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USD $80.00
Ephesus and St. Mary's House Day Trip from Izmir
Izmir, Turkey
No trip to Turkey is complete without exploring the ancient ruins of Ephesus - the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean. You will also visit the final resting place of the Virgin Mary on this day trip from Izmir.
On your way to Ephesus, you will stop at St Johns Basilica atop Ayasuluk Hill built in honor of the Saint who wrote his gospel on this very hill. See the 4th-century tomb where his remains are said to be housed.
The ancient city of Ephesus was an important center for early Christianity. In the book of Revelation, Ephesus was one of the seven churches addressed by Christ in a vision. It is here that you will find the Temple of Artemis, considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Your guide will also show you the Great Theatre, the Library of Celsus and many temples.
After enjoying some authentic Turkish cuisine at lunch, you will visit the House of the Virgin Mary, where she spent the last days of her life. Authenticated by Pope Paul VI in 1967, the cottage is a place of pilgrimage for many believers.
Fantastic tour! We were picked up at a central hotel on time and we boarded on a spacious coach, which made the travel very comfortable. There were only 5 of us, which made the tour a bit more private. The guide Zeynep was extremely friendly and has a stock full of knowledge about the culture and history of Turkey. She is very accommodating too. Although we were following a schedule, we did not feel rushed and we were given enough time to explore the sites by ourselves and plenty of opportunity to take photos. During mid-day, we went to this very quaint and quiet small restaurant. There were only 7 of us in the whole restaurant including the driver and guide, which made the dining experience more private. The lunch itself was an absolute delight! We were treated with different kinds of Turkish dishes, in which everything was so delicious, the servings were more than enough to fill our empty stomachs. Overall, this was an amazing experience from a first time visitor, exceptionally friendly and warm people and great food! I could greatly recommend this tour!
Review by: Patrick S, April 2018
Historians, tourists and the pious will live this tour to walk in the steps of the ancients.
Review by: Dennis K, March 2018
absolutely spectacular
Review by: Audra D, February 2018
We really enjoyed our tour. The guide was amazing, knowledgeable and helpful. It was a fabulous and fascinating day.
Review by: Susan G, January 2018
We appreciated our guide Ismail's knowledge of Ephesus and the surrounding sites. The visit to a rug weaver and show room was especially _br/_ interesting. We enjoyed our day and the door to door service. We recommend this tour highly.
Review by: Senthilvel K, December 2017
Amazing place, excellent tour pickup and very friendly guide. The actual tour gets over by lunch - again food was delicious. But for rest of the afternoon its just visiting Carpet Weaving, Pottery and Lokum Shops.
Review by: SAJJAD A, November 2017
The guide took us to a supposed free included meal and had a hard sales pitch for high priced turkish rugs, pressured sales tactics! I hated the idea personally and my wife and I did not like how the guide kept telling us that the rugs are an investment and a 5000USD rug is a very normal purchase! Ridiculous. I was on vacation. Its not right to try pressure sales pitches on a paid tour!_br/_ The Ephesus and the sights were excellent, though.
Review by: ANTONIO M, October 2017
FAntastic visit with a fantastic guide! Top car and top meal in local business craft association._br/_ Must do!
Review by: Sadna B, September 2017
This tour was excellent, our tour guide Ismail was highly informative and knowledgeable. He allowed us enough time to explore on our own and provided us with very interesting information about the sites we visited. St Marys House was peaceful and an absolute must- PS take a piece of paper and a pen to leave your message in the wall. The walk in Ephasus was like walking through history - I just wish that I could remember every story. It was a really hot day so I am sure this is an event better experience in good weather. The lunch was amazing and even though I am allergic to carpets, the visit to the carpet factory was very interesting.
Review by: Arianna O, September 2017
The visit to Ephesus was great. It was a very hot day, so if going during summer time bring a hat and water with you cause there is little shade in the ruins. Car was new and travel was very flexible and accommodating of everyone needs. Both driver and guide were very professional. Worth the money. I would definitively recommend this, as the city is very well preserved and a unique mix of history and cultures.
Review by: emilonas, August 2017
An amazing place to visit an absolute must_br/_ Tour guide was ok_br/_ Take lots of water and a hat. No shade and on a hot day can be extremely hot. The reflection of the marble and stone make it much hotter._br/_ Lunch provided was amazing. Only disappointment was being harnessed to buy a Turkish carpet. Salesman gather around like flies amd don't take no easily.
Review by: Douglas P, August 2017
Fantastic trip. Our guide Orkan was knowledgable and personable. A great guide through the history of ancient Ephesus. I highly recommend this trip.
Review by: Andrey K, July 2017
Great tour. A lot of great historical and religious places are placed inside 8 hours of the tour. Majestic ruins of Efes, sacred place of the Virgin Mary's House, lesson of the Turkish carpets manufacturing and two more ruined temples - Saint John's and ancient temple of Artemis - all these places leave great impression._br/_ Tour coach has 10 places but we have only 5 people and that's great to have a tour for such a small group. Gokce was our guide and she's great._br/_ I highly recommend this tour to everyone who wants to visit Ephesus
Review by: Sharon R, February 2017
This was a nice tour and gave you an opportunity see both Ephesus and St. Mary's House. The guide was knowledgeable. It was frustrating if you wanted to take photos, because the guide was moving quickly.
Review by: Louis B, December 2016
GREAT guide Cejan but the itinerary was weak. Much more to do in the area than visit some re-discoved Christia site from19th Century.
Review by: John B, October 2016
Orkan was our guide and he was fantastic. The limo van had a table and comfortable seats so the ride was enjoyable. Orkan was personable and knowledgeable. His English was good so it was a pleasure to visit on this tour. This visit was beyond our expectations. We had plenty of time to go on our own and while we shopped they all waited until we were ready to depart. You must take this trip on the sites were amazing and if you are religious this is one of the wonders of the world. I would highly recommend it.
Review by: chris D, June 2016
great guide and location
Review by: Maria-Violeta H, June 2016
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Jing S, May 2016
It was a very smooth and pleasant trip. We booked the group tour, and it turned out to be only us 2. The guide Orkan is very nice and speaks good English, and the vehicle is new and comfortable. The tour to the carpet school was also interesting, though I found the price there is a bit high.
Review by: Daniel N, April 2016
Wonderful tour. A must if in Turkey. If you are coming from Istanbul, book your own air and sign up for the tour from Izmir, it will save you a lot of money.
Review by: Robin D, March 2016
Visiting Ephesus was breath taking , the time there was perfect and the guide was very knowledgable . St. Mary's house was located in such peaceful surroundings . Seeing St. John's Basilica and his tomb was a perfect way to end the day. This is where he wrote his gospel . There is also a castle in the background to view from afar . The Turkish lunch we had was delicious , and I also enjoyed watching the ladies making the rugs . The beautiful rug viewing ,while sipping on apple tea was delightful as well. I really enjoyed the whole day !
Review by: Christopher O, January 2016
The tour and the guide was amazing. Lunch was one of the best meals I had the entire 10 days I was in Turkey. We also got to see carpet making which was really cool. I only put 4 stars because it's a bit expensive.
Review by: Hamid K, November 2015
Our tour guide was extremely knowledgable and had a great sense of humor
Review by: Kristin V, November 2015
My guide was lovely and knowledgeable, and the entire tour was well-planned, educational, and at a pace and with the flexibility that was much appreciated by our small group of 4. I would definitely recommend this tour to friends --from Kristin, Washington, D.C., USA, visited August 2015.
Review by: Paul H, November 2015
Pick up was prompt, everyone was very polite. Tour guide was thorough and made sure we each covered the things we wanted and offered many options of other places to see and allowed the time we needed to do what we wanted. Lunch was fantastic and the trip was worth every penny.
Review by: BENIAMINO ANTON S, September 2015
very professional
Review by: ATHANASIOS S, September 2015
SUPER WOW!!! THE GUIDE DO NOT REMEMBER HER NAME-ASK THE TRAVEL AGENCY WAS GREAT! EPHESUS IS GREAT TOO!
Review by: Marius M, September 2015
I was surprised that we were only four persons taking the tour, so it was like a small private tour. The guide, Ms. Güler Aslan, was very knowledgeable and gave us very interesting information. The site itself is fabulous. Very well preserved and carefully maintained, it is like an open window towards the ancient past. A past that was almost brought back to life by the vivid explanations of our guide. The only nuisance was the large number of tourists visiting the site, but this is understandable considering its fame and splendour.
Review by: graham h, August 2015
what a truly magnificent place ephesus was - and they've only excavated 20 of the place
Review by: Raphael C, August 2015
Enjoyed the tour and associated account of the relevant history. Well worth it. The lunch meal provided was also very tasty and substantial.
Review by: regin l, June 2015
Tour was great mostly because our guide, Guler, is very knowledgeable. She took us to a non-touristic restaurant (usually a bad buffet) which was awesome. We finished a bit early with the tour so she took us to a leather store fashion show and it was hilarious! Way to end a fantastic trip!
Review by: Vesa A, June 2015
Ephesus is one of the best ancient towns to visit. There are lot to see - nice theatres and other building ruins and of course nice views over valley between hills. Tour-guide of Neon - Cigdem Göktas - led our tour in very nice way. With nice presentations of sites and friendly manner, she made whole tour group to feel good and welcome. Very good work! Guide also helped me to continue my travel forward to Kusadasi. Five stars for tour! This is a site that must be visited!
Review by: Susan S, June 2015
Superb tour guide, brand new bus, small group, even the carpet shop spiel wasn't annoying - we all ended up buying carpets!
Review by: Kimberly K, June 2015
Our tour guide was Phylis and she was wonderful! She was very helpful with arranging transportation for our early departure and she was filled with facts about everything from education to politics to urban legends. The tour was great and I would book with the company as well as with the tour guide again.
Review by: Agostina C, June 2015
Amazing tour!!! Our tour guide made the excursion really interesting and food was great.
Review by: Sergej K, May 2015
Excellent and very informative tour
Review by: Jennifer G, April 2015
Loved it!!! Well worth the money, professional and entertaining guide, lots to see and delicious lunch. Pack for any weather as I was freezing in the morning and then warm in the afternoon. Loved Ephesus!!
Review by: Richard V, April 2015
Our guide was really well informed. Picked us up on time and really delivered!!!
Review by: Nyssa A, April 2015
It was fun and like a private tpur because it was only the two of us! We visited Mother Mary final resting place, Ephesus (we were lucky it was still in the morning, not much people!), learned about the carpet, had a nice lunch in the garden and the st John church. Our guide was also very nice
Review by: Michael C, April 2015
We had a great time. Our tour guide was Gokce Sky Tascilar was knowledgeable and we had a great time..
Review by: Matt O, April 2015
The tour itself was fantastic. It ended up being a private tour so we had a guide and driver to ourselves. The guide was very knowledgeable and maintained a good balance of spending time informing us while also allowing adequate alone time. The negative was the mandatory visit to the carpet cooperative not mentioned in the tour description with hard sales pitch. That left a bit of a sour taste in our mouth after an otherwise amazing experience.
Review by: Alberto S, March 2015
A very nice tour during a very cold day! Still Gokce (the guide) manage to make it a very enjoyable experience the visit to Virgin Mary house and Ephesus.
Review by: Maureen C, March 2015
The guide was wonderful, very knowledgeable and friendly. It was a small group as it was off season. Well worth the money!
Review by: Jessica F, March 2015
Overall, the tour was very professionally managed.
Review by: Ignacio P, February 2015
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Ignacio P, February 2015
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Chris H, February 2015
I loved my tour guide. Really good day.
Review by: Don T, January 2015
We waited at the airport for 1 1/2 hours for some of the folks going on the tour to show up.
Review by: Anil H, December 2014
As expected. Food was good and guide was very knowledgeable.
Review by: JANE G, December 2014
Amazing! Incredible trip with an extremely knowledgeable guide being Goulet. There were just 2 of us on the trip and it still went ahead which we were delighted about. Mother Mary's home is extremely worthwhile. We learnt so much - thank you Goulet! Thank you to our driver to who was very friendly albeit he didn't speak much English. Prompt, efficient and friendly. Well worth it and highly recommended. Jane Melbourne Australia
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