Greek Isles

[ciaobella]

Just wondering if anyone can give me information about Ephesus. We are on the Westerdam this summer and can do a Virtuoso tour in the morning which has some great ruins I would love to visit. Is there time to do a second tour in the afternoon to also get to see the Virgin Mary's house? I don't know if there is a ship tour in the afternoon and am thinking about hiring a private guide - expensive but I may never get back to this part of the world. I just need to know if the time frame is doable for two tours. I think we're in port until 8:00pm that day.

 

Thank you for sharing your expertise!

 

Ciao!

[Grumpy1]

Private tours are not as expensive in Turkey as they are in most European countries. If you have a group of 4, you can line up an all day tour that will include Ephesus and The House of The Virgin Mary and other site of interest for about the price of a HAL half day tour. We used Sammy's Travel and had a very good tour.

[hammybee]

I see that the Westerdam is in port about 13 hours on some of its intineraries, this summer. The Shore Excursions are listed on the HAL web site under the name of the port, Kusadasi. I saw at least two tours that include both the ruins and what is believed by some Muslims and Christians, to be the Virgin Mary house. The tours range from half day to almost 8 hours, providing you with additional time to enjoy some traditional apple tea in town as well as to shop, should you care to.

 

I hope this helps you complete your plans.

[chasetf]

Just wondering if anyone can give me information about Ephesus. We are on the Westerdam this summer and can do a Virtuoso tour in the morning which has some great ruins I would love to visit. Is there time to do a second tour in the afternoon to also get to see the Virgin Mary's house? I don't know if there is a ship tour in the afternoon and am thinking about hiring a private guide - expensive but I may never get back to this part of the world. I just need to know if the time frame is doable for two tours. I think we're in port until 8:00pm that day. Thank you for sharing your expertise! Ciao!

We were on Princess when we were in Kusadasi. We did a ship's tour that include Ephesus and Virgin Mary house. They are close enough to see on one tour, but too far out to return from Ephesus and go out to the Virgin Mary's House in the afternoon. If you want to see both, book on tour (ship or private) that does them together.

 

Have a great time..... we enjoyed both on our trip. :)

[tooalto]

We used Haluk from Ekol Travel. One of the best tours we took last Spetemeber. Ephesus, Vigrin Mary's house, rug factory, Tomb of St. John. All wonderful Town of Kusadasi is just a tourist trap. We just went back tot he ship. Be on the deck when you sail away. The town band played for us as e sailed away, until we could no longer hear them So special!

[badgolflady]

Definately go to Ephesus, Mary's house and John's tomb in one tour. Mary's house was difficult to get to and not that inspiring to me. On the other hand I could have spent days exploring Ephesus (next to Santorinni the highlight of our cruise) and really enjoyed John's tomb (perplexed at why it now just ruins). Beware that back in port you will be overwhelmed by sellers attempting to lure you into their shops.

 

I'm not big on purchasing tours, but I am glad I purchased the all day tour. It is essential you have someone lead you through Ephesus that knows the history. For instance, without a guide, you might not know that you are walking down the same street that Cleopatra and Ceaser stroled down on their honeymoon.

[johnkel1]

I'd like to arrange a tour of Ephesus, can you provide contact information for Ekol Travel?

[Atomica]

Ephesus is a MUST SEE! It's absolutely incredible. The tour we did 7 years ago took the better part of the morning - I believe we were off the ship at 7:30 and back by noon, and man was it ever hot by the time we got back. This was in late March too - I believe it was almost 30 degrees Celsius by the time we returned to the ship. If the heat gets to you, certainly look into an early morning/late evening tour.

[Ka Honu]

I'd like to arrange a tour of Ephesus, can you provide contact information for Ekol Travel?

 

ekoltravel.com has always worked for me.

[ldog]

We had a great private tour with Meander travel. You can find them with Google. The tour was considerably cheaper than the ship excursion and since there were only four of us we could see a lot more, actually hear what our guide was saying and travel faster.

[jhannah]

Our tour covered everything in an all-day tour. It was wonderful. I feel like badgolflady does ... Ephesus was a real highlight of our entire trip. Be prepared for the very aggressive vendors in Turkey. They'll follow you down the street!

[LMac]

Our tour covered everything in an all-day tour. It was wonderful. I feel like badgolflady does ... Ephesus was a real highlight of our entire trip. Be prepared for the very aggressive vendors in Turkey. They'll follow you down the street!

 

What sort of things are they selling? Just curious.