Private Ephesus Tours

[gbntmom]

Ekol has made it clear in correspondence to folks this year that a shopping stop is mandatory. Unfortunately. I used them several times and I won't use them again. :mad:

 

I have found another agency that promises no shopping pressure. I will use them instead.

 

Would you mind sharing the name of the agency? I certainly do not want to have mandatory shopping stops. At least now, I know to ask any tour company that when requesting information ~ thanks to all of you!

[cruisemom42]

Would you mind sharing the name of the agency? I certainly do not want to have mandatory shopping stops. At least now, I know to ask any tour company that when requesting information ~ thanks to all of you!

 

It's an agency that works out of several Mediterranean ports and they have just expanded to include Turkey. I have taken tours with them twice (in Alexandria and in Cairo). They really took time to listen to what I wanted and matched me up with a great guide. And.....when I said no shopping, that's what I got (and that's rare in Egypt!).

 

here's the website: http://turkeyportsofcall.com/

[Petoonya]

For those who have booked a tour with a company and were promised no (thinly disguised) shopping stops, I am curious and I hope you will report back whether your request was fully honored.

 

It's one thing to promise, but I've found that once on the actual tour, the guide will sometimes try to persuade you to make a stop anyway. This can get dicey if you are sharing with others -- some will want to stop and others will not.

 

I would suggest, for those booking an upcoming tour, that the organizer take a few minutes before setting off to go over the tour itinerary with the guide and to re-emphasize the request not to include any shopping stops.

 

Hello Cruise Mom,

We had a perfect day with Mahmet from Ephesus Deluxe, no shopping stops promised and none delivered. An added surprise was that our guide extended our tour beyond the booking time, with no expectation of financial renumeration, only because we asked about everything Turkey. He shared beyond what ancient Ephesus was all about. He covered recent history, and the current political situation and beyond. It was a private tour that started out being extremely reasonable and ended up feeling nearly free.

 

Realize your query was to emphasize the need to impress our tour guides that no shopping stops are necessary. But can't help but expand on how impressive our day was.

[cruisemom42]

Hello Cruise Mom,

We had a perfect day with Mahmet from Ephesus Deluxe, no shopping stops promised and none delivered. An added surprise was that our guide extended our tour beyond the booking time, with no expectation of financial renumeration, only because we asked about everything Turkey. He shared beyond what ancient Ephesus was all about. He covered recent history, and the current political situation and beyond. It was a private tour that started out being extremely reasonable and ended up feeling nearly free.

 

Realize your query was to emphasize the need to impress our tour guides that no shopping stops are necessary. But can't help but expand on how impressive our day was.

 

That's nice to hear. I'm really glad you enjoyed your tour.

 

Turkey is one of my favorite countries. :) I just find the "private tour" runaround, as practiced in Kusadasi by many agencies, to be tiresome.

[sunfish8]

Hi everyone: I have been gathering a group from the celebrity reflection rollcall going on the July 19th cruise and looking at ephesus shuttle. There are so many choices.

Which number do you recommend that includes the terrace houses and full day?

Or is there another company folks can recommend?

Thank you

Roberta

[hansolosmom]

One more question.m

 

What time should we start our tour? Hey want us to start at 10:30 but I think that's late considering the heat. We dock early I think 6:30am

[gbntmom]

It's an agency that works out of several Mediterranean ports and they have just expanded to include Turkey. I have taken tours with them twice (in Alexandria and in Cairo). They really took time to listen to what I wanted and matched me up with a great guide. And.....when I said no shopping, that's what I got (and that's rare in Egypt!).

 

here's the website: http://turkeyportsofcall.com/

 

Thank you very much for sharing!

Janet

[TravelingDiva1]

Here is a recent review of Ephesus Shuttle that some of my roll callers used.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1848309&page=4

 

 

My group also used Ephesus Deluxe and had Mahmet(I think that was his name. He told us to just call him Matt because it was easier for us to pronounce). The tour was great, but we did have a carpet demo stop at the end. We were given a nice Turkish lunch beforehand. The demo was interesting and we didn't experience any pushy salesmen so it wasn't that bad.

[Carolina Daisy]

We will be in Ephesus in July and I'm real close to booking with Ephesus Shuttle and I have one question. Is it worth the extra $10 to tour the Terrace Houses? Thanks in advance!

 

Debra

[TravelingDiva1]

We will be in Ephesus in July and I'm real close to booking with Ephesus Shuttle and I have one question. Is it worth the extra $10 to tour the Terrace Houses? Thanks in advance!

 

Debra

 

Yes, very neat to see how they lived!!!! There are steps involved, fyi.

[lalawgirl]

Such a shame about Ekol requiring a shopping stop. That said, I've sat through a carpet demonstration before and it's actually a lot of fun. It's also nice to sit in the AC, enjoy a drink, and use a clean bathroom.

 

As for the poster asking about what time to meet the guide -- the earlier, the better! We met our guide with Ekol a few minutes before 7. Well worth getting up a little early to avoid the heat and crowds.

 

As for the poster asking about the Terrace Houses -- Yes! Well worth the $10! The Terrace Houses were included in our tour with Ekol... I couldn't believe all the folks on the ship's tour I heard complaining that 1) the Terrace Houses were not included in their tour price and 2) for those that wanted to go on their own, they were not given enough time.

[Tahoebabs]

We used Ephesus Shuttle also for both Istanbul and Ephesus and they were great. We thoroughly enjoyed both of our tours. Our tour of Ephesus was led by a young man named Tezcan Akay. He was pleasant and knowledgable and our group of 8 had a wonderful day. In Istanbul we were fortunate enough to have Sedat Cakmak as our guide. He only does a few tours and usually only a couple (2). Never have I had a more experienced tour guide and enjoyed a city more. He went out of his way to accomodate us and made our visit to Istanbul memorable. I would not hesitate to recommend either of these guides or your company to any of my friends visiting Turkey.

[cruiserfromohio]

The reason you get all these "shopping" stops in Ephesus is that the tour companies get a commission for bringing passagers to the stores/demonstrations, etc. All the tour operators want to take you there for a payment for bringing you there and a commission on anything you buy. Just watch the demo and say "no thanks you."

[cath32]

We booked a tour with Ephesus Shuttle in May. We didn't book a private excursion, but just signed up with the tour that said it would be a max of 20 people. The tour included the terrace houses which after having seen them, I would consider a 'must' if you're going to Ephesus.

 

We had a really nice van with lots of room. It ended up only being a total of 6 of us plus a toddler and we had a great tour with them. On the way home we were asked if we would like to go to a leather store. We all said 'no', and they took us straight back to the ship.

 

I would tour with them again!

[cruisemom42]

The reason you get all these "shopping" stops in Ephesus is that the tour companies get a commission for bringing passagers to the stores/demonstrations, etc. All the tour operators want to take you there for a payment for bringing you there and a commission on anything you buy. Just watch the demo and say "no thanks you."

 

If you are booking a private tour, you should NOT have to watch the demo if no one in your group wants to do so. That's the difference between a private tour and "set" tour. If I'm paying for a private tour, I want my time to be spent touring. I can shop on my own time. :rolleyes:

 

Too many operators in Kusadasi are taking advantage of folks in this way. People need to understand that they can request "no shopping" and they can vote with their wallet by not working with companies that refuse to honor this.

[weiserjd]

When are you doing your tour? Two of us are thinking about a small group for Sept 10.

[Petoonya]

One more question.m

 

What time should we start our tour? Hey want us to start at 10:30 but I think that's late considering the heat. We dock early I think 6:30am

 

Late to the party and you must have your answer and have your times set.

But for anyone else....sometimes tour operators want to talk you into a later pickup- say 10-11am when your ship arrives at 8am. But get there as early as possible.

On May 5, fairly early in the tourist season, at 9:30am it was dreadfully, steamy hot.

The hillside terrain about the site makes for a beautiful lush setting, but also for still air and no breeze. Brilliant sun. H2O, H2O, H2O!!!!

[Petoonya]

We will be in Ephesus in July and I'm real close to booking with Ephesus Shuttle and I have one question. Is it worth the extra $10 to tour the Terrace Houses? Thanks in advance!

 

Debra

 

Debra,

You are probably booked by now and hope that you decided to spend the extra $10 on terrace houses. Do not miss! These are also known as the "Houses of the Rich" and an extraordinary look into family life during the Roman period. They are remarkably well-preserved.

[NextOne]

We used Ephesus Shuttle last week for their half-day tour and everyone agreed that it was the best decision we could have made. Our guide Naahid was very knowledgeable and considerate. She encouraged us to use the (pay) restrooms before we entered the site, knowing there wouldn't be another opportunity for 2 hours! Inside the site, she tried as much as possible to find shade for our stops. The tour included the Terrace Houses, and those were amazing. Definitely worth the extra admission! And since so few tourists go there, it was nice to get away from the crush for a while!

 

A quick stop on the way back to port at the Temple of Artemis, where a stork was nesting with its hatchlings on top of the column. A terrific photo op! While Naahid offered a leather or carpet stop, no one was interested, so we went back to the cruise terminal after a quick stop at the company office for those of us that wanted to pay by credit card. No pressure! From there, we went to the bazaar on our own.

 

It was a marvelous day and I highly recommend Ephesus Shuttle.

Edited June 13, 2013 by NextOne

[Carolina Daisy]

Debra,

You are probably booked by now and hope that you decided to spend the extra $10 on terrace houses. Do not miss! These are also known as the "Houses of the Rich" and an extraordinary look into family life during the Roman period. They are remarkably well-preserved.

 

We did book the Terrace house tour, everything I've read says it's definitely a must-do. Can't wait!

[mollyredone]

Ephesus Shuttle sounds like a good deal! I was trying to decide whether to see Ephesus or some of the other ruins, but it sounds like Ephesus is the one to see.

[Profguy]

We used Private Ephesus Tours last week and did not have a good experience. This is my review.

****m Uzum was our tour guide. The tour was arranged via Ayse Yalcin of Private Ephesus & Istanbul Tours and is top rated on TripAdvisor. Our experience was vastly different than many of the other reviews on this company. Our group was two families with a total of 8 people. We paid $320 for a private guide, Mercedes Van/ driver. The tour was scheduled from 8:00 am to 3:00, to include Mary’s House, Ephesus, St. John’s Basilica, Temple of Artemis, and private shopping in a good spot for souvenirs.

Despite the high reviews on TripAdvisor, this was a canned, low quality and rushed tour. We did not get our money’s worth and am shocked at the high rating of this company. Now the details.

The good part was the driver and van. It was as promised. The comfort and convenience of a private driver was great considering the huge crowds that day. Four ships were in port. The venues were wonderful and our guide, ****m was very knowledgeable about the sites. He was very nice and it was a pleasure to engage in small talk with him. Beyond that it was a very bad private tour. I felt like I was on a bus tour with 50 people, despite no bus.

He never asked us our names and the van did not have any bottled water. The entire morning he rushed us, even at sites we wanted to spend some time at, so he could meet his 12:15 lunch reservation. ****m made some rookie mistakes. He had a canned presentation and never explained the site up close. He found a shade tree, put himself under the shade and then proceeded to give us a lecture full of irrelevant information. He would then walk by the actual site rapidly, barely giving us a chance to see the site. This occurred repeatedly. After a while I pulled up the Rick Steve’s audioguide on my cell phone and did the balance of Ephesus on my own.

He always said he would show us better shopping and then ended up pointing us towards the tourist traps at the venue entrance. As a private tour, we wanted to wander. He pushed us constantly by saying “10 minutes on your own then back on the van.” He did this at Mary’s House, which we said was important for us to spend time at. In fact, to keep us on his schedule, he pushed us to cut the line at Mary’s church. This was an embarrassment. He skipped many parts of Mary’s House that was on our bucket list.

St. John’s Basilica was a 10 minute stop, yet we would like to have spent an hour wandering the ruins. The Tempe of Artemis was seen from the edge of St. John’s rather than actually going to the site. Not a big deal if we had allocated that time to our bucket list items. At Ephesus he barely mentioned the library and failed to disclose the option of going into the homes.

Lunch was prearranged, which was never discussed, but we were pleasantly surprised by the venue, food quality and price. We then were given the “Buy Our Carpets” sales pitch and could not escape this horrible situation. By 12:15, our tour was over. The lunch and sales pitch began, we drove back to the Kasadusi port and were off the van by 1:45. I have never had a private guide short change my time. They usually end up going over a little bit. This was ridiculous, especially considering the rushed nature of the rest of the tour. We hire private guides to avoid the forced sales pitch, but got the most blatant one ever. I wish I had selected another company for an important day.

[Profguy]

Funny ... The computer edited his first name because its spelling is similar to the German Socialist Party name. Replace the "M" with "N" and you will see his name

 

name = "M"azim

[Carolina Daisy]

We were in Ephesus last week and used Ephesus Shuttle and I highly recommend them. We were a private tour of 4 and we had a driver and a tour guide in a mini van. His name was Tecz (spelling??) and he was very knowledgeable and made sure we went to the places we wanted to go and it was not even brought up about visiting a carpet or leather factory for a sales pitch. I highly recommend them!

[hansolosmom]

Promised I'd come back & report on the sales pitch.

 

We used Ephesus Shuttle & had a wonderful guide named Malika. She was a joy and related well with my teen boys. She made my youngest happy by giving us some Turkish delight & it was lemon flavored :) his favorite.

 

They also supplied us with umbrellas to use for shade as we walked through Ephesus.

 

I can't even remember if she asked if we wanted to stop, she may have, but obviously if I'm not sure, it was no pressure.

 

At the end we asked her where we could get some of the Turkish delight, since my son loved it. When they dropped us at the port area, she took us to a shop & talked to the owner, who helped us pick some out. She also said that if we had any issues in any of the other shops to come back to this store & they could call her. I thought that it was very nice & way above and beyond what she needed to do.

Edited August 3, 2013 by hansolosmom