don't choose to stay in a cave room; it will be very humid and cold at this time of the year.

Why take the day train when you can take the night train??? I lived one year in Ankara and I was always using the night train to go to Istanbul. You can buy your ticket on line on the TCDD website, and the sleepers are confortable enough to have a good night sleep. The road between Istanbul and Ankara is very dull, so you are not missing anything.

If you want to travel by day, then the bus is faster. There is a bus that depart from Istanbul to Ankara each 15 min. If you buy your ticket on the spot with a little company, it will cost you 25 YLT.

Believe me, there is absolutely no need of buying a bus ticket in advance for the Ankara-Goreme part. There are plenty of bus departing for Cappadocia everyday. If you still want to buy it in advance, the train terminal and the bus terminal (ASTI) are connected by metro, so just go there when you arrive in Ankara. Or you can buy it one month before on the website of Metro Turizm, a big bus company.

But, again, there are plenty of little companies that you can't find on the net that are departing for Goreme every day. All the bus goes at the same place, a big terminal in Nevsehir. From there, there is a "servis" bus (free shuttle) that will bring you to Goreme.

If you go to a travel agency in Istanbul, it will cost you more for absolutely nothing.

Can I just second that comment. Take the night train- save on accomodation and see more of Istanbul. Best advice I can give you is catch the ferry to the train station. The taxi takes forever, you get stuck in big traffic jams and it can be hair raising while your taxi driver tried to get you there on time including backing down a freeway because they have missed the turn!! believe me I can speak from experience on this.

You can buy your ticket at the Sirkeci train station but you need to go to Haydapassar.

Once in Ankara go to the Busport and buy your ticket for Goreme there. We used the Nevsehir Bus company. They were fine. The trip to Goreme took about 5 hours. You change at Nevsehir for Goreme.

I've just returned from the region and the weather was surprisingly hot. It was 24ºC during the day and 14-16ºC during the night. I couldn't belive it. Then I returned Istanbul and I found it colder. Normally Istanbul has a warmer climate.
It was much more colder at nights than this last June. I think this is an abnormal situation, yet I am telling.

Hello Ozlap,
Thanks for your posting regarding the weather conditions in Goreme and I am a bit surprised and also confused.The high temperatures that you have mentioned,are they a normal feature in the later part of April or is it a freak situation.For that matter,I would like to also know what would the temperatures be in Istanbul and Ankara,since you live in Turkey.
Your help will assist me in the matter of clothing.I have also read in the postings that April is a rainy month,and gets quite cold at night.My understanding of the weather is that April is a cold month with rain.
I would really appreciate a reply from your end or for that matter anybody reading my post.
Many thanks.
Jayarep.

Hi Jayarep,
Don't take my last post as a general tip about weather, it was a weird situation.
Ankara and Cappadocia region's climate are similar. You'll need warm clothes for evenings and nights. Also Istanbul could be chilly at night in April. Prepare for hot days and cold nights. It is a rainy period, bring a raincoat.

last year they had a very warm march but snow in april so be prepared for a bit of everything that time of year.

What is the weather like in May in Cappadocia.
Also would like advise on traveling cheaply from Istanbul to Ankara to Cappadocia.

April and May are similar.
You can easily find a bus ticket to Goreme from Istanbul. It is the cheapest way I think. Sometimes flights to Nevsehir can be cheap, too.