Private Ephesus Shore Excursion for Cruise Passengers

Recommended by 93% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Kusadasi, Turkey

3 to 6 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

As the most popular shore excursion from Kusadasi, the ancient Roman city of Ephesus can get crowded when cruise ships are in port. With this private shore excursion, you’ll beat the crowds thanks to your private vehicle and won’t waste any time on additional stops or waiting around for other passengers. Take your time exploring the UNESCO-listed ruins with your private guide, plus visit the Virgin Mary’s House and the Temple of Artemis.

This tour is ideal for cruise visitors who want to avoid the crowds
Travel at a relaxed pace and spend longer at the sights that interest you
Enjoy a personalized itinerary and private guide just for your group
Pickup and drop-off is timed to your cruise ship for a seamless experience

What's Included

Pick-up and drop-off by Luxury Minivan
Private English Speaking Guide
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)

Ephesus Ancient City

3 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included

The House of the Virgin Mary

1 hour • Admission Ticket Not Included

Virgin Mary Statue (Pass By)

The Temple of Artemis

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Kusadasi Gazi Begendi Park (Pass By)

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)

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Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.7

based on 55 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Tour was Ok

MaryBeth_B, Sep 2025

Tour operator should have warned us how slippery & difficult to walk on marble in Ephesus!! We saw many people fall. Also you are going to have 2 different sales pitches for pottery & rugs. They both have beautiful pieces. Instead of those stops we would have preferred beach or water areas

Response from Host, Sep 2025

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We truly value your comments, as they help us improve the experience we provide. We are sorry to hear that you found the marble paths in Ephesus challenging. The ancient city is indeed paved with original marble that can be uneven and sometimes slippery. Our guides usually remind guests to wear comfortable shoes and take extra care when walking, but we will ensure this is emphasized even more clearly in the future. Regarding the cultural stops at pottery and rug ateliers, these are part of many tours to give visitors a chance to experience traditional Turkish craftsmanship. That said, we completely understand that preferences differ, and we will make a note for future guests who might prefer to spend more time by the sea or in nature instead. Your feedback is very important to us, and we hope to have the chance to welcome you again with an itinerary tailored more closely to your interests.

Wonderful and interesting day on the history and significance of Ephesus

CHRISTINE_W, Aug 2025

We have a wonderful time with the Ephesus old city tour. Our guide Adam is very friendly and approachable. He is very knowledgeable about the history and significance of the old city and we learned a lot from him. Since we are not interested in the house of Mary, he then took us to visit the Terrace Houses as well as the Ephesus archaeological museum instead. Both of them we found very interesting and gave us deeper understanding and knowledge. We are very happy and satisfied indeed with the tour.

Response from Host, Sep 2025

Thank you for your feedback!

Amazing Insight into ancient civilizations. Extremely well done!!

Mike_B, Aug 2025

This tour is an amazing glimpse into the origins of civilization. Our guide was fantastic and extremely knowledgeable. We opted for only four hours but packed in a lot of sites. The ancient city is amazing and our guide knew so much and really gave us a great overview. We also visited the Virgin Mary house which was really interesting. We ended the tour with lunch at an amazing restaurant that served traditional Turkish food. We asked our guide to join us for lunch which she did. We let her order for us and we sampled amazing dishes. Definitely recommend this tour!

Response from Host, Aug 2025

Thank you so much for your review!

only if you are interesred i going to leather, rug factories or souvenier places...

Suzanne_C, Jul 2025

The trip did not include tickets to Ephesus and House of Maria. The guide asked if we'd like to pass any of the spots on the planned iteneraries to go to leather, rug factories or souvenier places. Unless you are interested in visiting these factories and shopping, this is not the right tour to book.

We had an exceptional...

Svetlana_A, May 2025

We had an exceptional experience with our guide, Hüray Iladız. She was incredibly professional, deeply knowledgeable, and shared the history of Ephesus and surrounding areas with such passion and insight. Her friendly demeanor and kind spirit made the tour not only educational but truly enjoyable. Hüray is a bright and engaging guide who went above and beyond—we would give her more than five stars if we could!

We had the most...

Tiffany_H, Feb 2025

We had the most incredible time on this tour. Gizem was delightful and very knowledgeable . The restaurant we went to for lunch was excellent. Ephesus was extraordinary. Will be recommending to friends and family!

Response from Host, Feb 2025

Thank you for your review!

Wonderful tour of Ephesus

debra_r, Nov 2024

Our guide was a delight. He was extremely knowledgeable at each stop we made. We saw everything we had hoped to see.

Response from Host, Nov 2024

Thank you for your review 🙏

Great trip to Ephesus!

Leslie_W, Sep 2024

We really enjoyed the whole experience. We especially loved the personal touch to everything we asked for. We loved seeing Ephesus and its ruins and learning about it. Our driver was very knowledgeable and personable! We asked about buying Turkish rugs and he asked the driver to take us to a store where we got to see how the rugs were made; ending in us buying one! A very special day!!

Response from Host, Nov 2024

Thank you so much for your review 🙏

Great tour of Ephesus

Eric_H, Apr 2024

We had an excellent tour with Serdar on our tour around Kusadasi. He was proactive and sent us a message about where to meet exiting the ship. He explained our itinerary as the driver headed to Ephesus. There were only 2 of us on the tour! He walked us through the ruins, stopping at a reconstruction model under glass to show us how Ephesus looked before the earthquake. We walked together through the entire area, with Serdar highlighting certain important areas. He took pictures and set up shots for us. We were then treated to a 3D hologram movie that showed Ephesus through the centuries. That was a very cool bonus! We toured another ruins site and then the obligatory leather, silk rug, and ceramic makers before returning to the port. I would highly recommend this tour!

Response from Host, May 2024

Thank you!

Great tour!

Jan_T, Oct 2023

Our tour guide was terrific! She was not only very knowledgeable regarding all the historical sites we saw, but also introduced us to the culture of the city.

Response from Host, Nov 2023

Thank you! :)

Great experience

michael_l, Jul 2023

Gizem was an exceptional tour guide. She was very adaptable to our interests and really took time to make sure we hit the items that were important to us. She presented history accurately and was knowledgeable enough to facilitate questions and answers. She really knew her stuff !! We loved having a guide to ourselves especially when seeing larger groups having a hard time navigating the difficult terrain. Having a private driver was a huge plus that was independent of the guide. Often the 2-in-1 approach diminishes the quality of either the guiding or the driving and sometimes both. Having a second person concentrate on the driving is ease of mind. Overall a great experience ! Thank you.

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Thank you so much for your kind words :)

Hit up for $360 at the end of the tour

Patrick_W, Jul 2023

We booked this tour after seeing the great reviews and to see as much of Ephesus in as we possibly could, including the Artemis Temple, Ephesus, the Virgin Mary's House, and have time to browse the markets at the end. What happened instead was that we spent close to an hour in a rug store that the guide took us to at the start, after we said our priority was seeing the sites. It was likely because the driver had yet to show up. After we got out of the rug store, we went to the Virgin Mary's house and Ephesus, both of which were great. The guide was very knowledgeable about both. After Ephesus, we told the tour guide that we had to get back to the boat quickly to pick up our kids, since we had lost close to an hour in the rug store. We were unable to go shopping in the markets and to the Artemis Temple. The guide kept pressing us to go to the leather center, but we finally said we could not do it because we already had to cut out two things we wanted and would miss our time on the boat to pick up our kids. We also knew we'd lose a fair amount of time in the leather center like the rug store. Finally, he agreed. However, he mentioned that we would have to pay for the tickets to the Virgin Mary's House, and led me to immediately look at the sign 250 lira per person cost. I said that was okay. The tickets to Ephesus were included in the tour price. When we reached the port, the guide said we owed him $360 for the tickets to the Virgin Mary's House and Ephesus for 4 people. I finally showed him the email saying the Ephesus tickets were included. He then said we owed him $160 for the tickets to Mary's House. I said that I saw the sign there said 250 lira, to which he replied that the site raised the price just the day before and had yet to update the price. I told him that the site would not quintuple the price overnight or no one would go there. I showed him several websites showing the same price, and he insisted the price was increased to $40/person from $10/person. Finally, I gave him $60 as payment for 5 tickets (him included) plus a tip. When I did this, he told me the owner would follow up with me to get the additional money owed unless I paid $160. It was a very disappointing beginning and end to what had the potential to be a great tour.

Response from Host, Dec 2024

Dear Sir, Sorry about the miscalculation of our guide. He charged you wrong. Which we accepted our mistake and immediately contacted you and sent you the amount via zelle but you did not delete this review anyway. If you need further assistance please feel free to contact.

Top notch! Would 100% recommend!!

Kelly_P, Jun 2023

We had a fabulous time on the tour. The car was beautiful and waters were provided for us. Our guide was very knowledgeable and set up a ruins itinerary with us based on our requests. She also showed us to some of the best shopping spots where we purchased amazing leather jackets that were like nothing we have ever seen before. We also had a private fashion show; pretty awesome!

Response from Host, Jun 2023

thank you so much for your positive feedback :)

Private Ephesus Tour

BARBARA_H, May 2023

It was very easy to link up with the tour guide as we left the ship. There were just two of us, so it was a private tour. The guide was knowledgeable and professional and very nice. Everything went smoothly and we had a fantastic tour of the ruins of Ephesus. He offered to take us wherever we wanted to go, but since we didn't know the area well, we had no suggestions. Suggestion to someone else - perhaps know what exactly you want to see so you can offer that. I would definitely recommend this tour.

Response from Host, Jun 2023

thank you so much for your positive feedback :)

Seda, Horrid, literally sick guide!

annietay206, Dec 2022

It’s great to see Ephesus , however our guide was terrible! I cannot emphasize that enough. She was late to arrive, had an attitude, and shouldn’t even have come. She said she was sick so she had to sit in the front and we couldn’t hear anything she was saying. She rushed us through the tour because she wanted to take us shopping afterwards which we already told her we didn’t want to do. She could be 30 feet ahead of us during the tour. It was also supposed to have a biblical slant to the tour which was confirmed after booking. It absolutely did not Very disappointing!!

Response from Host, Dec 2024

Dear Annieta, thank you very much for your review. We sincerely apologize for our guide Seda's unprofessional behaviors during your trip to Ephesus, which is unacceptable. Please contact with us so we will try to compensate your disappointment.

Wonderful

Heman_C, Oct 2022

I took a private tour of Ephesus with Fusun Ozsurucu who was excellent and knowledgeable. She did a wonderful job to show us all the beauty of the ancient city. She made it a very enjoyable experience with all the historical information explained.

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Thank you!

The guide was excellent....

Arlene_C, Oct 2022

The guide was excellent. We enjoyed the tour!! Great information Awesome experience Loved the lunch location

Response from Host, Dec 2022

Thank you!

Highly recommend!

Ashley_M, Aug 2022

We loved booking this tour in Ephesus. It was quite a bit cheaper than booking through the cruise ship, and it was so much better to have a private guide and not have to travel on a bus with 50 other people. Our guide, Orcun, met us at the cruise port and was very knowledgeable about the places we went. We probably could have done without the leather and carpet stores at the end of the tour, but I understand that it's part of their business to try and sell those things. When I booked this excursion, the agency also reached out to me to see if I was stopping in Istanbul, which I was, and if I wanted a private guide there for our stop. Again, it was so much cheaper than booking anything through the cruise ship, and it was so nice to travel privately. Fatma was absolutely fabulous as she guided us around the city and knew the perfect itinerary and places to go. And both times, they were very dedicated to getting us back on the ship on time. Would definitely recommend!

Great

Barry_S, Jul 2022

Great value trip. Our guide Ozge yagli was delightful. She gave us just the right amount of info we needed. And answered any questions we had.