Private Tour For Cruisers: Mary's House (Meryemana) And Ephesus

Fatima was very knowledgeable! On time, packed in everything we would want to do and more. Loved the culture. and local fare.

The best tour! Our guide, Canan, was amazing- super knowledgeable about the region and all the sites, very friendly, and showed us everything we wanted to see! Highlight of our trip!

Fatima was an outstanding tour guide. She did a beautiful job. I would highly recommend her for future tours. She is the Best!!!! And we had great lunch and service too.

One of the Best Tours We Have Ever Taken — Fatma was an amazing! Our private tour of Kuşadası and Ephesus with Fatma was truly one of the highlights of our entire cruise — and honestly, one of the best private tours we have experienced anywhere in our travels. From the moment we met Fatma, she was warm, welcoming, friendly, and incredibly knowledgeable. Her understanding of Ephesus, Turkish history, culture, traditions, and everyday life was extraordinary. She didn't simply recite facts or dates — she brought the history and culture to life and made everything we were seeing more meaningful. Having a private guide and driver made the day incredibly comfortable and efficient. Fatma knew exactly how to structure our time, helping us stay ahead of the largest crowds and making sure we experienced the important sights without feeling rushed. Her experience really showed throughout the entire day. One of the unexpected highlights was our wonderful local lunch. We had the opportunity to sample a variety of traditional dishes and experience another side of Turkish culture. It was delicious, authentic, and one of those experiences that made the day feel much more personal than a typical cruise excursion. On our way back toward the port, we also visited a local leather factory, which my wife especially enjoyed. It was a fun addition to the day and gave us another opportunity to see some of the local craftsmanship before returning to the ship. What really separated this tour from others, however, was Fatma herself. Throughout the day, our conversations went well beyond the normal guide-and-tourist experience. We talked about Turkey, different cultures, everyday life, and Fatma shared stories about her family and her upbringing. Those conversations gave us a much more personal understanding of the country and its people and became some of our favorite memories of the day. By the end of the tour, it honestly didn't feel like we had spent the day with a professional guide. It felt like we had spent the day exploring Turkey with a close friend or family member. That personal connection is something you simply don't get on a large cruise excursion. We learned an incredible amount, laughed, enjoyed an amazing meal, saw extraordinary places, and came away with an even greater appreciation for Turkey and its people. This tour would not have been the same without Fatma. If you are visiting Kuşadası or Ephesus, especially as a cruise passenger, we cannot recommend this private tour highly enough — and if you can request Fatma as your guide, absolutely do it. A+ experience, exceptional guide, and an unforgettable day. This was the highlight of our cruise. Five stars without hesitation!

Fatima was an excellent tour guide. She gave us great information and was very personable. Lunch was great, and we skipped all the crowds.

This tour was super fun and informational! Starting with my luxury vehicle and friendly tour guide. I truly enjoyed the views and sights and my favorite was the Ephesus Experience. Totally worth the money! Going in House of Virgin Mary was totally Epic as well! Got a bottle of Holy water to take back home! Would defintely recommend!

We had Fatima as our tour and she was great. She drove us to many places and gave great suggestions. The day was perfect. Highly recommend.

This was a great way to see the highlights of Kudasi. Fatima was a great guide who was easy to understand and very knowledgeable. The air conditioned bus was great to tour in.

Ozzy was a wonderful tour guide. Listen n go early as he will keep you ahead of the bus crowds. I got more out of this tour than I expected. Transportation was comfortable n the Turkish lunch was delicious. The tour was well guided as Ozzy is very knowledgeable. Activity level is good for everyone.

Josh was our guide. Met us right at board as expected. Van was clean and was spacious for our group of 4. Josh was knowledgeable of Turkish history, culture, foods, etc. Van pickups were prompt at all stops. Arranged for a lunch during tour. Smart drop offs at top and pickup at bottom. Overall very pleasant experience.

Fatama was simply amazing! She had an incredible base of knowledge and was so good with our family and especially our kids. She made sure we had an authentic experience and made sure we had the best of the best everywhere we went. I can’t recommend our experience with her enough!!

Our tour guide in Ephesus was truly unforgettable thanks to our guide Nilay.She is marvelous, incredibly,knowledgeable,warm,patient and passionate about history.She brought the ancient city to life with her storytelling.

Nilay is a very kind, helpful and knowledgeable tour guide. The kids loved her too! A truly wonderful experience

Very informative and a wonderful site to visit. We had the chance to visit a Turkish carpet fabrication. While at first I felt pressured to buy one, the owners where very nice and did not push for a sale.

We had a lovely tour with Josh. He was well informed and answered all our questions. (We were in port with multiple ships and very busy) He got us through lines quickly and provided photography skills for our family pics. Our driver was also wonderful and accommodating to all of us.

We went on the excursion when cruising around the Mediterranean. Yavuz Selim was our tour guide and he was incredible! He was so knowledgeable about the history of Ephesus. He also provided us a history about the food and traditional industry in the area.

Our private tour Nilay was the great tour guide. Friendly, professional and knowledgeable and excellent English. She took us beautiful restorant. I highly recommend this tour. 100% satisfaction. She did super job for the tour. We appreciate very much! She is the best person we know during our trip.

Josh was our guide, we couldn't have asked for a better one! He told us if we got off the ship as early as we could, we would avoid crowds at Ephesus. Was he right! We were able to get pictures, with either no one, or just a person or two in them! These ruins are definitely the most complete, and in the best shape of any we saw on our entire 2 week trip. He pointed out Garfield who is the famous cat there. He was very chill to have his picture made with us and to let us pet him. He took us to a wonderful school that was teaching women to make top quality Turkish rugs. Its called Turkmen Carpet Weaving Center. They showed us the entire process! So impressive. Their rugs have lambs wool, silk or a combination of both. I loved seeing the process of getting silk from the cocoons. Did you know a single one has 3/4 of a mile of silk thread in it? We found the perfect rug for us there. The best part is part of the price keeps the school going as well as pays the maker. It felt good to help these talented women with their careers. The restaurant there had fantastic food, so be sure and eat there if you stop! It was one of the best days in our entire trip! Hope you do it too!

Perfect day in Ephesus. Highly recommend this tour and our guide Ceyla knew the history and made a very pleasant day!

There is no communication between the Avitor and tour guide. When we booked this trip we were requested what and where to go, Avitor agreed with our requested; but the tour guide didn’t aware of it and went ahead with her plan. Even if the she did a good job but that was not what we wanted. Disappointed with Viator.

Ceyla is extremely knowledgeable and we found her tour to be informative and enjoyable, essentially with her archeology training and experience. I highly recommend Ceyla as a guide.

Thanks for the great experience we loved the tour Josh was an amazing guide great history and culture

The guided monologue was very good. It was over and above expectations. The Mary’s home spiel was a little too abbreviated maybe because it needed to be. The only disappointment was the hard sells at the rug making and leather goods stops. We had asked to stop and see how Turkish rugs are made. That said, it was quite obvious that our guide would get a fee if we purchased anything. Lots of good warnings about where to beware and what to watch for.

What an experience! Fatima was a gift dropped in our lap thankfully. We learned so much about Turkey, the culture, the customs and the history! She is a fabulous advocate for the tourist and is concerned always with your safety, and experience. Learning and shopping from the local artisans was a great experience. I can’t decide if visiting the final resting place of Mother Mary or seeing where St Paul spoke to the Ephesians was my favorite part. Also, the Roman houses are totally worth it if you can navigate steps. This tour was amazing because we could totally customize the entire day to meet the needs of our older family. Thank you Fatima for a beautiful and memorable.

Booked this tour so we wouldn't have to pay the inflated cruise ship prices. This tour was easy to get to, our guide Lale, was extremely knowledgeable and fun. We were able to customize our experience and move on our time line and we didn't have to worry about transportation. Highly recommend!

Our tour guide, Gulsah, was absolutely fantastic! She was super friendly, incredibly knowledgeable, and made sure every part of our trip was tailored to what we loved most. We learned so much and had an amazing time—highly recommend her!

Our tour guide was Gulsah. She was very accommodating ans well informed. Gave us lots of information and customized our trips to what we like. Would highly recommend.

Excellent tour and Josh was a brilliant guide, friendly, and very knowledgeable, would highly recommend. The driver Yildo was also very pleasant and a comfortable, clean vehicle.

Viator is good & reliable. They contacted us a day before the ship arrived & provided a thorough meeting instruction. Gulsah is a decent tour guide.

Gulsah was very helpful on our tour of the surrounding area. She provided plenty of insights about our surroundings complete with historical facts. Recommended.

Ozan Sayin was fantastic! Super knowledgeable, very friendly, a great guide who made our experience unforgettable. Wish I could spend more time with this guy!

We loved that the tour was catered to our interests and we never felt rushed or bored. Josh, our tour guide was highly knowledgeable and helpful. We learned so much and had a fabulous time!

Gulsah was our guide and she was fabulous! She was super nice, extremely informative and helpful. She gave us lots and lots of information and we really had a wonderful time mostly because of her guidance information and help. I am sure that we could not have had a better tour guide at all. We are so happy to have had her as our guide today. We highly recommend this company.and Gulsah!. You cannot go wrong when booking with them.

Wonderful day with Josh. He showed us everything we wanted to see. Very knowledgeable. He started us out early to avoid crowds as much as possible. Well worth it Nice farm to table lunch too ( extra cost). Definitely recommend if you are on a cruise.

Gulsah is a very professional and extremely knowledgeable guide. We had a fabulous day. The driver was also excellent and the car was spotless. Thoroughly recommend this tour to others.

Fatima was a wonderful guide that took us to all of the local spots. The culture and history was fascinating and we loved this stop most of all of our stops on Voyager of the Seas on Royal Caribbean. We are so glad we did a private tour with Fatima, she customized our tour for our family and we all loved everything we saw and did.

Gulsah was wonderful. So much knowledge for the places we visited. Our driver was also excellent. Overall, a great day highly recommended. Best thing we did doing our tour of Ephesus

Josh was the best tour guide, very knowledgeable and we enjoyed our time touring Ephesus, carpet making, local food and food. Our driver did a great job, and we were very comfortable.

Really good communication from the tour company and excellent guide - Alper - and driver Would highly recommend Guide made it clear that it was our tour and we could decide order of visits and what we wanted to do , if you are looking for a professional, reliable tour during your visit to Kusadasi we would recommend

Wonderful tour! Promptly picked up at the port. Short drive to the location. Oscar is a wealth of knowledge and very friendly. The ruins are spectacular and having been to Rome and Jerusalem, coming here is a necessity for Christian pilgrims to come in contact with your faith. Then we went to a lovely cultural location to learn about the Turkish rugs and jewelry, plus a great lunch!

Personalized tour full of wonderful information and hospitality. Would highly recommend. Lunch was in a perfect setting and guide and driver were on time and perfect hosts.

Fabulous tour with a great guide Valerie who was so informative and a lovely person to spend the day with. Our party of 4 included 3 ladies in their 80s, and Valerie was very sensitive to our needs in terms of walking, shade, stops to sit/ rest, avoiding crowds where possible & getting us back to the ship in really good time. Our driver was so professional, and never kept us waiting for him. The communication beforehand from the tour company was great, very clear & we knew what to expect from the day. Early start, our ship docked at 7am, our guide was waiting for us, so we were in the car & on the road by 7:30am. We started with the Virgin Mary’s house & were in & out before the crowds, which made the experience very special. Then to the Ephesus site, which was amazing, we started at the top so walked downhill. We had asked for a lunch stop to be included during the day, so we went to a local carpet-weaving cooperative, supported by Turkish Departments of Education & Tourism, had a lovely lunch, great fresh local food, followed by a tour of the carpet-making process. Our last stop was the Temple of Artemis, then back to the ship by 2pm. All in all, a really great day, we’d highly recommend this company, guide & driver.

What a day! Oscar was incredible. He emerged us in the Turkish culture. My eyes were opened to the beauty. The sites and history were amazing.

Gulsah ( Rose) delivers Exceptional Service during our tour. She was way on time waiting for us as we disembarked our cruise ship. She was organized, friendly, nice, answered all our questions. If not, she will look it online immediately to get the answer. She asked us first where we would like to go. And she will also make some suggestions. She makes our itinerary so efficient, skipped crowds from other tours. She tours us around the country places that we appreciate much to see around outside Kusadasi. We felt very comfortable and safe. Very good English language for communication. Our driver was very nice and drove us well and safe speed, respectful as well. We got back in our cruise ship way on time! We truly enjoyed and appreciated both of them. Will definitely recommend to use/ book with their tour services!

Our guide Gullah is excellent, very knowledgeable, and made our tour experience exceptional, very informative, and quite enjoyable. Our driver is very friendly, pleasant, and made the drive to our destinations safe and relaxing. I will be happy to take this tour and excursion again with the same guide and driver anytime. This experience is five stars and recommended highly.

Communication was very prompt and pleasant. We were unable to take the tour ourselves because a health issue came up, but family members who did go said it was good.

Fatimah is well informed and knowledgeable about the history and surrounding areas of Ephesus. I would recommend her to anyone who needs a good guide.

Ismail (Smile) was excellent! I had some mobility issues and he was very accommodating. He was able to personalize the tour to our needs. He is very knowledgeable.

Gulsah was very welcoming and friendly. All the spots through Ephesus was very interesting were she gave great info on each site.