Ephesus Private Tour with Historian Guide

Recommended by 97% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Kusadasi, Turkey

Great choice

5+ bookings last month.

3 to 5 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

Join an expert historian for a fully-customized tour from Kusadasi to the Ancient City of Ephesus that’s tailored to your schedule. You’ll learn the stories behind the stones of Ephesus, from detailed friezes to statues, terrace houses, and the fascinating Library of Celsus, then pause for a lunch of local cuisine. Since this tour is designed just for you, you’ll have plenty of time to explore the things that interest you most, with all transport in a climate-controlled minivan.

Visit Ephesus with an art historian
See UNESCO-listed ancient ruins
Tour the main site and terrace houses
Local-style lunch included
Pickup and drop-off at the Kusadasi cruise port
Private guide for a more personalized experience

What's Included

Professional English Speaking guide
Port pickup and drop-off by Luxury Van
Guarantee ON TIME RETURN TO CRUISE SHIP

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup point

Kuşadası Port Türkiye
Camikebir, Feribot Limanı, 09400 Kuşadası/Aydın, Türkiye

Pickup details

You will be picked from Kusadasi Cruise Port without waiting and directly taken to your PRIVATE LUXURY MINIVAN.

Itinerary

Kuşadası Port Türkiye (Pass By)

Virgin Mary Statue

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Ephesus Ancient City

3 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included

Ephesus Terrace Houses

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

The Temple of Artemis

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Kusadasi Gazi Begendi Park

5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation
Infant seats available

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.9

based on 37 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Ephesus visit

Seamus_E, Mar 2026

Very pleasant guide. Comfortable transport. It was only my husband and myself! Interesting to chat to guide- being a local who lived in area. Our guidechatted to us en route about the town and countryside

Gizem was an outstanding...

Brenda_B, Oct 2025

Gizem was an outstanding guide! She's very knowledgeable and friendly. She helped us make the most of a very short stop in Kusadasi! Thank you! 😎✌️

Response from Host, Nov 2025

thanks for your review!

Our tour guide was very...

Ian_W, Jul 2025

Our tour guide was very informative and very communicative and knew her history beyond the tours. Showed us around to a tannery, pottery and Turkish delight factories. Very friendly.

Response from Host, Jul 2025

Thank you for your review.

Great Tour for Cruise Family!

Ashley_F, Jul 2025

Tijen was an excellent guide for our tour. Her communication started well before the tour helping us coordinate the best time and location to meet her to beat the heat and crowds. We arrived off our cruise ship around 9:30am and she explained that we can be flexible and do whatever we wanted. She took us to Efes and was very knowledgeable about the history. We did a few other stops including lunch and were back in time for some shopping around the port. Great Day would book again thank you Tijen!

Response from Host, Jul 2025

Thank you for your review!

Our tour guide was great....

russell_s, Jul 2025

Our tour guide was great. Unfortunately the entry fees to Ephesus and parking not included. I feel the pricing was disingenuous. Additionally we had to set thru hard sale sells presentations for items we had no interest in

Response from Host, Jul 2025

Thank you very much for your review but inclusions and exclusions are written in tour page. You paid only 35$ and expect everything included, which is absurd and ridiculous. Your price was included a vip minivan and a private guide which is already a very good deal, ephesus entry is excluded and must be paid separately. If you are a cheap person and care about 5-10$ do not book our tours, our tours are for quality people who wants to experience Ephesus at it’s best with top quality luxury minivan and knowledgeable guide.

An unexpected favourite

Lisa_J, Jun 2025

My daughters and I did this tour of Ephesus with Mehmet as an excursion while on a cruise. He was very communicative and met us at the port with a clean, comfortable air conditioned minivan and driver. He was very accommodating and customized our tour for us as we made a couple of little changes. Ephesus itself is larger than expected, it was hot with little shade and was very crowded; a private guided tour is the best way to explore and learn about this site. There isn’t enough detailed information posted to really learn and appreciate the significance and all of the history there is here. Mehmet has a passion for learning and history, which was made evident throughout this tour. His memory and eye for detail is incredible. He is very fluent in English which made the experience even more enjoyable, no fumbling for words or trying to figure out what he was saying ( which I sometimes struggle with when it comes to accents) My daughters came in this tour for my benefit, but at the end of our cruise they said it was their favourite excursion. Mehmet was very patient and understanding that they wanted to take plenty of photos and he just continued the tour with me while they came and went. It was a very relaxed, unhurried pleasant afternoon. At the end of the tour there is an indoor 3D interactive sort of show (included in the price) which nicely ties the information from the guide to the site giving a visual to how it would have looked back in the day. There is also a newer cafe with a lovely bathroom located just before this. If you’re interested in archeology then I would recommend this tour, with a private historical guide. Thank you Mehmet for such a memorable day!

Fun and very educational! Highly recrecommend this guide and driver!

furnreptoo, Oct 2022

Our guide was knowledgeable, kind and well versed. The driver was also outstanding! Would definitely use him again highest recommendations for him!

Response from Host, Dec 2022

thank you!

Highly recommend Oz as a guide

Paige_W, Jul 2022

Oz was an amazing tour guide, very nice and sociable, knew much about the history of Ephesus and Turkey. Made our tour personalized to our interests. Extremely convenient to have a private tour with our own AC van, especially with busy crowds. Felt safe. Overall, great tour.