The House of Virgin Mary is a Catholic and Muslim shrine located in Bülbüldağı, located in the vicinity of Ephesus. This sacred place was awarded to the visit of various popes and the Patriarchate Blessing.
Discover one of the most popular trade cities of ancient Greek and Roman Empire. Ephesus is probably the most famous ancient site in Turkey. It was a busy trade center as a port city. Ephesus had a great influence on the ancient world. Also as an important religious center of early Christianity and one of the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelations. In Ephesus you will see, Celcus Library, Temple of Hadrian, the fountain of Trajan and the Theater and more.
We'll visit the Ephesus Experience Museum and step into the past with cutting-edge technology that brings the ancient city to life! Through incredible projections and interactive exhibits, you'll feel what it was really like to live in Ephesus during its prime—a perfect way to put the marble ruins you just saw into stunning historical context.
These are exclusive residences situated on the slopes opposite the Temple of Hadrian along Curetes Street. Commonly known as the “rich houses,” they were uncovered during recent excavations. The houses near Curetes Street feature colonnaded porticoes, while step streets connected directly to the house entrances. We will stop at Terrace Houses and explore the Houses of Rich Ephesians.
Open buffet lunch in a local restaurant with traditional Turkish Food & vegetarian options in Selcuk. We will drive you back to Izmir Airport at the end of the tour.
Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana. Only one or two pieces of marble remain from the temple, which is considered one of the seven wonders of the world.
Gufte was a great tour guide filled with good information. Puerto Travel customized our tour, exactly what we asked for. Our driver & lunch stop were great, as well. Thank you for a perfect day!
Gufte was awesome! She was so informative and tailored the day to maximize our visit to the area and add special exhibits.
We had an amazing experience visiting Ephesus, from the House of the Virgin Mary to the main old town and the Temple of Artemisa, and Huseyin Apaydin was the greatest guide ever!!!
I had a great trip at Ephesus! Hugo was a great guide, and he took us at the most optimal time to visit Ephesus and the birth place of Mary. I would definitely recommend :)
ECELLENT TOUR WITH HUSEYIN!!! OUSTANDING PERSONAL PERFORMANCE AS A TOURISTIC GUIDE!!! VERY WELL INFORMED IN HISTORICAL FACTS!!! DISPOSITION TO HELP AND ANSWER ALL REQUIREMENTS!!! HUSEYIN OUSTANDING WORK,THANKS A LOT!!! EMILIA AND ROBERTO.SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!!
Very good experience, Hugo was an excellent host, everything went well, pick up in time, car in excellent condition and we had a good driver, tour was complete and detailed, Hugo answered our questions in good detail.
It was a busy long day with much information and interesting sites. It was 102 degrees F (end of June) so lots of water was needed. Tour guide, Doris, provided water for us.
Our tour guide Derya was extremely knowledgeable & professional. She provided us with great context and historical facts about the places we visited. Additionally, she also planned the day as per our preference, with activities well paced & food places catering to our diet restrictions. As for the city of Ephesus & the house of Mary, it was well beyond our expectations & turned out to be the highlight of our Turkey trip. 100% recommend the tour
What a great experience from start to finish. First time booking a private tour and it really was so worth it. Private pick up at the airport and customized tour once our guide spoke with us and determined what we would like. Tour was modified as we went through the day to accomadate time and interests. Highly recommend
This is our second time to this part of Turkey. We were able to fly, got picked up and dropped off in one day to fulfill our bucket list of visiting Virgin Mary’s house. Our guide is knowledgeable, kind, accommodating. Thank you very much for a memorable day.
Our plane flight was messed up, but the tour company worked things out to send a car for us at the airport. We had a wonderful lunch and learned about rugs and were taken to other shops after our trip through the ruins. Do be aware that there is an additional charge to get into Ephesus. It is certainly worth the $30 or so, but we were not expecting it so just know that that is coming. Our tour guide was great as was our driver.
Date of experience - 27th May 2024 We met Huseyin, our guide on arrival at Izmir airport and had the day with him to see Ephesus. We had such a lovely time with Huseyin, learning about the region and its sights He took very good care of us, away from the crowds and was very friendly yet professional. Huseyin took us to a very quaint and cute local restaurant for lunch which was peaceful and had excellent local Anatolian food. Ephesus was a huge awe inspiring site definitely worth visiting. Thank you for the nice time and we wish Huseyin all the best for his future.
Derya Şimay Özkurt is an outstanding tour guide. Experienced, knowledgeable, warm and engaging, she’s a passionate storyteller. Her enthusiasm and passion for Ephesus are contagious. Our tour of Ephesus was not a cookie-cutter excursion but a personalized experience. She’s exceptionally knowledgeable but also flexible and attentive to detail, and adept at tailoring her tours to meet the interests and needs of her clients. During the tour we made some requests, and she masterfully adjusted the schedule to accommodate us, without loosing any site seeing. Derya’s ability to connect with tourists on a personal level and share her genuine appreciation for the region's unique features ensures that the tour is not only informative but also inspiring and memorable.
We did the tour where we visited the house of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus, temple of Artemis, Basilica of Saint John. Our guide Hugo was very professional, he explained to us the history and many customs and facts of the country of Turkey that left us delighted. Highly recommended!
Gufte was bar none, the kindest, most organized, professional, fun, resourceful, accommodating guide I’ve ever had. And she is lovely; intelligent, curious, open and just so so sweet. We loved spending time with her and we Wished we could take her back home with us! We felt like we hit the jackpot in finding her. Hope you come visit us, Gufte, so we can host you with the same class and joy you gave to us. We LOVE the Turkish people. You showed us the beauty of your culture. Thank you so very much, Gufte.
I recommend other tour programs. Ephesus is very impressive place. But other places were just so so.
We did 2 tours with Puerto Travel (September 2023 & December 2023). Ms Ayfer was very responsive to emails and the flights & tour was booked promptly. Our guide for both trips was Derya and she was a lovely guide. She was very informative and professional. We liked her so much on the first tour that we requested her for the second trip in December. We had a very positive experience both times using Puerto Travel.
An unforgettable journey through time and spirituality. The House of the Virgin Mary was deeply moving, Ephesus an absolute marvel. Sirince Village added a delightful touch. The guide, GUFTE🙂 was knowledgeable, passionate, and made the journey truly immersive. Flawlessly organized tour, ample time at each site, comfortable transportation, and valuable Q&A.
Gufte is knowledgeable, hospitable and a great guide. Really enjoyed her explanation and stories, Pick up was easy, on time, nice comfortable vehicle. Our driver was professional and kind. The agent was very responsive whether by email or whatsapp. Flexible in accommodating walks, especially for elderly. We will definitely use this tour and host again We highly recommend this tour for others.
We had a very good time with Gufte Kilic as our tour guide in Ephesus. Everything that she taught us about the area enriched our experience. We have both fallen in LOVE with Turkey because of her kindness and hospitality. Her fluency in English is remarkable! Her patience with us during our walk was appreciated, because we walked slowly, and she answered our many questions thoroughly and well due to her extensive knowledge of Turkey and history. We are very happy and pleased that Güfte was our tour guide. We would highly recommend her to anyone. We were well taken care of by her and are very confident that she will do the same for others.
We had a wonderful time in Ephesus. Everything went very smoothly. Although the ruins were magnificent what we cherish more is the friendship we made with Gufte and Ahmet. It was hard to leave them and move on to Pamukkale. Please use them (Puerto travel) because Gufte is a gifted scholar of Turkish history.
Will definitely use this company again! Professional, knowledgeable, very friendly, read their audience well and tailored our experience accordingly. They really enriched our tour 😀
I had the most remarkable tour with Güfte Kilic Puerto Travel Turkey. She is very well knowledgeable about the history. The hospitality was amazing. I would definitely recommend them and can’t wait to go back to visit again. 💯💯💯💯❤️❤️❤️
House of Mama Mary is very peaceful and serene. Had time to pray inside and then lighted a candle outside. Shop in the uphill is cheaper though with limited items as compared to the one downhill but the latter has a lot of stuff to choose from. Ephesus Museum is breathtaking, everywhere is instagrammable. Good thing the Tour Guide, Sergen brought me to the Church of St. John which is not included in the itinerary and it was worth the trip, too. Less worry on my part since included in the package is the transportation from and to Izmir Airport. I had a great day 😊 Thanks to my tour guide who speaks English fluently and is very knowledgeable of the place, amd also to our driver.
We visited Ephesus, Pergamon and the castle and underwater museum with Yavuz. I cannot recommend him enough. He was extremely professional and knowledgeable. His English is excellent. He was especially good at adapting to the pace of our family and keeping our teenagers engaged. He not only discussed the historical sites, but also gave us a more familiar sense of modern day Turkey. We also loved the delicious local, family-run restaurants he took us to. I highly recommend Yavuz for a top-notch guided experience.
5/5 recommend. If I could give it a higher rating, I would! Yavuz, our tour guide, went to school for tourism and you can tell it is his passion by the way he brings Ephesus back to life through stories. The images he paints are quite impressive and lively. He is incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and just a charming kind soul. He even gave us a mini Turkish language lesson as we took a small break at the amphitheater! My mother and I are both introverts and appreciated that he let the questions come naturally rather than put us on the spot. I also really appreciate that he went slow and accommodated for my mother who has trouble walking. We opted out of the other extra activities not included in the tour, and rather than have us wait at the airport (we asked to wait at airport, we didn't mind: 1 day tour IST-IZMR), he was so kind to show us his now home town of Kusadasi. Talk about the cherry on top of an already spectacular day! I recommend 1000% using both this travel agency, and Yavuz. It is safe, reputable, and they make you feel like you're a relative visiting from out of town aka family.
By far one of the best companies I have traveled with. The owner Mrs. Gufte did everything she could to get us the booking on our dates and also at affordable prices. And the Ersan was very knowledgeable and humorous. It was wonderful 2 days trip and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in traveling to Turkey.
Excellent walk, all planned in advance, Hugo guide has a lot of knowledge and a lot of patience so you have a walk with good information and good photos. Being from the area you know the best times to visit the tourist areas. They could skip taking you to the shops that are not liked by everyone, but I understand that all package tours include it as part of their services.
Excellent tour, all very well and very organized. The guide Diego excellent, very friendly and with solid knowledge. I would fully recommend the tour.
Very good tour, and Hugo the best guide!! Very attentive and very cultured!! A great experience in an amazing place with landscapes and unique history
The highlight of the visit is the guide Hugo; it is clear; and didactic making the experience unique and treasure in the memory the knowledge. Very educated and polite. He handles the language and the times very well. We'll be back.
Excellent our guide Hugo, impeccable all explanations and great the tour, we could visit everything and take some spectacular pictures! Super recommended!
The place is beautiful, an amazing city you feel like you are in bygone eras. Of the most interesting places I have visited, the beautiful landscape, the house of Mary is a Magical place. We were very happy with our guide Gufte, very professional and attentive to our questions and requests. It was also an unforgettable trip as we were on a private tour which allowed us to visit very special places where they make carpets and premium leather goods. We had a delicious meal!!! I highly recommend this unforgettable experience. Very grateful !!!!
The trip to Ephesus by plane was an excellent experience. Our guide, Hugo (Huseyin), picked us up at the airport and from the start showed great command of Spanish, explaining everything clearly and answering our queries. He provided us with a complete overview of Ephesus as well as interesting information about the Turkish economy and society. In addition, he gave us good local recommendations and we had lunch in a restaurant with delicious food. The organization was impeccable and we had enough time to enjoy each place. Super recommended!
It was a great visit thanks to the super guide who took his time to explain the important things to us in detail. Very professional and friendly.
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