This enclosure for archaeological remains at Ephesus elegantly reconciles historic conservation with accessibility for visitors. The site of a succession of great ancient civilizations, Ephesus, on the south-west coast of modern Turkey, embodied a peculiarly fertile synthesis of architecture and culture. In 356BC the Greeks built the Artemesium (a colossal Ionic temple dedicated to Artemis the fertility goddess) which was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. During the 2nd century BC, Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the eastern Roman Empire, famous for its Artemision, the Library of Celsus and its medical school..
The Temple of Artemis is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. It has been built in the areas of Ephesus on a flat area which has over the centuries turned into a swamp. If you visit Ephesus today, you can only see the ruins of the foundations of this marvelous construction of the Hellenistic Age, entirely made of marble and full of sculptured columns' capitals and shafts. The most beautiful remaining of this temple are today exhibited in the London British Museum. The oldest remaining found date back till the 6th century BC. It was surrounded by 36 huge columns, later enlarged upon the orders of the Lydia King, Kreisos, during the 6th century BC. Most of the exhibits in the London British Museum belong to this period.
At this charming and well-organised museum, there are not only findings from the ongoing excavations at Ephesus archeological site, but also the artifacts from the Cukurici Mound, the basilica of St John, and the Temple of Artemis. At one of the sections, one can see a wide collection of coins dating back to when money was first used in history.
We thoroughly enjoyed our private Ephesus tour of the ancient city. Melahat was a wonderful guide. She was very personable and we were impressed by her depth of knowledge of Greek/Roman history and mythology. The visit to the carpet collective was also very interesting and the authentic lunch was delicious! We have no complaints and we highly recommend this tour.
Our guide provided extensive historical insight into every area we visited while thoughtfully accounting for peak crowd times, allowing us to experience Turkey’s incredible sights with minimal crowds.
Melike was our guide. She was amazing! She was very knowledgeable about the ruins , she communicated well, she was entertaining. She took wonderful care that our experience was enjoyable. Some our group wanted to see Mary’s House and others not. Mel had the ones who were going tour a pottery place that was so enjoyable . We visited carpet weaving place that was fantastic. We had a lunch at a local restaurant. Every whey we went we treated so well Turkey was an unexpected treat. One of the favourite places on our holiday snd it was because of our guide Mel Five Stars for her!
This was a wonderful tour and full of history and Nur Akinci was the best guide ever! She was extremely knowledgeable and made our day!!! Thank you!!
This was our second tour with Tas as our guide. It was a wonderful day, just like the first. Tas is very knowledgeable, friendly, accommodating, and easy to understand. Could not ask for better. This was our second visit to Ephesus. We learned much more this time with Tas. I do need to say that the one thing that we would skip, if we had it to do over, is the new “Ephesus Experience”. It is an audio visual show that left me underwhelmed. I got much more out of having Tas tell me about what we were seeing.
This was one of the best day excursions we have had in a long time. Mr. Mehmet Mea, our guide, provide us with excellent information throughout our tour. We just wish that all our excursions are as professional and informative as this one was. Again, we can not be more thankful to Mr. Mehmet Mea from OTTI travels for his professionalism and dedication to provide us with exceptional expertise.
Wonderful and interesting, Cann is a great guy!
Everything was as promised. On time pickup with a luxury vehicle and a very friendly, knowleable and well spoken tour guide Nadi. our driver was always there when needed and happy to assist. We were very impressed with Ephesus and our tour in general. Included local lunch was great. Would highly recommend this tour to visitor of Kusadasi.
Selin cizmeci was our guide and we would not have asked for better. I highly recommend doing as we did, a private tour with one guide and one driver. No need to keep up with a group and your private guide does exactly what you want and when. Selin we loved as she was thorough, friendly, considerate and our day was perfect! Make sure to ask for her by name!
It was a great private tour. The guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and the whole experience was great. With the included tickets and huge lunch, it was an excellent value as well.
Excellence experience! Selina was very knowledgeable and super helpful! She expanded our knowledge and appreciation of Bodrum and Turkey
Good trip and friendly tour guide. Very flexible regarding the language. Ephesus is much more interesting with a good tour guide
This was a tour as described and expected. Our tour guide Zeynep T. She was a fantastic guide. She kept us informed and informed us about the area during our drive to the site as well as to the site. She showed us the highlights and the best photo spots at each of the attractions. In addition to being an excellent tour guide, she was also a pretty good at taking snapshots of us at the different locations. As for the tour of the attractions, it was as expected. The tour through the Turkish rug factory was informative. There was a sales pitch to purchase the rugs, but they did accept the answer that we were not interested The included lunch were impressive, including salad, appetizers, grilled chickens/ beefballs, grilled vegetables. It was delicious.
Excellent tour. Our guide was knowledgeable, didn't rush us, answered questions and really loved her job.
Devin was a great guide. He has tons of information and his English is perfect. He adapted to our faster walking pace and desire for information. Ephesus is great and we really enjoyed our day. Thus tour has a dedicated driver and a separate guide which was great. We were dropped off and picked up very efficiently. This is a great tour. Highly recommend.
Selin was so amazing and well-educated! She made our trip feel so magical. She gave us so much information in an easily digestible way and she made it fun! I feel like I made a friend today :)
Our guide Can was an informative and personable guide. He tailored the day based on what we wanted to see. We enjoyed our time with him very much!! We learned a lot about Turkish history, culture, food and drink. We were amazed by the sites and appreciated Can’s commentary about his beautiful country and its origins.
We had a fantastic tour in Kusadasi with Yas! He was incredibly knowledgeable about the history of Ephesus and brought the ancient city to life with his fascinating explanations. The tour was at a good, lively pace, and we learnt so much along the way about the culture, history and wildlife. He gave the insider knowledge and where to take short cuts and best photos! The visit to the weaving factory with the silk worms was particularly interesting, with some absolutely stunning carpets to admire. We also enjoyed a delicious lunch and were made to feel very welcome throughout the day without any pressure to buy things. Yas’s friendly manner helped everyone in the group get chatting and feel at ease. The whole experience was informative, enjoyable and fascinating from start to finish. A wonderful day out with a great team. We would highly recommend Yas to anyone visiting Kusadasi!
Yas is the best guide for this excursion!! Fun and informative little trip. Saw carpets and leather factory. Tasted food and Turkish coffee!
Yas was amazing!! I really liked the tour.
Nagi and Omer were great. Contacted us the day before our cruise boat came in. Nagi knows so much about Ephesus and the area. She was a great guide, totally recommend this tour. The food was tasty. Especially loved learning about how rugs are made.
Nagi was an amazing guide that took our small group through Ephesus, a rug museum and the Temple of Artemis. She was knowledgeable and a fantastic host! The rug museum was a surprising hit! We cannot recommend Nagi enough and also our fantastic driver, Omer!
Devin was a great guide. Very knowledgeable. His English is perfect and we had a great day. He adapted to our faster walking style and desire for a lot of information. This was a spectacular day. The value was also great. We had a big van and were very comfortable. Also, there is a dedicated driver so we could be dropped off close to what we wanted to see. Excellent your!
This was an experience of a lifetime! Our guide, Zeynep, was so full of information and truly enjoyed being a guide. She explained all the ruins to us and gave so much insight. You truly do need a guide to explain the history of Ephesus and the knowledge they provide is really needed to understand Ephesus. After the tour of Ephesus, we went to the museum, then had a wonderful lunch and then visiting a rug weaving. This was a fantastic excursion and we would do it again and again and again. So thankful we were able to experience this.
Pickup right on time, the weather was not the best but the company was great, lots of valuable information about the archeological sites, the history and insight!
We had a great trip, Merve was very informative and Tailored the trip to the group. We were family with teenagers. Lunch was amazing really lovely, obligatory carpet tour on the site of the lunch. Interesting to see how they're made but not wanting to spend £2.5k on one! But they were very nice and accommodating. We’d book again. Tickets to get into the attractions are separate, you pay the guide for this. Ephesus and Mary’s house are separate entries The tour bus was lovely, instructions easy. We were picked up from the cruise terminal, only 12 on the tour
Mel was an AMAZING tour guide. She was on time, friendly, knowledgeable and went out of her way to insure we had an amazing experience. Thank you.
My husband and I had an awesome day with Nagi in Ephesus. We visited Mary's house, Ephesus and temple of artemis. Nagi is the best. Lovelyturkish lunch was included as well. The place we visited where the carpets are created was worth to see. Our driver boss was wonderful. The final stop was the local market where they make Turkish deligh. We look forward to coming back and having Nagi as a tour guide again. She did a wonderful job🙏❤️
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ An Absolutely Amazing Experience with Selin – Highly Recommended! We had an incredible experience on our Private All-Inclusive Ephesus Tour with Selin! From start to finish, everything was perfectly organized, seamless, and truly unforgettable. Selin was absolutely wonderful—knowledgeable, friendly, professional, and so passionate about sharing the rich history and beauty of Ephesus. She brought the ancient city to life with fascinating stories, historical insights, and details that made every stop special. Her warm personality and genuine care made us feel comfortable and well taken care of throughout the entire tour. Everything was at a relaxed pace, allowing us to fully enjoy the experience without ever feeling rushed. The all-inclusive private tour made everything so convenient and stress-free, and Selin went above and beyond to make our day memorable. It felt less like a typical guided tour and more like exploring this incredible destination with a knowledgeable friend. If you’re visiting Ephesus, I cannot recommend Selin enough! She truly made our experience exceptional, and we would happily choose her again. If you’re looking for a knowledgeable, caring, and outstanding guide who makes your visit truly special, Selin is the person to book! ATA amazing driver Thank you, Selin, for such a wonderful and unforgettable day! You made our visit to Ephesus a highlight of our trip! ❤️
We had an absolutely wonderful and amazing day yesterday John provided us with excellent information about the country’s regions and the history was easy to understand We just loved our day
Nesli was amazing and very knowledgeable - she’s so passionate about what she does and you can tell! We also were picked up from the port where our cruise dropped us off and the car was clean and driver was great too
Excellent tour led by local guide Alper and his driver. Good communication pre-tour, we were met immediately after exiting the cruise ship. Alper was extremely knowledgeable and good company too. The Ephesus ruins are incredible and the visit to the carpet-making business was very interesting. A good Turkish lunch was also included. Highly recommended
Tour guide & driver were amazing. Melis was very knowledgable and friendly. Melis had all our entry tickets which made everything flow so smoothly. Ephesus is an amazing place to visit!!
When we arrived at the meeting point our guide Husna was waiting for us, even though we were 15 minutes early. She led us to a nice Mercedes vehicle that was comfortable and air conditioned. She spoke excellent English and was friendly and knowledgeable and lots of fun. We had a great tour of Ephesus and then the Digital Museum which was included in the price. We had an authentic Turkish lunch to finish off our trip. We had a great trip and made a real friend in Husna. Couldn’t recommend more highly.
Mehmet Mea was a great guide. We really enjoyed this tour. Mehmet Mea was very informative. Great tour good day
Mehmet MEA at OTTİ Travel and driver Eileen were fantastic! Our group of six learned so much! Mehmet was very entertaining! Thank you for a great day!
Our wonderful guide Serkay connected with me the day before our excursion then was early at the meeting place off the ship. Our fee included the transportation, admission to Ephasus and digital presentation after the walk thru, a brief visit to the site if the Temple of Artemis, lunch ( beverages extra) at the carpet weaving. The carpet weaving was amazing and we loved the silk spinning demonstration. In the end we fell in love with the carpets and can’t wait until our arrived at home!
My husband and I booked this tour with Viator honestly not knowing what to expect. Our tour guide, Cann, met us at the pier right on time and we had an amazing day with him. He was very kind and courteous and was a wealth of information. He took us to incredible places along with our tour of Ephesus and we learned so much! We would highly recommend Cann and this tour to anyone interested!
Great guide. Cann was knowledgeable and gave us free time when necessary. Memorable experience.
We booked a private trip for two people, great choice from the start. Yusef from OTTI tours met us at the arranged time and took us to meet our taxi for the day. That turned out to be a really luxurious Mercedes van we felt VIP from the start. Yusef was the best tour guide, very knowledgeable and just the nicest guy, we did the trip our way and there was absolutely no pressure to go anywhere else although we did go for lunch which wasn’t expensive and it was amazing. Our driver ( can’t remember his name and I hope he forgives me) was excellent also. Overall I would highly recommend this tour, excellent from start to finish. Debbie and Jim
Merve is a wonderful tour guide. She is very knowledgeable and take the time to explain everything to us. She made sure that we enjoy the tour. I will recommend this tour. Private transportation from and to the Port, nice lunch, able to watch a mini fashion show for turkey leather jacket (ended up buying one) and the carpet weaving show!
Anton was wonderful, knowledgeable and helpful. We loved our experiences
Mel was an excellent guide. She was very knowledgeable in all the ancient sites we visited and directed us to great Turkish food and shopping! Very kind and personable
Ali was wonderful! It may made the appointment twice a lovely experience
It was wonderful our guide really opened our eyes to the incredible culture of Turkey and history behind it absolutely such an enjoyable experience Mell our tour guide was wonderful wishing her the best.
Melike did a great job taking our family to Ephesus!! Highly recommend!!
Mel did a great job hosting us for our tour guide to Ephesus! She was very knowledgeable of the history and culture of the ancient city.
Mel was a tremendous guide, learned so much, laughed, had a great time. Will most definitely book her again next trip to Turkey!
Ally was very knowledgeable and friendly. I would recommend the van was very clean.
Mel did a wonderful job on explaining everything.
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