Welcome to the forum Hrdk!February,as you know is deepest winter here,but whilst this may limit you for certain things it also brings you some pluses too,like plenty of accomodation choices and very low room rates and short or non existent queues at attractions.
You can expect weather in most area's of Turkey to be similar to that in north America in February,so you'll know how to dress for those type of conditions and provided you dress the same here then you can still have a great time.Warm waterproof coat and footwear,that's the key :)
Last winter was the most severe for 50 years and really was bad but we don't expect to have such bad one this time(we hope!).However,even in a moderate winter 2 full days in Cappadocia will likely be enough for you.One of the greatest pleasures there is walking in the many beautiful valleys but in February a great number will be closed due to snow.Thus what you'll be able to do will likely make 2 days enough.Hopefully you'll be lucky enough to be able to take a hot air balloon ride when there.They do run even during winter if weather conditions allow.
I have a suggestion for you;upon arrival in Turkey connect to a domestic flight and head directly to Cappadocia and save Istanbul to the end.This of course depends on your ETA and flight availability.
The reasons are that you'll be tired and jet lagged when you get here and if you can just hang on for another couple of hours then Cappadocia would provide you with a far more restful place to recover than huge frenetic Istanbul.In addition being back there means being close to the airport for departure rather than worrying about getting back from a more distant place,especially given winter weather.
If flight times don't work for this then consider splitting your Istanbul time to a day or two at the start to rest up and visit Cappadocia in the middle and then return.
If you have 10 days then you could also comfortably add another short destination too without being rushed.So I'd like to suggest Selçuk Ephesus near Izmir on the Aegean coast.This too would be a nice 2 days stop off.So if there are no good connections to Cappadocia then perhaps there may be one to Izmir instead.There are direct flights from Izmir airport to Kayseri airport for Cappadocia but as these are not daily you need to see how they would fit your timetable.The route is covered by Pegasus and Sunexpress so check out both airlines.
BTW,the central western coast area is one of the mildest places here and seldom see's snow so that would be some relief for you :)
So with say,10 days ,covering 2 days Selçuk Ephesus,2 days Cappadocia and 6 days for Istanbul this would give you a nice balanced introduction to Turkey covering some quite different aspects.
Don't feel that 6 days would be too much for Istanbul btw,in truth you could eaily use all 10 days there and not cover everything!It's that kind of place ....
Now you have some homework to do;checking flight schedules.For Cappadocia you can fly from both Istanbul Ataturk and from SAW airports BUT,if you elect to transfer on arrival only look for flights from Ataturk(where I assume you'll arrive)as these two airports are 4 hours apart!You can fly into Kayseri airport or Nevşehir airport,both serve Cappadocia.Turkish Airlines,Anadolujet,Pegaus and Onurair cover the routes.
For Istanbul to Izmir all the airlines listed above cover the route plus Atlasjet too.
At any time of the year it is possible to rock up in any town and find respectable beds but certainly for your first hotel it is wise to have a reservation,you'll be tired and won't want to shlep around with luggage!Indeed given the weather won't be great I'd even extend this to all the places you'll visit in February and most certainly in Istanbul as it is just so huge.
Your first job will be to book your international flights I guess and once that is done and you know your arrival time etc.then you can see what domestic flights are like and see how you can work them in.Enjoyment-wise it makes no difference which order you see places so you can go clockwise or counterclock wise-Cappadocia first or another place first.
Go and start your homework,see what you come up with and the bring next set of questions back to the forum.Also ,once you have your intl,flight dates let me know those and I'll check flights for you too.
