Home > Kusadasi > Kusadasi Shore Excursion: Private Tour to Ephesus including Basilica of St John and Temple of Artemi
USD $90.00
Kusadasi Shore Excursion: Private Tour to Ephesus including Basilica of St John and Temple of Artemi
Kusadasi, Turkey
Explore the spectacular ancient city of Ephesus on a private shore excursion from the Kusadasi port. Learn about the rich history of this ancient city and visit the House of Virgin Mary, the Basilica of St John and the Temple or Artemis (also known as Temple of Diana). At the Ephesus Museum, see excavations from Ephesus, as well as frescoes, mosaics and the two famous statues of the Artemis of Ephesus. A private guided tour ensures you make the most of your brief time in port.
When you arrive in the port of Kusadasi, your private guide will be waiting to lead you to your own luxury vehicle, in which you can relax as your private shore excursion to Ephesus begins. Enter the magnificent city through the Magnesia Gate, and then stretch your legs during a walk with your guide into the ruins of this former Roman capital. The route will take you past the Odeon, the Celsus Library, the Temple of Hadrian, the Fountain of Trajan and the Great Theater. Your guide will tell you about the architectural importance of these sites, as well as historical Roman events that took place there.
You will then visit the House of the Virgin Mary, where Mary spent the last days of her life. The house was discovered in the 19th century after the repeated visions of a Catholic nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich, were published in a book. When the ruins of the house were discovered, a small shrine dedicated to St Mary was found there.
Next, see the graceful columns and mosaics that remain of the Basilica of St John, built by the Emperor Justinian over the tomb of St John the Apostle. Enjoy the panoramic views of the rural Selcuk countryside and the ruins of the Temple of Artemis. This temple, also known as the Temple of Diana (the Roman goddess equivalent), was first built during the Archaic period and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World .
Visit the Ephesus Museum, located near the entrance to the Basilica of St John, which displays excavations from the ancient city of Ephesus as well as frescoes and mosaics.
Worry-free Shore Excursion: We will ensure your timely return to the Kusadasi port for this activity. In the rare event your ship has departed, we will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call. If your ship is delayed and you are unable to attend this activity, your money will be refunded. See our terms and conditions for full details.
Not crazy about the stop to the rug store...felt very pressured to purchase. Other than that, good tour.
Review by: PAM, December 2016
Alex was absolutely amazing! We were treated like royalty and enjoyed every minute. He was extremely knowledgeable. More than we expected! We saw Ephesus, had a fantastic lunch, toured rug making facility and still had time for shopping! It was great! Highly recommend.
Review by: HAROLD S, September 2016
Emore,our guide, was wonderful. He was very well informed and did his best to accommodate us
Review by: sbclark@ameritech.net, June 2016
Alex was a great tour guide. Even though the house of the Virgin Mary was crowded, it was beautiful to see. We especially enjoyed the Ancient City of Ephesus. The ruins are impressive and Alex told us about their advancements in engineering for such an old city. Lunch at a small Turkish restaurant was delicious and served family style. It was inexpensive but very good. Our final stop was to see how Turkish rugs are made. We enjoyed the demonstration and even purchased a Turkish rug!
Review by: BRADLEY D, October 2015
Tour guide seemed to be just doing his job, Not all that into the tour. He did answer all questions and made time to stop at a carpet making location. This was a great experience but was also an attempt to get us to buy a rather expensive hand made carpet.
Review by: JOAN S, October 2015
Absolutely fantastic! Our guide was exceptional and I would recommend this tour to my friends and I NEVER say that :- I wouldn't mind having skipped the carpet tour at the end. While very interesting, the heavy sales pitch wasn't. Again - loved the guide!
Review by: William B, September 2015
Excellent tour with knowledgeable guide to Ephesus, Basilica of St. John and Temple of the Virgin Mary and history of the region. Guide had excellent recommendations on restaurants and shops.
Review by: Vito C, September 2015
Alex was knowledgeable and had a history degree for this area. He took us to our requested places. He was very reserved.
Review by: KsSunshine, September 2015
Our tour was very good and our tour guide was very knowledgeable. This was in June, so it was very hot. While hats helped, I had an umbrella which provided more protection from the sun. The only down side was the last stop in which we were shown how Turkish rugs were made with ample pressure to purchase a rug. This was not on the published itinerary. If this happens, you have to be persistent in your refusal.
Review by: Susan S, August 2015
Our family loved the personal tour. Our guide, Alex, was well informed, very considerate and his English was flawless. We were impressed by Viator and the tours they provided. Would definitely use their services again.
Review by: Jane S, June 2015
Absolutely great tour with our guide Emri. He met us at the port as scheduled. Driver was friendly, bus was clean, AC worked great. We circumvented the crowds by taking the tour backwards from the cruise people. Emri new his stuff. Wonderful lunch at Agora. Highly recommend.
Review by: pawel h, October 2014
It was one great experience,and our guide EMRE was awesome.The driver VEYSI too.The tour was so amazing ,we felt like we were getting a special treatment.We would recommend it to everyone.
Review by: jbuhlman, October 2014
Our guide was great. I wish we would have had more time in this port. The tour was the best.
Review by: Alan A, October 2014
This tour was excellent and well worth the time and money. Our tour guide, Emre, was knowledgeable and a pleasure to be with. It was very busy the day we went and it was quite convenient that Emre was able to get all our entrance passes in the tour guide lines. He also brought us to a wonderful out doors resaurant for lunch.
Review by: Weldon S, September 2014
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable; however, the experience was completely ruined when he took us to the place where they made rugs. We were escorted into a room and asked to sit on a bench in the back. We were each given a small plate of "special freshly baked cheese rolls" that he had "arranged" for them to give us, fruit, and a "special" beverage. Then, three men rolled out countless rugs at our feet, and the hard sell began. We had not asked to see them, and we felt extremely pressured by their words and their actions to buy a very expensive rug. Our traveling companion asked if he could wait until after he got home to properly measure, then submit his order. They said he could not--that he had to buy the rug then and there. After about 45 minutes, we got up to leave, and our guide seemed a bit annoyed with us. He then took us to a shop where they sold some of their silk scarves. My friend and I were ushered upstairs to a room where they sat us down and showed us dozens of scarves, one by one. The showed us some that were labeled "100% silk", but told us that this was not true, and only the ones that they showed us were 100% silk. After about 30 minutes, I got up to leave, and they were not pleased. We feel as though we were pressured into doing something that we had not asked for, and we did not appreciate the "hard sell" tactics. We were paying for a sightseeing tour, and a portion of our time was completely wasted. It was an extremely uncomfortable experience, and we did not feel that we were in a position to argue with the tour guide. Because of this, I would not recommend this tour or this port.
Review by: Barbara Edwards E, September 2014
Our guide Emre was superb, as was the driver. Emre was very knowledgeable about not just Ephesus but the area generally. He listened to us and asked us questions and was able to answer all of our questions too. We were able to meet earlier as we were first off the ship and this meant that we got to our first stop, Mary's house, before the main crowds._br/_
This is our second experience of private tours as opposed to tours from the ship- well worth the cost._br/_
Thank you Emre for a wonderful experience.
Review by: Sylvia L, August 2014
Emre was our guide. He was a wonderful guide and I would recommend you ask for Emre if you book this tour. On time, courteous and very informative. He also gave us time to ourselves at various the various sites which was very good as sometimes you just need time to explore the site yourself a bit more without the ongoing lecture. But his knowledge of Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary was very useful. We were a family of 4 (two teenagers 16 and 13) and we booked this as a shore excursion as we were only in Kusadasi for the day. Ephesus is well worth the trip to make. The ruins are spectacular especially the library. On par with the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill. Much better (in my humble opinion) than Athen's Acropolis. We felt obliged to stop off at either a carpet making or leather factory. We chose the leather factory and was given a 'private' fashion show which was pretty entertaining (when in Turkey ....). Aside from that the rest of the trip was top notch and I would not hesitate to recommend it.
Review by: BRIAN R, July 2014
Our guide Emre was phenomenal. We had our two small children with us and he took his time and was extremely patient with them. His knowledge of the history of the area was excellent. I had been to Ephesus before on other tours, but Emre was leaps and bounds better than pervious guides.
Review by: allan s, July 2014
This private tour to Kusadasi and Ephesus was one of the highlights of our Mediterrean Cruise_br/_
our guide Emery was excellent his knowledge and explanation was both interesting and entertaining so much history! .. I thoroughly recommend Emery and Viator. There was extra time for shopping and he took us to a fashion leather factory and warehouse, to our suprise the sales manager organised a fashion show just for the two of us. it was amazing! _br/_
10 out of 10 for this private tour. ( AS and BS Sydney Australia June 2014_br/_
... AS and BS Sydney Australia June 2014
Review by: BETH F, January 2014
Wonderful tour of Ephesus and surrounding areas. Very informative and interesting.
Review by: Susan F, January 2014
Probably the best excursion we have ever been on and most certainly the best value for money. Melika, our guide was a delight. As a mother and daughter on a private tour it was pleasing to have such a knowledgable, well qualified and perfectly spoken female guide. Our cruise ship arrived late but we were immediately whisked away in comfort to St John's basilica, the Mosque, Temple of Mary and carpet factory before Ephesus. The local knowledge meant that we missed the tour buses, did not queue and the private viewing at the carpet factory was most informative and not at all pushy. My daughter (14) is an ancient history buff and had done her research. Melika quickly picked up on this and tailored the tour accordingly with much more in depth information than we would have had on a bus tour. We also visited the Terrace Houses which costs a little extra (about £5GB). This is not to be missed as it has some of the best preserved buildings I have ever seen. Better than Pompeii and Herculaneum. Ephesus is everything I had read about and more but you can get the history for yourselves! It involves quite a few steps and some perspex floors but I don't have a head for heights and it did not bother me. Despite all the cruise ships arriving late due to bad weather this company did not cut our tour short. In fact it was longer than stated but we were returned to the ship in good time. Just for the record, our transport was luxurious and spotless with plenty of bottled water and an excellent safe driver. The guides are fully qualified - Melika had studied for at least 2 years- had a fully accredited pass and had shadowed other qualified guides for a number of months before being allowed a licence. The cost to us of the private tour was LESS than the cost of the bus tour offered by cruise line. We will return and will do a similar tour. Worth every penny. Our first booked through Viator. Don't think it will be our last. Well done.
Review by: Claire P, January 2014
We loved our tour of Ephesus and the Virgin Mary's House. Our tour guide, Emre, was fantastic. He had so much knowledge of the places we toured and of the area that made it so enjoyable for all of us. The guide makes the tour. Would definitely book through Viator again.
Review by: JulieAPhillips, January 2014
Wonderful tour of Ephesus and surrounding areas. Very informative and interesting.
Review by: Kim S, August 2013
Our tour was outstanding! Our guide was on time when we arrived in port and very informative. His English was excellent and his knowledge of the area was great.
Review by: Donna D, July 2013
This was the best tour we have ever taken. Inan was a wonderful guide-courteous, knowledgeable and very attentive to each person's needs. He planned our itinerary to avoid the crowds and to accommodate our toddler's schedule. His recommendations were excellent and I highly recommend both this excursion and Inan.
Review by: freemanscotty, June 2013
Great value, great driver, great tour guide. I would do away with the end of tour high pressure, Turkish Rug sales portion. The factory tour was incredible but the Turkish are masters of high pressure sales.
Review by: Beth and Vince, November 2012
This was a great tour. I would highly recommend anyone to take it. Our tour guide was wonderful, with a great personality. There was so much to see and hear, but he was able to manage this with great experience. Not too much information, but enough for you to understand and experience the history.
Review by: James D, September 2012
Some very important Greek and Roman ruins here, and touring with a smaller group is much better.
Review by: Robyn B, September 2012
We were very fortunate to be the only 2 people on this tour. We had a spotless, air conditioned car and a very polite driver; our guide, Haluk, spoke excellent English, and was extremely knowledgeable. Without hesitation, I can recommend this tour.
Review by: David H, September 2012
Absolutely incredible! Excellent guide and driver!!
Review by: Stephen M, August 2012
The best tour of our 2 week family vacation. There was so much to see and our guide was extremely knowledgeable. He not only pointed out the sights, but gave us the background, the political history and cultural reference to fully understand both the ancient and current life in Ephesus.
Review by: vsyancey, July 2012
The guide met our cruise ship on time. He was courteous and informative. A good tour.
RSS Feed