Customer reviews page:64

We had a 4 couple group from the Oceania Marina. We used Yelda Celik who is with About Tours from recommendations on the Oceania Cruise Critic board. She picked us up at the dock in Kusadasi with a clean van & driver and narrated and discussed ancient & contemporary sites for an entire day. She pointed out the historic sites in Ephesus and then we went to lunch in Kusadasi at a very good local restaurant. For the afternoon she took us to a local village that specialized in local crafts and food. A full and very informative day was had by all. She is a licensed and and charming guide for the day.
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I gathered information and pricing from about six guides before choosing About Ephesus. They were one of the two most reasonable -- I believe our group of five paid $60/pp for an all day tour, including lunch. One of the best deals during our two week trip. Our intinerary: The Temple of Artemis - The Ancient City of Ephesus – The Terrace Houses - The House of Virgin Mary – Traditional Lunch.Our lovely guide (Gonca), with a huge van and driver, was waiting when we got off the ship. She was very personable and we couldn't have been more pleased.Our group did not mind the carpet factory demonstration -- it was adjacent to the building where you had the local lunch. The demonstration also includes explaining how it is a co-op that helps employ women in Turkey. We also enjoyed them bringing out all the carpets to view, along with complimentary beverages. Noone seemed upset that we didn't make a purchase. We also enjoyed the ceramic factory stop. Fascinating to see how all the local things are made. Unfortunately, the PRICES at the ceramic shop are twice as much as at the bazaar near the ship. Our first stop was the House of the Virgin Mary. If we had it to do over again, we would skip this. It is a symbolic one room church/chapel built on top of where Mary's house 'might' have been.... You walk through single file for about two minutes. Our tour of Ephesus was great and Gonca was excellent and informative. The terrace houses were very very interesting. Highly recommend.After the tour and lunch, they dropped us off back at the ship and we spent an hour walking around the bazaar. All in all a great tour and a great day.My ONLY complaint: I confirmed twice via email that Selda would be our guide. I was assured that she would. However, with no notice or explanation, they switched guides and gave us Gonca. She was EXCELLENT, but I don't appreciate that they didn't even offer to explain that we would have someone else. Gonca was lovely and her direct email is gk_kusadasi at hotmail dot com

We would not have enjoyed Turkey as much as we did if we had not taken this tour. The tour picked us up at the cruise terminal. We knew the sites we were going visit but our tour guide suggested the order to visit that would suit us best. I cannot remember our guides name but she was awesome in some any ways. Very knowledge about her country and its history. She took us shopping only where we wanted to go. She gave us lunch recommendations which we loved.Terrific tour, you will enjoy Turkey so much more if you go on this tour. Our guides name might be Gelda...

My husband and I went on a tour of Ephesus with our tour guide Cigdem. She was waiting for us as our cruise ship docked. After introductions, in perfect English, we joined our driver for the day.The places we visted were: Mary's House, Esphesus ruins, a pottery shop and a leather goods shop. We also stopped for lunch at a beautiful outdoor cafe. The food and the hospitality was great.I highly recommend this tour with Cigdem.

We did a private tour of Ephesus, The Terrace Houses and Sirince Vilalge and it was an amazing day. Our guide Melih was wonderful, very knowledgable and made our visit very personal. Lunch was awesome, and the views in Sirince were great. We really enjoyed Ephesus and the terrace houses, and would highly recommend paying the additional $10 to see them. The private tour was by far one of the best we have ever had, and was comparable to the larger ship tours. We highly recommend Ephesus Tours and Melih!

I booked a private tour for 8 people for a one day cruise stop in November, 2011 at the port of Kusadasi, Turkey with the tour company "About Ephesus". My booking was done through email. I was very pleased with the prompt replies from Mr. Teleri from "About Ephesus". "Lily" our tour guidemet us promptly at 8am and we were able to leave before the ship tour groups. This proved to be a real blessing at "the house of the Virgin Mary" our first stop. There is a shrine builtover the site where it is believed the Blessed Mother lived out her last days, and there are faucets for the spring water at the site, so bring a bottle with you. Our tour included a visit to the Temple of Artemis, a guided tour of the Ancient city of Ephesus, the Terrace houses, the Museum , and the Basilica of St. John., The tour of the Ancient City of Ephesus and the Terrace houses was incredible. Lily , our tour guide, was so well informed and took such great care of us that we all enjoyed the day enormously. I was cruising for 3 weeks with about 9 stops, and this was by far my favourite stop. The transportation vehicle was a Mercedes van - extremely comfortable. "Lily" is the English translation of our tour guide's real name. The other 3 couples whom I met through cruise critic were also very appreciative of the excellent service provided by "About Ephesus". We were travelling on the cruise ship " The Navigator of the Sea". I paid a $20US deposit through paypal, and paid the balance at the end of our tour, an arrangement which suited us very well. Payment could be made in euros, US dollarsor other currencies. There was the usual carpet tour but there was no pressure to buy. I spoke to other passengers who went with other tour companies and they also were given a tour at a carpet facility. The carpets were beautiful and I did not mind seeing how they were made. A fabulous day! Thank you Lily!

Ephesus tours was fantastic. they picked us up at the ship and we began a day of absolute perfection. we had toured Ephesus before on a prior cruise and used the tour from the cruise line. This time around wanted a more personal feel to our tour. There were specific places we wanted to visit and places we wanted to go back too. One of our main issues is we did not want to go the rug factory which every tour off of the cruise ships takes you too.. We had a guide and a driver. There were 3 of us. They took us on a very personally guided tour of the ruins and excavations at Ephsesus. we learned so much more than we had previously. Learned lots about Turkey, its origins, its people and of course its many treasures. the history and knowledge our guide had was phenenomal. He pointed out "little things" you would never had noticed on your own. Two of us had been there, but for our 3rd friend it was new to her. He took in too consideration our wants and needs. He had the itinearay but was flexible and adjsuted it as the day progressed/ An example was lunch- he asked if we wanted to go to where the tourist normally eat and we insisted on his taking us to a truly local place. So he took us to this small little cafe that he and his family frequented and we actually had real turkish food which was incredible. our driver and guide sat with us, they knew the owners so it was a very initimate lunch for us. they let us try different dishes. was a great way to relax, catch our breath before we proceeded on with our tour. the day was a day to remember. I would go back and do the same tour all over again. the amount of history, customs and real life experiences we recieved made it a very special day. Especially because our ship the Norwegian Jade was heading to Instabul next and the same com,pany had guides in Istanbul as well. we were unable to go to Egypt due to the unrest in the region at the time. So the cruise line re-directed us to Istanbul. But i will save that reivew for later. Awesome day! If you would like additional information just contact me and I will set you up with their email address.. we still get emails from them.

We recently organized a one-day private tour to Sirince village, the house of Mary, the ruins of Ephesus and a delicious Turkish lunch in Kusadasi with Ephesus Tours. Our guide was prompt, polite, knowledgeable and honest, and we had a very careful chauffeur as well. We would certainly recommend the young gentleman, Taylan, as a guide if you are in this region of the world. We found the village of Sirince, known for its fruit wine production and handicrafts, very appealing and, of course, Ephesus and its ruins were a delight.

Exceptional beauty, well-preserved antique city. Considering a trip to this place I would like to advise a trip with a qualified guide. This is a more expensive option than private travel. but worth. The place has so many blackbirds that only a well-trained and knowledgeable person will make the trip memorable for a long time. My suggestions result from experience: I have been there twice. First time individually, second time with a guide. Typically, visiting Ephesus is connected with a visit to the "Hill of Nightingales". Because of the beautiful flowers and creepers, I recommend spring. The place is exceptionally "atmospheric" and the experience is unforgettable ..

My wife and I visited Ephesus on our cruise in October. Instead of taking the ships tour we booked a private tour through https://ephesusbreeze.com. We were met at the cruise dock by Gurkan, a licensed tour guide who provided us with an extraordinary day. We saw Ephesus, including the Terrace houses, Sirince and had lunch at a rug making school. Not only did Gurkan provide a great tour, but his knowledge of Turkish history and the surrounding area made for an illuminating day. He set the pace based on our wishes - we were never rushed, nor were we left waiting. The vehicle was neat and clean and the driver met us at each location when we were ready. The reasonable fee for our tour included all entrance fees - there were NO surprise costs. We could not have asked for a better experience with a tour guide. Gurkan gets our highest recommendation!!