Customer reviews page:46

I booked a tour with this company and posted on Cruise Critic for more to join us when we docked on our Mediterranean Cruise. The price and the value was amazing. Selda met us at the dock and showed us to our beautiful van with leather Captains chairs and a driver whose name escapes me. Selda narrated in perfect English all the way to Marys House, we saw the house and were then driven to Ephesus where Selda gave a fabulous tour including the Terrace Houses which were not to be missed. Everything was included, there was no nickle and diming, we even received gift bags with a fan, water globe, magnets etc at the end. There was a FABULOUS lunch under a beautiful pergola at the rug factory which is owned by the tour company. We sat through the carpet sales pitch which was actually a hoot!, We also went to a pottery factory and saw how they make all that gorgeous Turkish Pottery. I think it was 63usd per person for 8 of us, it was a full day tour and worth every penn, it was the highlight of our vacation, which was a fabulous vacation Thanks Selda!!!!

I booked a Private Ephesus Tour following reviews on TripAdvisor and was certainly not disappointed. Mr. Istemihan Teleri was very quick to answer my emails and any queries I had and the tour was booked in no time at all.Having a private tour is great because you are collected and brought back directly to your hotel, have a private air-conditioned mini van during the trip and a tour leader all for yourself. Our tour guide Canan Tunckanet was great and made us feel extremely comfortable. Her English was perfect and she was able to answer any questions we had about Ephesus and Turkey in general. Such a tour is also perfect to avoid the large number of groups visiting Ephesus on a daily basis.Following the tour we had a lovely traditional Turkish lunch in the garden of a carpet making school which was included in the price. However we felt ripped off by the price they charged us for the drinks (which were excluded from the tour price). So I would beware of what drinks to order!Following the lunch we had a short demonstration of how the carpets are made. It was very interesting and fortunately they do not make you feel obliged to buy. The same cannot be said for the leather factory we stopped at (before lunch). Everything felt so orchestrated…. they made a fashion show just for my party of three and the moment you enter the shop a sales person is constantly on you trying to sell you something. The worst was that you have to actually ask where the exit door is because it is secluded … on purpose I suppose to make you purchase. I would recommend skipping this part unless you are really interested in buying leather which I must add is very pricey compared to European prices. Otherwise I recommend this tour and its tour guides hands down.

We recently had a fantastic private tour through Ephesus and the surrounding area booked with aboutephesus.com. Our guide Selda was excellent and very knowledgeable which made our tour truly enjoyable and personable. We highly recommend!

We took a tour of the ruins of Ephesus with a wonderful tour guide, Our Ephesus Tour guide from Ephesus Breeze It was one of the best days of our vacation. For not much more than the cost of a group tour, we had our own comfortable car and a guide who was able to get us in and out of the places we went avoiding the hordes of people pouring off buses. We were never rushed. We had a delightful lunch as part of the tour.

Our full day tour with About Ephesus, also known as Osman Tourism, on May 21, 2013 exceeded our expectations. Honestly we did not think our Turkey stop during our cruise would be as impressive as it turned out. My group of 6 people enjoyed the tour from start to finish. I believe we all felt as if we took a lot away from this visit to Turkey, an understanding of Turkish people and their history.About Ephesus was quick to respond to my emails, and I felt comfortable with their online deposit via paypal . I exchanged several emails with Mr. Isthemihan Teleri and I always got a very quick and complete answer.We were promptly met on the pier infront of the cruise ship by our guide and our driver. The van was airconditioned, large and very comfortable. The tour begins:Firstly Turkey is beautiful with rich history and wonderful people.Secondly I think we had the best guide in Turkey, Cem (pronounced Gem) Yekinkaga an interesting, knowledgable and enthusiastic man. He kept us all engaged the entire trip. He told us about the many facets of life in Turkey, from ancient history all the way up to the modern day. His english was perfect and he had answers for all of our questions. He was witty and enjoyable to listen to.First stop was the House of Virgin Mary. This is a beautiful and peaceful spot, Cem had us stop here first to beat the large cruise line busses and I am so happy he did. It is a lush area with a small house where some believe the Virgin Mary spent her last days. It wasn't swarming with other tourist just yet due to his good planning.Next we headed to the Ancient City of Ephesus. Cem took us through the ruins and pointed out interesting areas and facts about each. He kept us timely, moving along to stay ahead of the big busses and out of the crowds as best he could. With 4 ships in port that was a feat unto itself. He then took us into the Terrace Houses then out through the library and theater. All very impressive especially with him guiding and explaining all the history and facts along the way.We then headed to a Rug Making School (Turkmen Weaving Center), for a demonstration, sales pitch and lunch. We all enjoyed the school, if you wanted to sit down with the ladies and tie a few knots they were happy to show and help you do it. The sales pitch was a "no pressure" affair and was actually fun. Lunch was provided by the school and was wonderful. We only had to purchase drinks and the prices were fair.We finished a little early and asked Cem what else we could do and he offered to take us to a leather factory, Baggio Rossini. We were all a little hesitant, but I am glad we did go. The leather factory makes leather products for some of the largest brand names in world, and they have such a large selection that they like to put on a fashion show for you to see some of their items. The local youth parade in front of you on a catwalk with pumping music and bright lights, they put on a great show. The women on the tour especially enjoyed it. We then were led into the warehouse itself to make purchases, if you would like to. I don't believe any of us bought anything but we enjoyed the experience immensely.Some people may not like the last two aspects of the tour, but we did. Keep in mind the leather factory was by our choice to go. There was no pressure to buy and you take away an appreciation for the culture and hard work that these people do. The driver was wonderful, he drove beautifully in the crazy Turkish traffic. Something that you learn to appreciate quickly when traveling abroad. Our driver delivered us safely to our cruise ship in a timely manner.I sound as if I am gushing over this company but the tour was just wonderful and it ended with a small gift bag that contained some souvenirs and a wonderful book about Osman Tourism that contained history and maps of Turkey. The book and maps have been fascinating for me personally. This company goes above and beyond the call of Tour Guides, We all learned so much from our tour. I believe they offer other longer and some religious based tours that I would do in a heartbeat if given the opportunity again. To go from the mind set that this is just another port on a cruise to entertaining the idea of coming back just to learn more about this wonderful area says a lot about what this touring company has to offer.

Four of us were picked up for this pre-booked excursion from MS Noordam. Excellent transport and driver. Our guide Felic was a delightful lady and she manoeuvred us round first the house of the Virgin Mary and then the Ephesus ruins in the pouring rain, avoiding the crowds and imparting a wealth of information. The terrace houses, still being excavated were stunning, yet were not visited by some of the ship's tours! Excellent lunch at a carpet-weaving 'school', but we were not pressured to purchase! The town of Kusadasi does not have much of note to offer other than tourist shops, but is pleasant, and appeared safe, to wander round. Plenty of ATM's. I highly recommend this tour company.

We were 2 weddings in Kusadasi on May 26, 2013, we received an excellent, Our guide was Halili, spoke very good Spanish and made us a cultural tour. good lunch and very nice welcome to Kusadasi ToursPedro

After reading about About Tours and there reviews we decided to book a tour. Immediate acknowledgment by return Email and superb communications. We stepped off the Ship and our Guide, Gohkan Baydur was right at the front of a long queue of Guides waiting to greet us. He escorted us to a new clean air conditioned vehicle with a driver. What a great day followed with Gokan treating us to nice strong hot coffee after The Temple of Diana. Then onto the House of the Virgin Mary, I am not really religious, but there was a certain something here. Gokhan proved to have an excellent knowledge of English and was so educated in both the Culture and all the Artefacts. The Terrace Houses were just fantastic and must not be missed. This was all followed by a traditional lunch at a carpet making school. We were shown how they are all hand made and also many were available to purchase, but happily No Hard Sell. as soon as we said "No Thank You" the Staff were very gracious. By the way all entrance fees were included and Gohkan whisked us straight to front of the queues.What a fantastic day which could not be ruined by the rain we had.

We booked the private full day Ephesus Tour. Gonca was our tour guide. She was terrific, very personable and made our tour very special. Her English was excellent as was her knowledge of Ephesus. The rates are very reasonable compared to ship tours. All fees and lunch were included. Highly recommend this tour.

Ephesus is brilliant and we had a really good english speaking tour guide. We learnt that there was so much of the old city still to excavate that it could take another 1000 years at the current rate.