Customer reviews page:59

Our tour guide Ali did a great job of taking us through Ephesus and describing the site. It was definitely much better than doing a large group tour. The bus met us at the port when our ship docked and they got us back in plenty of time to catch the ship prior to departure. Definitely worth the money to get the private tour.

I was in Turkey with my family in July this year and we visited this archaeological site. It is worth visiting as it is almost completely intact and very vast. A short theatrical scene about ancient Rome was presented, very pretty. If you disembark in Kusadasi take a taxi, you get there in about 20 minutes and it is much cheaper than the excursions organized by cruise ships. Avoid going there in the hottest months, the July temperature exceeded 40 degrees.

My husband and I booked a private tour of Ephesus while we were in port for one day. We didn't really like the tours offered by our cruise ship, so we opted for a customized tour. It only cost us about $20 more. Our tour guide was waiting for us when we got off the ship and took us immediately to an air-conditioned van waiting for just the two of us. We first went to the house of the Virgin Mary. They gave us an option of going there before Ephesus because the lines might be shorter so early in the day. They were right. We didn't wait more than 10 minutes to get to the house. Our tour guide was giving us information through the line and tailored it to whatever we wanted to know about the house, Ephesus or Turkey in general. I would recommend taking a water bottle to the house because there is a spring there that has been blessed by the pope and you're allowed to get holy water and take it home. Also take a piece of paper and a pen for the wishing wall. We then got an extensive tour of Ephesus. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and told us the best places to get photos of various things. At several attractions, he let us have time to ourselves to walk around. After that, it was time for a stop at a handmade rug co-op. They show you how handmade rugs are made and then try to lightly sell you a rug. We didn't get any high-pressure sales though. Then we had a really great, fresh lunch in the courtyard. Our tour guide sat with us for lunch. He was as interested in the United States as we were about Turkey, so we answered each other's questions. We opted to add a Turkish Bath on to our tour, so our tour guide dropped us off at a Hamami about 5 miles from port. The operators of the hamami then took us back to port when we were finished. It was a nominal fee to add this and definitely an experience. I highly recommend getting your own, private tour with this company when you dock in Kusadasi. It's much better than getting on a crowded bus and waiting for other people in your party. We were able to tailor our tour all morning long to whatever we wanted and we got individual attention. They also brought umbrellas to protect you from the sun. One more thing: Our cruise line itinerary changed just before we left home and Ephesus Tours was the one who alerted me to it and made sure they changed our tour date. That made me feel like they were really on the ball - even before we left home.

Two of us paid $185/pp to go to Ephesus from Alacati. We got roundtrip transportation, Ephesus + terrace house tour, carpet sales pitch, lunch, stop at Temple of Artemis.Our guide sat and chatted with us the entire way to Ephesus about Turkish history, lifestyle, and some chitchat. At Ephesus she gave as a solid, but not amazing tour. At times it seemed rushed, but was overall quite good. Lunch was at a place that was also a carper "co-op" - they gave us the usual tea/water and demonstrations. It was not a hard sell like other places in Turkey, but it was somewhat annoying. Lunch was meze style and very authentic. Definitely something for everyone. You have to pay for drinks. Then we made a quick stop at the site of the Temple of Artemis which is really kinda lame, but the guide shared some interesting things about it.In all, this was the most affordable Ephesus tour from Alacati, yet it also had some of the best reviews. I would recommend it to others.

Needless to say, I was wary about booking my own tour instead of going with the cruise sponsored tour. i had used Tripadvisor once before to book a hotel/apartment in Montreal, Canada with great success, but this was way different. Happy to report that, from the initial email to the final moment with our guide, it was fantastic. We paid our deposit via PayPal, were greeted at Izmir by a wonderfully friendly guide named Ceyla, driven the 1 hour ride to Ephesus in a new, clean Mercedes van by a cautious driver. Don't hesitate to use this company. Our tour was everything we hoped and more. Very impressed by the roads, Izmir, and the friendliness of the people. The Terrace Houses are amazing. Our guide gave us a very nice little gift bag with some very thoughtful souvenirs(this never happened with our cruise tours) and brochures of other destinations in Turkey that look wonderful too. Thank you, Mr. Teleri! Hope to use Osman Tourism again when we return. P.S. This tour was less than the cruise tour.

Done a day trip to ephesus, it really is amazing, and steeped in history. They are still uncovering ruins to this day. It gives you a real insight into time gone by.

We booked a tour of Ephesus from Izmir, one of our ports from our recent cruise. We booked online and put a $20 USD deposit through paypal. We were met at our port with no problems at all. We had 6 people in our group and the cost was a fraction of what the cruise was charging! Our tour was in a 14 passenger Mercedes van. Our guide was Cem, he was very informative. We visited first visited the House of Virgin Mary, then went to the ancient ruins of Ephesus, including the Terrace houses. Then we went to the Temple of Artemis, before going for lunch which was included. It consisted of salad, chicken skewers, meat "burgers", spring roll filled with cheese. Then we had a tour of the carpet factory and then back to Izmir. Would highly recommend this company to anyone!

We chose a private guided tour rather than a ship excursion and would highly recommend the Ephesus Full Day Tour offered by Ephesus Tours. The cost per person (4 adults) was less than a ship trip but we would have paid more. A comfortable small van was waiting for the 4 of us with a knowledgeable, personable guide (Yesmin Cinbas, associated with the University) and a considerate and friendly driver. We had a wonder-full day visiting Mary's house, Ephesus, the Terrace Houses, St. John's, Artemis Temple - including a Turkish "picnic" lunch. Turkey was so much more than we expected - richly steeped in history, hospitality and beautiful countryside. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and not in small part because of Yesmin.

An excellent tour we took for our shore excursion on the 3rd July from our cruise ship Msc Divina. Our guide Oscar, his Turkish name was unpronounceable was a brilliant, spontaneous, a man with huge information, young, enthusiastic lad. We went on the Ephesus and Mary's house tour. The Marys house experience was breathtaking. Oscar zipped us in the Mercedes van so that we were ahead of all the cruise ship excursions crowds. We loved Marys house experience and spent wonderful hours at the sight including sitting next to the alter. The Ephesus site was spectacular, the library was extremely imposing. Oscar knowledge was tremendous and he explained in detail with such enthusiasm and dedication. He had already given us a book on Ephesus so on the drive up from the cruise ship we could read all about the sights. Later he requested that we would like to see a leather outlet rather than lunch. He took us to a factory where first we were shown a fashion show and the jackets were of such excellent quality it made us all buy a jacket each, which he insured we got an excellent discount. We thoroughly enjoyed our day but please insist on Oscar as the youngan was brilliant, all of us liked him, my wife my teenage children and self.

We used this tour instead of booking a tour through the cruise company. We had a half day tour of the ruins of Ephesus and The Virgin Mary's house. We were also taken to a carpet maker to see how carpets were made and lunch. Oscar, our tour guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. He met us at the cruise terminal and, while there were many tour groups at the ruins, he was able to show us around avoiding the bigger groups. The Terrace Houses are worth doing and, I think, the best part. It is worth paying a little extra for this. The carpet demonstration was interesting however, I did feel uncomfortable not making a purchase.