We provide you Ephesus tours from Kusadasi with such uniqueness that YOU are the one who has a final say in the planning of all itineraries, the pace of the tour, the choice of language to be used and even the make of the vehicle during the tour. In other words, all our Private Ephesus Tours from Kusadasi are individually designed for you so that they guarantee you absolute flexibility and comfort.
Your guide and driver will greet you at the Port of Kusadasi. During the 30-minute ride to Ephesus, you will be served cooled soft drinks and appetizers to your taste while your guide gives you brief introduction on Ephesus tour as well as Turkey in general.
The main visits included in the tour are the Ancient City of Ephesus, with such highlights as the Grand Theater, the Library of Celsus, the Terrace Houses and many others, and the House of Virgin Mary, a Catholic and Muslim shrine purportedly the last home of Mary.
Althoughyour Ephesus tour is planned and reconfirmed by you, you are free to make any changes as long as time is allowed. Let’s say you see some fruit farms and would like to enjoy picking or you want to have lunch at any of the local eateries. There you go, the Kirazli Village which is not only big on organic farming, especially cherry, but also famous for its village meals. If you like wine, Sirince Village, is within easy reach. Or, you are interested in Kusadasi, the Bird Island itself. A half-day Kusadasi Tour with excellent seafood lunch or dinner can be arranged within an hour of notice.!
Everything you request is a done deal! Just relax and have fun in our exclusive and unique private tour!
Ps; Ephesus Tours From Kusadasi
- When you self-design you private Ephesus tour from Kusadasi you should take into consideration that the round trip ride between Kusadasi and Ephesus takes 45-55 min.
- If your ship docks at Izmir port then instead of having a tours from Kusadasi you can self-design a Private Ephesus Tours from Izmir. Again the fact that the round trip between Izmir port and Ephesus area is about 2 hours and 10 min should be taken into account while planning the tour.
- All pickups and drop offs are included in our tours at your convenience.
Both husband and I like shopping wherever we travel. Before we started our cruise, we had done some online search and learned that Turkey is famous for leather goods and carpets. Although shopping wasn’t in our program, after our half day Ephesus tour we asked our guide Yesim if she knew any good places for leather jackets or carpets. And there we were in this leather center called Kircilar. The salesmen there were so friendly and fun too and I got my gifts for anniversary 5 leather jackets and a mink coat! Lucky husband of mine got a silk carpet at a family-owned small carpet store.
What a great tour! Thanks
During our private Ephesus tour from Istanbul, I read English newspapers every day. One article titled “ A country where people are uninformed of art” caught my attention. In the article it quoted Dr. Murat Kataoglu saying that museums in Turkey are disconnected from art and have started to be considered as touristic institutions and that an understanding of museum that is stuck on history and archaeology means turning a blind eye to modern creativity. The article also criticized that the society as a whole avoids seeing that what carries tourists from one corner of the world to the other is not the age of the works but their artistic quality.
It also mentioned that 15.9 percent of graduates of art are unemployed in Turkey. Many questions were asked in this article. Can’t municipalities hire art history experts? Why is art history not a compulsory course at elementary schools? Are what these civilizations have created less worthy than the lakes and the mountains that are taught in schools?
As an art professor, I can really relate to the problems pointed out in the article. Something has gone wrong in our modern education.
Thanks to the help from the travel agency from which we had booked our private tour of Turkey, I was able to sign up with a local swim club for the once-in-a-life-time experience swimming across Bosphorus Strait on July 20th. Before the race we were touring in Turkey with our private guide, Mr. Selcuk, and I didn’t have much time to swim.
However, I was determined to join this event. The water was cold but it was just awesome to be a part of this annual international event even though I wasn’t able to reach the finish line as I had wanted to.
Thank you for a wonderful time. Turkey is an awesome county and we had a great guide and fantastic driver. Thank you..
In all my experience traveling I have never met an agent as attentive as Taylan a guide as friendly and knowledgeable as Daniel. The service and hospitality offered by these 2 men made our trip both memorable and hassle free. I would not hesitate for a moment to recommend their services to ANYONE traveling to Ephesus Turkey in the future.
During our private tour of Ephesus and the Terrace Houses we were very lucky to witness how the restoration of wall paintings and floor mosaics was being done. We met an very interesting character, Hasan Savaser, who came to Ephesus in 1991 at age 24 to work and transported soil in a wheelbarrow but now is one of the world’s 20 best restoration experts, and with our guide’s translation, Savaser patiently answered our questions. Although just a primary school graduate, over the years Mr. Savaser became interested in archaeology and with the experts’ help and support learned the restoration techniques. After 23 years having worked in Ephesus, he says the work has become his life style rather than a source of income. He says touching a 2,000-year-old work, returning them to their original glory and preserving it for the next 2,000 years gives you a charge.
Thanks to people like Savaser who have devoted their time and knowledge to the restoration, people like us all over the world are able to get a glimpse at this part of human history.
While Our bus stopping at the traffic light in Selcuk waiting to turn onto the road back to Kusadasi Port from Ephesus, husband asked our private guide if we could take a little walking trip in Selcuk if we still had enough time. The town was full of cafes, with the majority of which serving men playing OK( a Turkish tile game), cards or simply chatting. And most of the men were old, or at least looked old to us. Our guide said that Selcuk is a town for retirees. Because of its lack of job opportunities, most young Selcuk people move to Izmir City or Kusadasi due to its close proximity to both places. I personally found the atmosphere there was pleasant and relaxing. Maybe I would persuade husband to moving here after we retire!
Zeynep Scott, MD, USA
We love countryside. When we found on internet this company specializing in private tours in Turkey we sent an inquiry asking if they could organize a tour which not only would include the main sightseeing, which was Ephesus, but also would show us around some countryside. We were thrilled receiving their reply in which a private Ephesus tour with visits to surrounding villages was outlined to us.
One the day of our Ephesus tour, as our luxury car taking us from the Port of Kusadasi, we noticed the natural scene was so beautiful, it was green everywhere. Our first stop was the ruins of the Ancient City of Ephesus which was such situated that it was surrounded by mountains and villages and was truly enthralling. We then visited Kirazli Vliiage(the Cherry Village), a village famous for its organic farming. We got off the car and leisurely walked around, encountering enthusiastic village kids saying “ hello” to us, stopping by a local cafe where people played card games, tile games or backgammon, doing a bit shopping of organic fruit jams. It was very relaxing and enjoyable. Next was our last stop of the day, Sirince Village, a place the Greeks in the ancient time went hiding from the persecution of the Muslims. Numerous shops sell locally made fruit wines. We got invited to almost every shop we passed by and literally got drunk from tasting all sorts of wine. We also ended up buying a few bottles of wine made of blackberries, mulberries and figs.
This private tour was the best we had ever had over the years in so many countries we had visited. Thanks!
A revisit to Kusadasi
It was about 20 years ago when we visited Kusadasi the first time. Such a friendly, relaxing and sweet place with a simple harbor where hundreds of cruise ships docked here for a day every year. This time we had booked a full-day private tour from Kusadasi in advance so that we could take our time sightseeing without rush. As our car leaving Kusadasi Port, we noticed huge changes in this town which now is very modern, crowded with shops, vacation houses/apartments along the outskirts of the town with beautiful views of the Aegean Sea, as well as luxury stores of all sorts of fashion. And the traffic! If my memory doesn’t betray me, I remember there weren’t so many cars nor cars of so many different makes back then.
Our only request about this private tour was not to have specific schedule, just let our mood take us any place that attracted our interest. Keeping that in mind, the first place our private guide, Ms Nilgun, recommended us to visit was Sirince Village where we had some typical and yet extremely rich and delicious Turkish breakfast in a garden restaurant. Everything we had, such as olives, white cheese, tomates and bread were organic village products.
Knowing we liked countrysides, Nilgun then took us to a privately-owned farm which is open to the public about 13 Km from Kusadasi. Degirmen farm( Mill farm) had a famous restaurant, a man-made lake which had a pavilion in the center and ducks and geese were swimming leisurely around and around waiting for feed from visitors, a small-scale zoo housing peacocks, birds, monkeys, goats and sheep, and camels. Rabbits ran around freely. Up on a hill there was a stable of retired champion racehorses and kids got to ride them for a slow walk-around. As we sat in the pavilion drinking fresh pomegranate juice, although we weren’t hungry we couldn’t help ourselves but try the freshly hand-made flat stuffed pastry called gozleme. Two hours of our time were well spent here.
Husband wanted to see a bit more of the modernized Kusadasi so that we headed back. As our car cruising by those beautiful apartments, I asked how much the average annual income was and how much these apartments cost.! When we were told around 10,000 US and the average price of a flat was at least 100,000 US dollars, I couldn’t stop wondering how people could afford such expensive housing. Amazing.
Our car then took us to the end of Kusadasi, the Ladies Beach. The front facing the beach has become a pedestrian-only area filled with English and Irish bars, elegant restaurants, along with traditional convenient stores which even sell stuff like beach balls and suntan oils. We entertained ourselves along with Ms Nilgun and our driver Mr. Hasan at an Irish bar for a draft beer, chatting up with tourists from Europe. Some came here every year and a couple had even bought a vacation apartment nearby.
Before returning to our cruise ship, we visited the famous Grand Bazaar and Orient Bazaar. It was just a walking around because shopping wasn’t on our priority list.
A very enjoyable one-day holiday in Kusadasi. Thanks!
Susan and Scott Gere, AZ, USA
Une magnifique journée a découvrir ce pays et cette région ! Tout d’abord je remercie le guide qui nous a accueilli tres chaleureusement avec minibus privé, le guide parlait un français parfait et est passionné par son travail et sa culture , merci encore. Nous avons d’abord visité le site d’Ephèse, un lieu antique et magique ou nous avons l’impression de vivre a l’époque dite tellement ce site et ses vestiges sont bien conservés, ensuite nous avons découvert une des 7 merveilles du monde et la maison de la Vierge Marie, notre guide etait toujours la pour nous donner quelques anecdotes sur leur histoire. Le repas etait organisé dans un petit restaurant typique, calme et le repas etait tres bon. L’avantage est que nous pouvions organiser notre journée comme bon nous semble et nous avions demandé de rencontrer la population locale et avec plaisir notre guide nous a emmené faire la rencontre d’une famille turque traditionnelle chez qu? nous avons bu le thé et échanger pour découvrir leur culture, leur facon de vivre, leur langue.
Sans hésitation je referai appel a PrivateTour.net pour mon prochain voyage prévu a Istanbul l’an prochain !! Merci
We are traveling to Ephesus on November 9, 2014 (arrive at Kusadasi port at 8:00 a.m. – depart at 6:00 p.m.) and would like to arrange for transportation and a guided tour of Ephesus and the Terrrace houses and leave a little time in the afternoon to shop at the Kusadasi bazaar. There are four adults in our party.
Could you please provide us with your availability, an itinerary, and the cost of such a tour.
Thank you,
Michel de Montaigne