Customer reviews page:31

I went on a cruise last week and one of the ports of call was Izmir. I had heard many wonderful reports of how spectacular Ephesus was but it wasn't until I visited it myself that I saw it in all its glory and what a spectacular sight. This is not just a collection of ruins but a whole city! The tour was brought to life by a wonderful local guide who brought to life an ancient civilisation. I highly recommend this tour if you are staying in the area or are on a cruise which stops at either Kusadasi or Izmir. In April the temperature was warm and pleasant. If you are visiting in the summer, hats, sunscreen and water are a must!

The "1000 places you must see before you die" book I have, lists the Library at Ephesus as one such place. Now having visited this superb historical site I can not imagine why the whole Ephesus site is not on the list. You could spend a week at this site putting together pieces of Greek mythology, biblical history, roman civilisation, politics, town planning and civil and civic engineering like a giant historical jigsaw puzzle. This place is awesome. It is extremely exposed weather wise, so yes hat, sunscreen, water, raincoat all essentials according to the weather forecast for your visit. I also suggest getting a reputable guide as this place is easily four volumes of information. We used Ephesus Breeze booked from Istanbul. Highly recommended..

We visited Ephesus via Izmir port on Norweigan Jade in early April. I booked about a month in advance and had excellent responses and communication via email. Paid $, 20 USD deposit via Paypal with no problem, Our guide met us promptly at the port gate and we set off immediately for Ephesus, arriving before any other cruise passengers (there were a couple of buses there already from hotel/land tours, but nothing compared to the mayhem in the parking lot when we left!). We were 2 females, and had private driver, guide, and 15 seat bus all to ourselves! The ruins were amazing and our guide was incredibly knowledgeable (he had degrees in both history and English lit, as well as guide course!). We opted to include the Terrace Houses,and were fortunate to be the only ones in it at the time! We did not do the House of the Virgin Mary (exchanged these two for the half day tour). Left Ephesus and went to see Temple of Artemis- not much there but still very beautiful and peaceful. Then went to lunch, courtesy of Turkish gov't, at one of the local carpet places. I have been to several carpet "tours" before where all they do is lay carpets out on display and try to sell them to you, but this was much nicer. The owner gave us a brief tour including how yarns are dyed, and showed 2 local ladies weaving carpets. I was allowed to try a double knot myself!! Then had tea/coffee served while he showed us some, but no sales pitch. Then had a delicious lunch, very ample servings, served on outside terrace at no cost to us. We then left and headed back to port, stopping (at our choice) at a factory outlet for Turkish leather goods. Surprised to have a runway show prior to browsing, and the items were beautiful if you have leather on your agenda, but a bit out of our trip budget! Returned to port, with option to be dropped off at the gate or in the town for some shopping- we chose to browse the main street shops before walking back to port (only about 10min walk). All in all, EXCELLENT excursion and great value-for-money (cost $85USD per adult).

We just completed a full-day tour of Ephesus booked through About Ephesus Tours and had the privilege of being guided by Gul (Rose) Demir. Rose is a very knowledgeable, energetic, interesting and flexible tour guide. She was waiting for us as soon as we disembarked from our cruise ship and she gave us a detailed tour of ancient Ephesus (including the Terrace Houses), House of the Virgin Mary, Basilica of St. John, and the Temple of Artemis. In addition, she gladly added in a tour of the restored Isabey Mosque near the Basilica of St. John's (at my wife's request). The traditional lunch included with the tour was fantastic, and she graciously honored our request to skip the usual rug-making/sales-pitch stop. We even got a fantastic thank-you gift bag that included a book of the sites we had just visited as well as a Turkish scarf and some other traditional Turkish items. The booking process through About Ephesus Tours was smooth and efficient and we give Rose (Gul) and About Ephesus Tours our highest recommendation. It was the best private shore excursion that we have ever done (and the first one that impressed us enough to write a Trip Advisor review)! Dean & Suzann S.

One of the high points of my trip to Turkey, the ruins of the city of Ephesus. The tour takes one day to visit the well preserved ruins of the city. Library, public toilet, theater, houses, everything gives the real vision of what the city was. A little further by car you can see the rebuilt house where Mary lived after the crucifixion of Jesus.

Incredible. Roman ruins are presented here. Still visible traces of Roman glory in this site.

How delightful our tour of Ephesus was! This tour was worth having as a private tour, though our ship offered a group tour. Our tour guide was Gonca (Rosie). She was superb! She was very knowledgeable, informing us about everything we saw, and answering all of our questions and giving even small details. She was really a great guide for our boys of 11 & 13 years too. Very kid friendly, finding things they were interested in. She even rearranged our tour at our spontaneous request to skip lunch so that we could see the terrace houses instead due to our limited time! (Do see that!) Since we skipped lunch, she called ahead to the rug site and had a healthy treat waiting for them! She kept us on time, so that we could see what we wanted and get back to our ship on schedule. She also helped us bargain at the rug dealer! Gonca is truly a gem, and https://ephesusbreeze.com is an excellent company! We could not be more pleased! Thank you Gonca! Keep up your excellent work and cheerful attitude! AAA++++ Absolutely a MUST if you visit Ephesus!

After reading all the positive reviews, I hired Ephesus Tours to guide me in Ephesus. I made a smart decision! Taz and a driver picked me up in Izmir, drove me to my hotel in Sirince, and picked me up the next morning for a day full of history, sights, and a bit of shopping. Taz was a great guide, clearly knew his history, and was excited to share his knowledge. He told me about a "side" highlight in Ephesus to see the restoration of apartment dwellings. It was fascinating and highlight of my trip to Ephesus. (I later learned from others who had guided tours during the same time frame that their guides didn't mention the opportunity.). The next day, the driver took me back to the airport in Izmir. Service all around was top notch.

After reading reviews on Trip Advisor, I contacted Mr Teleri to book a tour while we were in Izmir on a cruise stop. What a top of the line operation!! Quick, professional responses to my emails. Picked up on time by a guide and a private van at the cruise terminal. Fantastic, informative tour of Ephesus, House of the Virgin Mary, Terrace Houses, a rug factory and a fabulous lunch. Great value. We were also provided a gift bag and a brochure of other tours offered by this company. Can't wait to book another tour with them soon!!

Enjoyed a wonderful day in the port city of Ephesus. We were fortunate the weather cooperated, sunny and mild. Lots of walking and had an excellent guide. We were staying in Istanbul so it was an all day trip, but affordable. It probably cost my wife and I about $450