Ephesus Small Group - Semi Private Shore Excursion
Recommended by 100% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Kusadasi, Turkey
- 4 to 6 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Why travelers loved this
·
Explore our promoted experiences
Overview
See the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus and other highlights of the area on a private half-day tour from Kusadasi. Walk through the UNESCO World Heritage Site then stop at the Temple of Artemis, and the Meryemana (Virgin Mary's House). Your tour includes skip-the-line admission, a private guide and driver, and port pickup and drop-off.
- Private tour to Ephesus with pick-up from Kusadasi Port
- See the Great Theater, the Odeon, the Library of Celsus, and other highlights in Ephesus
- See the Temple of Artemis, and the Meryemana (House of the Virgin Mary)
- Includes private guide and driver, and port pickup and drop-off
What's Included
- Professional Licensed Tour Guide
- Guaranteed skip-the-line!
- Pickup and Drop-off from Cruise Port
- Brand New A/C Luxury Mercedes Sprinter with Private Driver
- LunchTraditional lunch at a handicraft carpet demonstration village
- Alcoholic BeveragesBeverages at the Lunch
- Admission Fee - Ephesus Ancient City€40.00 per person
- Admission Fee - Virgin Mary House€18.00 per person
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup point
- Kusadasi Cruise PierIstanbul Denizcilik, Yeni Yolcu Terminali - Ege Port, Camikebir, 09400 Kuşadası/Aydın, Türkiye
Pickup details
FOR CRUISE PASSENGERS; WE MEET GUESTS AT THE EXIT GATE OF THE IMMIGRATION TERMINAL OF THE KUSADASI CRUISE PORT WITH A BOARD WITH OTTI TRAVEL SIGN ON IT.
Itinerary
Begin your private tour at your choice of times, with pickup at your cruise ship dock. Most people then head to Ephesus, which is located a short drive from Kusadasi.
Your private guide takes you through the well-preserved ruins of the ancient Greek and Roman city, pointing out highlights including the Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates, the Great Theater, the Odeon, the Library of Celsus, the fountain of Trajan, the Temple of Hadrian, and more.
Stop at the Temple of Artemis, which stood close to Ephesus and is marked by a single remaining column. Then visit the Meryemana (House of the Virgin Mary), a site that's sacred to both Christians and Muslims, and discover the legend of the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, another story that's common to Christianity and Islam.
You'll take a break for lunch, and be returned to the port in Kusadasi at the end of your tour.
Your private guide takes you through the well-preserved ruins of the ancient Greek and Roman city, pointing out highlights including the Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates, the Great Theater, the Odeon, the Library of Celsus, the fountain of Trajan, the Temple of Hadrian, and more.
Stop at the Temple of Artemis, which stood close to Ephesus and is marked by a single remaining column. Then visit the Meryemana (House of the Virgin Mary), a site that's sacred to both Christians and Muslims, and discover the legend of the Cave of the Seven Sleepers, another story that's common to Christianity and Islam.
You'll take a break for lunch, and be returned to the port in Kusadasi at the end of your tour.
1
Kusadasi Port
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
The House of the Virgin Mary
1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included
3
Ephesus Ancient City
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
4
The Temple of Artemis
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Infant seats available
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Cruise ship passengers must provide the following information at time of booking: ship name, docking time, disembarkation time and re-boarding time
- A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
- Small Group Tours are exclusive only for cruise passengers
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 40 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
5.0
based on 429 reviews
Sort by: Most recent
It was a fantastic tour. The House of the Virgin Mary was beautiful and definitely worth seeing. Ephesus was stunning and awe inspiring, really beyond words and a must see. Our guide Gökçe was phenomenal, so knowledgeable and such a sweet girl. We have a delicious Turkish lunch and a fun and informative tour of a turkish rug factory and store. The only negative was that after the tour, the rug store people were very pushy trying to get us to buy a rug. Other than that, an awesome experience overall and I highly recommend it.
Our guide Zeynep was extremely knowledgeable and shared so much with us. We had a wonderful experience.
Selin was an amazing guide. She was patient with my elderly mom and It was a great tour. Good food and comfortable ride
Awesome experience with Tas, both knowledgeable and friendly! It was a cool, more intimate experience where we could ask Tas questions and he even helped give advice for the rest of our trip. We had a fantastic time talking to the other guests and Tas made sure we all had time seeing/doing the activities we all favored. Couldn’t recommend enough when visiting Ephesus, would be hard to get around by yourself.
Our guide Nage did a super job of explaining the history and to the extent she could, kept us in the shade. It’s very impressive!
Tour is followed by lunch which conveniently turns into a rug making/sales pitch. I think the rugs were high quality and priced right. But I didn’t select a rug making/sales pitch.
Wow! Amazing experience and unforgettable memories made. You have to be there to experience its grandeur.
Excellent guide Miss Gok Ce. She was very well prepared and pleasent. The only draw back is that we spent to much time at the Carpet Factory. Would highly recommend.
Just got back from our Ephesus tour with Cann and honestly, it was the highlight of our whole cruise stop. He picked us up right at Kusadasi Port and from there it was smooth sailing all day.
Our group was small — just 6 of us — which made such a difference. It never felt like a rushed, herded-through tour group. Cann could tell we were really into the history, so he leaned into it and just kept going deeper with the stories. Seriously, we threw every random question at him and he had an answer for all of it, no hesitation. You could tell he actually loves this stuff.
We walked through the Great Theater, the Odeon, the Library of Celsus... skipping the line straight in was clutch because the crowds later in the day looked brutal. Also stopped at the Temple of Artemis and the Meryemana (Virgin Mary's House), both really worth seeing.
The van was a nice new Mercedes Sprinter, super comfortable with the AC blasting, which we appreciated big time in the heat. Lunch at the carpet village was a fun little stop too — excellent authentic Turkish lunch and an unexpected educational experience with the Turkish rug/weaving demo.
Cann dropped us right back at the port on time, no stress at all. If you're doing Ephesus from a cruise, ask for Cann — small group, real history energy, couldn't recommend it more.
Great day. Zeynep was great. Very nice.
The Ephesus toir was just the right duration and the museum at the end was fabulous
Our tour guide was the best. Very knowledgeable took us to several local spots, fed us some amazing food, lots of history beautiful rugs. Even gave us advice on how to not get scammed by the locals. Biblical history was amazing. Loved it.
Ahmet was a wonderful tour guide who showed us his country with pride and enthusiasm. I would highly recommend this experience.
Awesome tour but bring an umbrella for shade! Lunch was very good but you will have to sit through a sales pitch for the rugs (which are beautiful but very expensive). Sales pressure was minimal though and for the work that goes into them the cost is very fair.
Mel was awesome. I did not feel rushed. She is very knowledgeable and considerate about taking us to shop for leather.
Our tour guide Ahmet was wonderful. He was knowledgeable and was prepared for everything. He reshuffled the schedule bc we were early and took us to the Ephesus before the crowd. there was several sites that was not on the itinerary which he stopped by and let us see. Lunch was wonderful in the carpet demonstration was very cool. I would definitely recommend it..
Tas was a very knowledgeable guide and he shared his knowledge with us while we were driving to the sights and while walking through them. Amazing history here and it’s still being discovered and rebuilt. We enjoyed the carpet factory tour also and the authentic Turkish meal. Definitely a good deal. There was only 8 in our group, so we moved along at a good speed. Highly recommend this tour and I hope you go with Tas!
Well informed guide told us lots of information about the historical sites that we visited. Pleasant lunch.
Great outstanding guide not to be missed unique visite with so Much history. The guide was very helpful to me with m'y reduce mobilité.
We were very impressed with an all the sites we visited. Our tour guide, Tas was exceptional. His knowledge of history and his enthusiasm were outstanding. We highly recommend this excursion.
If I had it to do over again, I would pick an excursion just to Ephesus, leaving out lunch, rug demonstration and Artemis. While our guide was extremely sweet, knowledgeable, and fluid in English, I felt like we were "set up" or left on our own at the rug place. What was prefaced as a tour of rug making, quickly turned into a high pressured sales pitch. They even followed us outside after we clearly I declined offer and said no several times.
Nora was our guide and she was great. The experience from start to finish was smooth, engaging and hard to think of an improvement. Highly recommend!
Absolutely incredible experience, far exceeded our expectations! We had a private tour of 5 ppl with Asli. She was knowledgeable, kind, helpful and friendly. Saw all the major sites we wanted to see and had a fantastic day of memories! Great tour!!
Our guide Taylan was AMAZING - he knew so much history, spoke perfect english and made our experience of Turkiye so memorable. I highly recommend this tour and if you're smart, you'll specifically ask for him!!
Great tour. Ahmet, our tour guide was amazing. He was very knowledgeable and accommodating. He made sure we were well taken care of and that we had time to see everything we wanted to see. The 5 hr tour was perfect and allowed us some shopping time before getting back on the cruise ship. Be prepared for a lot of walking on uneven surfaces.
Nur was very knowledgeable and flexible with our family requests. We enjoyed the tour learning so much about each location.
Ahmet and Engin, our tour guide and driver, made our day in Ephesus really great. Ahmet communicated the day before our tour with clear directions on where to meet and was very prompt to meet us when the ship moored in port. He was very knowledgeable and gave us so many interesting facts about Mary's house, Ephesus, and Turkey, in general. Engin was a great driver, was very accommodating with door-to-door service at every stop, and he even purchased cold waters for our.group, which was especially appreciated on such a hot day. The Turkish lunch was such a great touch. All of the food was delicious. The rug making demonstration was also very interesting. To be honest, I was dreading a.high pressure sales pitch, but it wasn't that at all. The demonstration was fascinating, and while you were invited to buy something, I felt zero pressure to do so. Overall, a very enjoyable day.
Tour guide was amazing! Loved her! We felt very lucky to be with this small group. There were only four of us.
What a great experience we had today. Our tour guide Ahmet and the driver Engin were waiting for our group of six once we disembarked from our ship. Ahmet was very knowledgeable, informative, organised and genuinely friendly. He was so enthusiastic, passionate and eager to share the history with us. No request or questions was difficult for him. We had an authentic Turkish lunch. Engin was a great driver. We highly recommend this team.
Ahmet was our guide and he was incredible! Very knowledgeable of all the sites we visited and made sure we went at a pace that was good for our group! I would recommend him again!
Wonderful tour with Ezgi. Very knowledgeable and everything went smoothly. Kids enjoyed it! Lunch was delicious.
Our guide Melike was brilliant she gave us masses of information and made the experience
Entertaining.
Member Pricing
From
$25.65
per personWas $27.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
Compare Similar Experiences
Current
Member Pricing
Ephesus Small Group - Semi Private Shore Excursion
429
4 hours
Free Cancellation
From
$27.00
$25.65
5% savings
Customers Who Bought This Tour Also Bought
Explore Similar Things to Do
- Archaeology Tours
- Half-day Tours
- Bus Tours
- Historical Tours
- Cultural Tours
- Tours, Sightseeing & Cruises
- Private and Luxury
- Private Sightseeing Tours
- Kusadasi
- Archaeology Tours - Selçuk
- Half-day Tours - Selçuk
- Bus Tours - Selçuk
- Historical Tours - Selçuk
- Archaeology Tours - Samos
- Half-day Tours - Samos
- Bus Tours - Samos
- Historical Tours - Samos
- Archaeology Tours - Izmir
- Half-day Tours - Izmir
- Bus Tours - Izmir
- Historical Tours - Izmir
Attractions in Kusadasi, Turkey
- Adaland Aquapark Tours & Tickets
- Kusadasi Shopping Center (Kusadasi AVM) Tours & Tickets
- Temple of Hadrian at Ephesus Tours & Tickets
- Public Latrine at Ephesus Tours & Tickets
- Baths of Varius Tours & Tickets
- Basilica of St. John Tours & Tickets
- Kusadasi Cruise Port Tours & Tickets
- Temple of Artemis (Artemision) Tours & Tickets
- Library of Celsus Tours & Tickets
- House of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana Evi) Tours & Tickets
- Kusadasi Castle Tours & Tickets
- Ephesus (Efes) Tours & Tickets
- Priene Tours & Tickets
- Didyma Tours & Tickets
- Sardis (Sart) Tours & Tickets
- Miletus (Miletos) Tours & Tickets
- Kusadasi Caravanserai (Öküz Mehmed Pasha Caravanserai) Tours & Tickets
- Sirince Tours & Tickets
- Dilek National Park (Dilek Milli Parki) Tours & Tickets
More attractions near Kusadasi, Turkey
- Ephesus (Efes) Tours & Tickets
- House of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana Evi) Tours & Tickets
- Temple of Artemis (Artemision) Tours & Tickets
- Kusadasi Castle Tours & Tickets
- Basilica of St. John Tours & Tickets
- Kusadasi Caravanserai (Öküz Mehmed Pasha Caravanserai) Tours & Tickets
- Kusadasi Shopping Center (Kusadasi AVM) Tours & Tickets