Private Shore Excursion: Ephesus,Temple of Artemis,St. Mary House

Recommended by 92% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Kusadasi, Turkey

8 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Offered in: English

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Kusadasi, Turkish Riviera

Private Luxury Ephesus Tour with Lunch - FOR CRUISERS!

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$28

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LESS WALKING - SKIP THE LINES Private Customizable Ephesus Tour

Kusadasi, Turkish Riviera

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LESS WALKING - SKIP THE LINES Private Customizable Ephesus Tour

from $99

Price varies by group size

Kusadasi, Turkish Riviera

Small Group Ephesus Tour for Cruise Customer

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Overview

Combine visits to some of Turkey's most important highlights in this full-day shore excursion from Kusadasi. With a dedicated guide, visit Ephesus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the House of the Virgin Mary, and the Temple of Artemis, the last remains of a Wonder of the Ancient World. This private shore excursion ensures personalized attention from your guide and includes lunch in a local restaurant.

Private shore excursion with a guide exclusive to your group
Explore the UNESCO-listed ruins of Ephesus, where St. Paul preached
Recharge with a delicious Turkish lunch at a lovely local restaurant
Hassle-free private pickup and drop-off, direct from the port

What's Included

Lunch
Professional guide
Port pickup and drop-off
Transport by air-conditioned minivan

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

We pick up from Kusadasi Port

Meeting point

Kuşadası Port Türkiye
Camikebir, Feribot Limanı, 09400 Kuşadası/Aydın, Türkiye
from the Kusadasi Port

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.8:30 am

Itinerary

Ephesus Ancient City

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

The House of the Virgin Mary

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

The Temple of Artemis

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
A minimum 2 people required for this tour
We as KARAVAN TRAVEL, want to ensure the minds of travelers that, all the necessary safety measures and precautions will be maintained at all times; hand sanitizer will be available, masks will be given out, seats will be blocked out on coaches, reduced groups sizes and social distancing measures will be taking against COVID-19 infections. We will follow up the new regulations/restrictions permanently and update our procedures accordingly.
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

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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

4.7

based on 61 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Loved having a private...

Joan_W, Nov 2023

Loved having a private tour with an excellent guide. Very informative. We learned a lot. The transportation was very nice (fancy car).

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Dear Madame, greetings from Karavan Travel. Thank you very much for your kind review towards the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Ephesus and hoping to serve you in the future again. Best Regards, Burak

5 star tour

Gary_G, Oct 2023

I have done this tour twice before, but this was the best and it was because of the tour guide Tugba very knowledgeable, patient and spontaneous. Ecellent tour and vehicle. I would recommend this tour to anyone.

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Dear Sir, greetings from Karavan Travel. Thank you very much for your kind review towards the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Ephesus and hoping to serve you in the future again. Best Regards, Burak

An ok day on a boat

ellenmayer, Oct 2023

Lovely lunch, nice boat. Advertised as sailing trip, but we did not sail. Crew not very engaging with guests.

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Dear Ms. Mayer, Greetings from Karavan Travel. Thank you for your kind review. Our tour is not advertised as a sailing trip. There's no mention about it in any part of our tour program. You can find our program below: "The tour will start with a drive to scenically wonderful coastal road before you reach the ancient city of Ephesus. The first place you will visit on this exciting tour will be the Virgin Mary’s House. Next you will visit the Ephesus ruins, predominantly from the later Roman period including the “Terrace Houses” located opposite Hadrian’s Temple. Then, your tour will continue to the ruins of the Basilica of St John. The Basilica had a cruciform plan with four domes along its longitudinal axis and a pair flanking the central dome to form the arm of the cross. Lunch will be served at a lovely local restaurant." We kindly inform you that the negative situation you mentioned in your review is not caused by us. Looking forward to host you again in Ephesus. Kindest Regards, Burak

Great tour of Ephesus

Patricia_d, Oct 2023

Excellent guide, very knowledgeable. Showed us a lot. Covered all the important sites. Well done. Pick up was easy and on time. Driver was excellent. Lunch was delicious.

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Wonderful!

Judith_T, Oct 2023

Get away from the herds of people! A private is worth every dime to see these sites. They got us back to ship in time easily.

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Dear Madame, greetings from Karavan Travel. Thank you very much for your kind review towards the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Istanbul and hoping to serve you in the future again. Best Regards, Burak

Mahmet was a great guide, brought Epesus to life

Brian_P, Oct 2023

Mahmet was a great guide, brought Ephesus to life. We took a personalized tour with Mahmet, who doubles as a teacher. However, although he was knowledgeable he did not lecture us, rather explained as we went along. His knowledge of the site was well developed—history of each element; where to go for the best views and to miss much of the crowding. We skipped Sty. Mary House (our call) because we are not very religious, it was a very hot day and despite an a/c car we were pretty heat exhausted after the other 3 elements. I would highly recommend Mahmet and a personalized tour. The practicalities were also seamless. He met us at the cruise port, the car was right there, etc. Much faster and more intimate than cruise line bus tours.

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Thanks a million Karavan Tours and #professional_tour_guidezgi

Warwick_M, Oct 2023

The Ephesus Terrace Houses. So well preserved. Such opulence and sophistication. Blew our minds. A must see. Thank you to our #professional_tour_guidezgi who made our visit to Ephesus memorable and Karavan Tours for being so helpful and accommodating - thanks Burak.

Response from Host, Oct 2023

Ephesus Was Much More Than Expected

Pauline_F, Sep 2023

Tour was packed with interesting sights from start to finish. Much better than visiting sights on your own. Guide was very pleasant and knowledgeable. Once in a lifetime opportunity.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Scam - be careful of the tourist guide

Maria_M, Sep 2023

The tour was fast and I didn't get to see everything since we were on the fast track. However, what it made the tour horrible was the guide Cigdem. She took us to her friend's to buy things and it was a total ripped off. Is not recommended it since it can put the tourist in a harm way

Response from Host, Sep 2023

Dear Maria and Andy, First of all, you have filled a survey at the end of this tour and wrote EXCELLENT for all our services. You have also added your personal comments advising great service you had. Considering your filled survey by your hand writing, it's very weird to receive such a review! We have contacted Viator regarding to your review and sent them your filled survey as a proof, they will investigate accordingly. I would like to illuminate you on your concern of insufficient time spending at the sights that we have been and some other points. Our guide picked you up from your hotel at 9 am. You reached to the house of mother Mary at 9.30.regular time spending to see the church is max. 30 mint.and there was a good coincidence that we saw sunday service too, after visiting the house guide gave you some extra time that you were hapy to be there some longer and and go to the spring water area. So with all things, you left there at 10.30 am. You started your walk in Ephesus at 10.45 At 13. 30 you finished. You have almost stayed there for 3 hours. Regularly on max. guests stay there 2 hours. May be 2.5. you seemed so keen on ancient history and was pleasure for our guide to discuss the historical things. At 13. 40 were at the St. John's church. And left 14.05. You arrived to the restaurant at 14.15.and spent 1.5 hour for eating as it was a nice garden, pleasent weather and we enjoyed the late afternoon.15. 45 we started the carpet presentation. At 17 pm we left there and arrived back to your hotel at 17.30. Pm, that all full day tours finish at this time range. May be it was our guide's bad that she did not explain these time aririvals and leavings in details to you in the begining. Our restaurant was the part of a carpet weaving center as l explained some about these centers before. İn order to inform our guests about this important art of Turkish culture and support the local people we generally choose these butique places to eat. And depending on our guests interest we r given a short or long presentation about carpets. İf they want, if they need sometimes they end up buying carpets. You bought one and l again wishing you to use at your happiest time with your beloved ones. Sory for our guide's fault again to not inform you about the needed time for the sights in advance well. Hoping and wishing to see you for another trip in Turkey. Best wishes, Emel Kilic

Ephesus and the Blessed Mother

Jessica_W, Sep 2023

I was so grateful to get into our private vehicle as most people from the cruise ships were getting on giant coaches. Our guide, Eunice, was really good and guessed what part of the USA we were from based on our last name as he spent 2 years where we are from. We arrived at the Blessed Mother's house before the crowds which was really nice. Ephesus is amazing, and it is a treat to have a guide all to yourself! The lunch was cooked in front of our eyes, it was simple, and good. Guess who said she was NOT going to buy a rug? Guess who bought a rug? Me. A great day in an amazing part of the world.

Response from Host, Sep 2023

This private tour is the perfect way to experience Ephesus!

Marla_T, Aug 2023

Ilgin made our tour of Ephesus come to life! She helped put what we were seeing into historical and cultural context. I know my husband and I got so much more out of our visit by having a private tour. What an amazing city! Lunch was in a beautiful outdoor restaurant with delicious local dishes and wine. The weaving demonstration was the rug gallery was fascinating. No high-pressured sales pitch, just a lovely time.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Individual Tour excellence

Andrew_S, Aug 2023

The private experience was excellent. No pushy nor rude tourists in groups of 30 plus to contend with. Great Guides, very knowledgeable, friendly, exemplary English and extremely efficient. Driver and vehicle were also excellent. A great tour.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Dear Sir/Madame, greetings from Karavan Travel. Thank you very much for your kind review towards the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Ephesus and hoping to serve you in the future again. Best Regards, Burak

Yes, you should do this tour

Bill_a, Jul 2023

Being in Ephesus to experience the rich history was amazing. Cigdem was our guide and Mohammed was the driver. Both were wonderful. Cigdem was our private guide and gave our family such a wonderful history lesson of Ephesus and surrounding areas. We really appreciated the details throughout. We ate a wonderful lunch outside under the trees. Although it wasn’t meant for people with Celiac disease, our guide was able to work with the staff and made sure my son and I could eat gluten free. I wasn’t enthusiastic about the rug making until I actually saw the ladies doing this. Wow. We were all so impressed. Even my teenage sons were really into watching / learning about this skill. Overall, very pleased with the tour, Cigdem’s knowledge and Mohammed’s safe driving.

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Complete tour was informative and enjoyable

John_W, Jul 2023

Excellent performance by our guide Fatema (Sp?) Her narratives were current and enthusiastically delivered, a complete explanation and delivery of every subject.

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Dear Sir/Madame, greetings from Karavan Travel. Thank you very much for your kind review towards the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Istanbul and hoping to serve you in the future again. Best Regards, Nathan.

Excellent experience

KellyC, Jun 2023

Our tour guide, Ayse, picked us up from the cruise port. Went straight to visit Mary’s house to get there before the crowds. Were able to go through the house twice the crowds were so light. Then moved on to Ephesus — bring comfortable walking shoes with good grip. Might want an umbrella for shade as it can get quite hot. Then went to rug factory for tour, low pressure sales, very nice. Delicious Turkish style lunch then back to the cruise port. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and kind. Had plenty of time to explore on our own. Highly recommend this tour.

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Excellent Tour-Great Guide

Bridget_M, Jun 2023

Yunus was an excellent guide..very knowledgeable and patient with our 13yo grandson's numerous questions!!

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Outstanding Private Tour

Ernie_B, Jun 2023

Our tour was incredible! Our private guide and driver were both outstanding, with tremendous knowledge and professionalism. We would highly recommend doing a private tour. It was a great value and an even better experience.

Great tour for Ephesus

Gehrig_p, Nov 2022

Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and we learned so much. Our driver and vehicle were excellent. I highly recommend to everyone.

Response from Host, Nov 2022

Dear Sir, Greetings from Karavan Travel Istanbul. Thank you very much for your kind review towards the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Ephesus and hoping to serve you in the future again. Best Regards, Nathan.

Fantastic tour

Daniel_B, Nov 2022

We visited all of the sites we were interested in. Our guide Neslihan was amazing. She explained things so well and navigated us through crowds very well. Ephesus was incredible.

Must experience

Michael_M, Oct 2022

Very special holy places. Our guide was fabulous. very knowledgeable. We had a great authentic Turkish lunch is a great outdoor setting.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Dear Sir, Greetings from Karavan Travel Istanbul. Thank you very much for your kind review towards the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Istanbul and hoping to serve you in the future again. Best Regards, Nathan.

Simply the Best way to to see Ephesus, Terrace Houses, St. Mary House and St. John Basilica

Jenelle_S, Oct 2022

We were extremely fortunate to have been able to to see Ephesus, Terrace Houses, St. Mary House and St. John Basilica by Viator Private tour. Our guide Fusun was very friendly, knowledgeable and articulate about the areas we visited. Our driver Murat was very friendly, professional and very safe in his driving. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and all our needs were met. Fully recommend this to any and all.

Had a great day with...

Lela_R, Oct 2022

Had a great day with Susan touring Ephesus and the surrounding area. She is very knowledgeable and taught us a lot. Since it was just the three of us , it felt more personal and we really enjoyed it.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Private Excursion- Karavan Travel

Minh_G, Oct 2022

On time pick up and very knowledgeable guide, Nuh . He was very clear with directions and we never felt rushed. We made it back to the cruise ship on time. Driver was polite and we felt safe while on excursion.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Our tour to Ephesus

Gayle_K, Sep 2022

Our guide, Verdi, was amazing. He was so full of knowledge and answered all of our questions. We never felt rushed. It was an amazing experience.

Disappointing Experience

Maha_J, Sep 2022

Positives: -Tour was flexible when we wanted to see sites not officially in itinerary -They were willing to accommodate our schedule for pickup Negatives: -The tour guide didn’t provide much information on the sites we visited despite in the tour description saying the guide would be a historian (or be sharing historical knowledge) We had to ask a lot of questions to get information from the tour guide. We provided this feedback and there were slight improvements. -When we arrived in Ephesus, which has a huge amount of history and specifically religious history, the tour guide indicated that to get any religious history we needed to book a biblical tour. This is not true as we did 3 other tours in other locations including Pamukkale and Cappadocia for example, and the tour guides provided both historical and religious history. For this tour we got a lot of this is where they eat and sleep, which is disappointing and overall not interesting nor historical. We ended up watching Youtube videos after the day was over because we felt we didn’t get much of out the tour. I want to also mention that in the tour description it calls out where St. Paul preached yet the tour guide did not mention this as it’s “religious”. -The lunch provided was not up to par. Tour says it’s at a restaurant but it was someone randomly cooking outside and us sitting in the middle of grass. One of the folks who ate the salad in the lunch became very ill after, which ruined several days of the vacation. -The tour guide took us to 4 stops designed to get us to spend money. It’s understandable that this is part of tours but 4 stops is excessive. They indicated that they would help us negotiate, but none of this occurred. At one of the stops, they had a merchant heavily pressure us to purchase a bracelet for $300 US- an incredibly inflated price. The tour guide just sat there after setting this in motion. -The tour guide did not know one of us knew some Turkish and negatively spoke about us to the driver in front of us. Overall, it was a disappointing experience – we really wanted to learn about Ephesus, Virgin Mary’s house, and St. John's Basilica and were excited by the tour description given that it would be private and customized but we did not get the experience promised. We didn’t learn much and it ended up being more of a trap to get us to buy overpriced items.

Amazing Tour!

Carol_W, Sep 2022

This private tour was wonderful from start to finish. Tour guide waiting out front upon our exit from our cruise ship. Comfortable luxury van supplied with complimentary water, soda and beer. Our guide was articulate and thoroughly knowledgeable regarding the history of Turkey, Mary's House and Ephesus. We could visualize the way people lived as we explored the amazing ruins and restoration of this ancient city. The highlight for me was the Terrace Houses which continues to be under restoration and was an extraordinary display of ancient engineering, cultural sophistication and art. Lunch was delightful. Served in a beautiful exterior garden with excellent traditional Turkish cuisine. We did not tour St John Basilica. Did a driveby stop. Were told by guide that there was basically nothing to see. We were fine with this as it was at the end of the tour and we had a full day with the preceding activities.

Response from Host, Sep 2022

Amazing tour in a short amount of time.

Sheri_R, Aug 2022

Amazing tour, I highly recommend! Our guide Elif was very knowledgeable and and hospitable! This is a great tour to pack a lot in a little amount of time!

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Dear Sheri, Greetings from Karavan Travel Istanbul. Thank you very much for your kind reviews to the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Kusadasi and hope to assist you in the future Turkey trips. Best Regards, Emel Kilic.

Wonderful Day

Priscilla_P, Jul 2022

Our guide Ekin was wonderful!! He was very patient with our 2 children and learned so much. Would definitely recommend as excursion.

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Dear Sir, Greetings from Karavan Travel Istanbul. Thank you very much for your kind reviews to the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Kusadasi and hope to assist you in the future Turkey trips. Best Regards, Emel Kilic.

Excellent tour

MaryAnn_C, Jul 2022

This was a great tour. Our guide, Begu, was very knowledgable and personable. He was very client centred, wanting to ensure we got the best experience possible. Tour was at a good pace. Lunch in the garden setting was wonderful. Carpet demo interesting.

Response from Host, Jul 2022

Dear Sir, Greetings from Karavan Travel Istanbul. Thank you very much for your kind reviews to the tour which was operated by Karavan Travel. Nice to host you in Ephesus and hope to assist you in the future Turkey trips. Best Regards, Emel Kilic.