Ephesus or Ekol Tours

[vacationhappy]

Hi -

 

I am sorry if this has been answered elsewhere however the search function seems to be down more than it is up. Has anyone used Epesus or Ekol Tours in Istanbul and Kusadasi? Any thoughts on either one?

[Bruin Steve]

Hi -

 

I am sorry if this has been answered elsewhere however the search function seems to be down more than it is up. Has anyone used Epesus or Ekol Tours in Istanbul and Kusadasi? Any thoughts on either one?

 

We used Ekol for tours in both Istanbul and in Kusadasi and were very pleased...

 

In Istanbul, we used them for a full day tour to the major sites--Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, Hippodrome, etc. Our guide was excellent. We also used them to arrange our dinner/show at the Orient House and a half-day boat tour of the straits--both of which were actually obtainable on our own, but their added value on those was the logistics of getting us to and from the Conrad...

 

In Kusadasi, we used them for a full day tour of Miletus, Didyma and Ephesus--Excellent tour...and we got to see a whole lot more than most people, visiting all three very interesting sites in an organized and efficient manner with an excellent and knowledgable guide...

 

Make sure to tell them NOT to include a visit to the rug merchants...

[CintiPam]

We used Ekol Tours for our day in Ephesus in early September. (In Istanbul, we relied on the excellent Rick Steves' Istanbul guidebook for all of our touring during our four days there pre-cruise.) Ekol was very prompt in responding to my emails and willing to tailor a tour to my requirements (heavy history and no shopping). Our guide Ali was fantastic; and covered all that we had requested at the pace we wished. Far from pushing any restaurants, we went to a place that I had read about in Selcuk on tripadvisor.com, and he had not even heard of, for a quick bite and rest on our six-hour tour. Be sure to visit the Terrace Houses at Ephesus; groups of more than ten are not permitted there, and they are wonderful.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[chipmaster]

Hi -

 

I am sorry if this has been answered elsewhere however the search function seems to be down more than it is up. Has anyone used Epesus or Ekol Tours in Istanbul and Kusadasi? Any thoughts on either one?

 

We used EKOL for both ports in Turkey and were impressed in the email communication, price. They were at the port at the arranged time and flexible in adjusting to our requests. The more specific expience could be variable based on the guide you get.

 

In Kusadasi our guide Ali was great!!! None of the negative others mentioned about taking us to unrequested shops. He did ask if we were interested in shopping at the end and then took us to what we wanted to see.

 

In Istanbul our guide, Sophia, was bottom half of the guides we had on this trip. Bottom half wasn't bad, but just in comparison to the other ones not as great. She was good and willing to adjusting things, was complete in her tour and details. But her personality just didn't mesh with our group. She was a very serious and stern type guide, it was her way or the highway on some things, yet at the same time she showed a concern for my father that other guides never did and took us to a wonderfuly resturant that was one of our best "local" guide recommended meals during our whole trip!

 

Would I recommend EKOL to a friend, Yes. Would I recommend Ali YES. As to Sophia it would depend on if you want a firm tour guide then yes.

 

As to is EKOL an honest and dependible company, YES.

 

Happy planning

[juliejoe]

We have had excellent experiences in both Istanbul and Ephesus with Nejat Incedogan as our guide. I have never seen any negative comments about Nejat here on CC and have seen many positives posted by others. He is a popular guide in Turkey. You can e-mail me for his contact information. We're leaving in a week for a Holy Land cruise and will be touring with him from Kusadasi.

juliejoe@swbell.net

[jg2256]

I used Ekol in late August and Ali also was our guide. He was fantastic and unlike others he did not push carpet sales on us. We asked to go to a ceramics place and he took us there but he did not push it on us. We also did the the ruins/Terrace house (a must), Virgin Mary and Temple of Atermis (so - so). Although I told Ekol it was OK for us to go with a small group it was just my wife and I. When we walked off the ship the masses were fighting to get on the buses andAli was waiting for us with a sign and escorted us to our own new Mercedes van with our name on it. Small touch but we paid less than the folks who took the ship's tour.

[ncollins516]

Just got back from a stop in Izmir and we used Ekol tours to Ephesus, terrance house, house of the virgin mary, etc. Our guide was Emre Ates. It was a fanastic trip. Emre was unbelievable. Very energetic, informative and quick to throw in a little humor. It was nice to be able to manuever around the large groups from the boat, find a little private area and go through the details of what we were looking at.

 

We did go to a carpet vendor, but we wanted to. They were not pushy and Emre stayed with us most of time to ensure that nothing went wrong.

 

It was wonderful to get off the cruise, have someone there waiting with a sign with our name and have a private mercedes van with our name in the window. They were very easy to deal with over e-mail, we prepaid with visa CC, so no cash needed to be exchanged in Turkey.

 

Emre also does freelance work outside of Ekol if you would like his contact information, just drop me a note at: ncollins516@yahoo.com.

[ncollins516]

I also forgot to mention. We used our trusty Rick Steves book for Istanbul. Worked like a charm. We took the train from the ship to the main sites, very easy and very clean.