Ephesus tour: House of Virgin Mary & Terrace Houses

[pseudoware]

Does anyone know of a tour from the Kusadasi Port that goes to both the House of Virgin Mary and Terrace Houses? Didn't see anything from Ekol Travel, unless I missed it. Open to other tour companies, as well. Thanks.

[Azulann]

You can inquire of Ekol for a customized tour , if you do not see what you want on their web site. I have used Ekol in Istanbul. In fact, the manager I worked with was a woman named Valentina who offices out of Kusadasi. I got lovely Christmad card from her for the last two years. So try them again.

I used another local guide for my second visit to Kusadasi.

He name is Ertunga. He now has a very professional web site.

ertungaecir.com

I am sure he can do a tour for you to see both Mary's House, the terrace houses, and Ephesus on your tour.

Loves all the places you want to see and the town of Kusadasi is a great place to wander up and down the streets, visit their bazaar and have a bite to eat.

[gkkapp]

Have a look at Ephesus Shuttle. They offer the same tours, just add on what you want. We were there last October and organized a tour for 8 through our roll call. We added the House of Virgin Mary and Terrace Houses to the tour for basically the cost of the admissions. Excellent tour :D.

 

Here's a link to their site: http://www.ephesusshuttle.com/

 

Hope this helps.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[pseudoware]

Excellent, thank you! I'm looking into these.

[zqvol]

Does anyone know of a tour from the Kusadasi Port that goes to both the House of Virgin Mary and Terrace Houses? Didn't see anything from Ekol Travel, unless I missed it. Open to other tour companies, as well. Thanks.

 

Ekol will set up anything you want. They have a tour that goes to the House of the Virgin, and then the Terrace Houses are an add on inside Ephesus. They will then take you to the Temple of Artemis, the Basilica of St. John, lunch and then back to the ship.

 

We have done this exact tour with them in the past.

[Hlitner]

We would add that EKOL is an excellent company and will design any private tour to please their customers. If you want to book their Tour #4 (which goes to both Ephesus and the Virgin Mary House) and add the Terrace Houses (this has a separate admission so it would be a small add-on in cost) then its just a matter of e-mailing them your request.

 

For those who do not understand the layout, the Terrace Houses are located within the regular Ephesus ruins (on the left side as you walk down the main street) but is operated with its own admission fee (which you pay right at the Terrace House Entrance). Many tours (especially cruise ship excursions) unfortunately skip this aspect since it costs extra and involves walking up and down quite a few metal steps. They also do not encourage large groups (with guides) and its really a site designed for individuals or very small groups to simply walk through a their own pace. There are excellent information displays (in English) for those who want to read about these relatively newly opened ruins.

 

Hank

Edited March 20, 2015 by Hlitner

[Hlitner]

Lets clear-up a misperception. If you book a "private tour" with any reputable company or guide, you are the one who can control the itinerary. For example, most of the tour companies in Kusadasi will encourage you to go to some kind of shopping venue such as a "jewelry factory," "rub factory," or "pottery factory." Some of these places are legit and can be fun, and others are simply enterprises set-up to handle tour groups. What they all have in common is that they "kick back" a percentage of sales to the tour company and/or guide. It is the same with restaurants. If a guide takes you to a restaurant you can be sure the guide is getting some kind of "kick back" whether it be cash or a free meal (or both).

 

In Kusadasi there is excellent shopping and lots of eating venues in the shopping (bazaar) area right across the street from the port. You do not need to pay for a guides time to go eat! While it makes sense to have a professional guide to explain the ruins (and related history) it does not make sense to be paying a guide to sit and watch you eat :).

 

My advice for this area is for first-time visitors to book a private tour with a reputable local company (i.e. Ekol, Ephesus Deluxe, etc). But then do not be too shy to make it clear to the guide what you want! For example, when DW and I hired a private guide to go back to Ephesus (it was our third visit) we made it clear we wanted more time in the ruins, wanted to learn more in depth history, and had no interest in shopping. It turned out that our guide was friendly with the curator of the entire huge site and this did give us some benefits (this guide is no longer in Turkey).

[Girr]

Yes, you control what you'll see when it's private tour; however, you need to be sure everyone in your group is in accord if you open it up to others.

 

Two years ago I booked thru Ephesus Shuttle (who I highly recommend) initially for just my immediate family. When a few people from our roll call asked if they could join, I said sure - tsk, tsk! Because no matter what you've already set up you are going to get asked sometime during the day, "would you like to visit a ..." Even though everyone had agreed prior to the tour they did not want to tour a rug factory, jewelry, etc, sure enough when the question came up everyone else in the group said YES! Arghhhhh:mad:

[Hlitner]

Yes, you control what you'll see when it's private tour; however, you need to be sure everyone in your group is in accord if you open it up to others.

 

Two years ago I booked thru Ephesus Shuttle (who I highly recommend) initially for just my immediate family. When a few people from our roll call asked if they could join, I said sure - tsk, tsk! Because no matter what you've already set up you are going to get asked sometime during the day, "would you like to visit a ..." Even though everyone had agreed prior to the tour they did not want to tour a rug factory, jewelry, etc, sure enough when the question came up everyone else in the group said YES! Arghhhhh:mad:

 

Too funny but very true. This is why DW and I tend to do things on our own and not take along others....even when asked. As I mentioned earlier, on our third visit to Ephesus (having previously done a cruise line excursion and once DIY) we decided to use an expert tour guide. So we e-mailed EKOL (our contact named Ner is now gone) and told them we just wanted a pro for the two of us and he/she should really be an expert on the ruins/history. We got an amazing guide who had two college degrees (history and architecture) and what a wonderful few hours we had. Not only did EKOL give us the guide, but we had a nice new large van with a driver who also spoke English. Total cost of this half-day tour was less then a half day cruise ship excursion (where you are stuck on a bus with 50+).

 

When we have taken others on our DIY port days (we have seldom used tours in any of the approximate 100 countries we have visited) it is usually a bit of a challenge since one must compromise. On some cruise line Roll Calls, a few folks have recognized our name from here or knew us from previous cruises. Some of these folks would actually get a bit annoyed when we would turn down their request to "come along" with us in a few ports. But such is life.

 

Hank

[pseudoware]

Thanks again for the replies. After some research, since my MIL is traveling with us, and we are concerned with her mobility at the Terrace Houses, we will likely skip that attraction after all.

 

My wife & MIL will take a tour that visits the House of Virgin Mary, and my two sons and I will go to likely go to Adaland Aquapark, :D which I'm guessing they might enjoy more. Continuing to research, but if anyone has any suggestion for a tour or transportation to the aquapark, please let me know. Thanks!

Edited March 23, 2015 by pseudoware

[Lawhouse]

Forget the virgin Mary house, it's a modern construction designed to take money from gullible tourists.

 

 

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[Hlitner]

Frank,

 

Guess we should let Cruisemom have the last word but you took my name in vain :). While you might be able to cite laws that is not how things work in Turkey. Lawyers know the law, and mere mortals simply ignore those laws. In fact, if you want to directly hire a private licensed guide some have their own web sites, others freely give our their business cards (with their direct e-mail address) and some companies like Viator (who sub contract) freely list the names, resumes, and even pictures of licensed private guides that you can book direct. And there are other companies that freely connect clients with private licensed tour guides. While most licensed guides do work for one or more tour companies, many of them also moonlight on their own. In fact, our own guide (who now works in Russia) told us that he loved moonlighting for Russian tourists (the guide spoke fluent Russian as well as English) because they cheerfully overpaid for his services.

 

As to feeding your guide, that is your preference and we are sure you guide appreciated your generosity. We are probably remiss in thinking of hiring a private guide as a simple contractual business relationship.

 

Regarding shopping in Turkey, since we only have about thirty years experience dealing with this country perhaps we should defer to your expertise. But I sure would love to own a jewelry factory in Turkey and have you as a customer :). Seriously, the Turks are amazing entrepreneurs and will do just about anything (legal or otherwise) to coax tour companies (and guides) to being their charges into their establishment. So money does freely change hands, guides and tour company owners get their share of free meals, shopping discounts, or even gifts. This is just the way of the Turkey, Egypt, and most of this part of the world.

 

If DW and I drive our rental car into a parking lot of one of those "jewelry or other factories" and make it clear that we are not with any "tour" we will usually get much better prices then the tour groups. We actually saw it happen first hand. DW and I were browsing in a pottery factory (we had driven there in our rental car) and there was a busload of tourists in the store. We overheard the tour guide telling his charges that he could get them a 20% discount on anything if they just let him make the deal. A few minutes later when the tour was gone DW negotiated a 50% discount off a few plates (and we probably overpaid). That tour guide was certainly getting a nice kick-back from the store for "negotiating" those 20% off deals.

 

As to stores in Kusadasi, there are some excellent stores and boutiques in Kusadasi that have been doing business for many years. The thing most of them have in common is that they are not paying tour companies/guides a percentage. One long standing place that comes to mind is Kusadasi Carpet. And then there is " Can Carpet" in Selcuk which has been in business for a long time with a very good reputation. There are plenty of other good merchants in Kusadasi but we are not going to drop names since things are always changing. But the one thing they all have in common is that one must bargain for the best price. In fact, DW once spent nearly 1 1/2 hours bargaining for a small very high quality carpet (now a wall hanging in our home) in Istanbul. The final price was less then half the initial asking price. So, knowing the real price of anything in Turkey is elusive since you do not know until you actually make a purchase. DW usually figures if she pays more then half price she has been ripped off :). And when she sees something "she does not really want" she will start the bargaining at about 25% of the asking price.

 

And Frank, we will be very kind and now avoid telling any lawyer jokes.

 

Hank

Edited March 24, 2015 by Hlitner

[pseudoware]

While my kids and I are at the water park, I'm trying to customize a tour that gives us enough time to enjoy the park, but also includes attractions that are not too difficult for my MIL to navigate. She's 75 and is fairly mobile, but we want to avoid anything requiring steep inclines, climbing, lengthy broken paths, etc.

 

In addition to House of Virgin Mary, they also plan to visit Temple of Artemis. Can anyone suggest other attractions that would be suitable? Thanks.

[azdmelani]

we used About Ephesus and our tour was a highlight of our trip. Professional, knowledgeable, and a very fun day!

 

 

http://aboutephesus.com/

[Azulann]

While my kids and I are at the water park, I'm trying to customize a tour that gives us enough time to enjoy the park, but also includes attractions that are not too difficult for my MIL to navigate. She's 75 and is fairly mobile, but we want to avoid anything requiring steep inclines, climbing, lengthy broken paths, etc.

 

In addition to House of Virgin Mary, they also plan to visit Temple of Artemis. Can anyone suggest other attractions that would be suitable? Thanks.

 

Whatever tour operator you hire , your MIL will maybe enjoy a stop in Selcuk. The Ephesus museum was closed when we were there. But check if is now reopened. We did see the mosque, St. Johns. Very interesting. This was after the tour of Mary's house.

Here is some information about the town of Selcuk.

 

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Aegean/Ephesus/selcuk/see/EphesusMuseum.html

 

there is also a nice walkway along the bay near the pier with lovely cafes, icecream, waffles! and a beautiful view sea. Just sitting and watching the folks coming and going is a lovely way to get a little local flavor of Kusadasi.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Azulann

[catmad]

Does anyone know of a tour from the Kusadasi Port that goes to both the House of Virgin Mary and Terrace Houses? Didn't see anything from Ekol Travel, unless I missed it. Open to other tour companies, as well. Thanks.

 

We visited the House of the Virgin Mary with a taxi last year after the excursion desk cancelled my excursion booking because I am disabled and the cruise staff considered the visit unsuitable! I was devastated at missing it, so approached a taxi company (Kusadasi Taxi?) outside tourist information in Kusadasi. The taxi driver, Ismail was very knowledgeable and able to give us lots of detail. He also recommended that we reverse the order of our itinerary to avoid crowds...a good idea because it got busy at the Virgin Mary's house as we were leaving.

 

It turned out, that we enjoyed our private tour more than a number of our fellow cruisers if only because we could choose what we saw, in what order and for how long.

[catmad]

While my kids and I are at the water park, I'm trying to customize a tour that gives us enough time to enjoy the park, but also includes attractions that are not too difficult for my MIL to navigate. She's 75 and is fairly mobile, but we want to avoid anything requiring steep inclines, climbing, lengthy broken paths, etc.

 

In addition to House of Virgin Mary, they also plan to visit Temple of Artemis. Can anyone suggest other attractions that would be suitable? Thanks.

 

You should be aware that there is a cobbled area and steep hill on the approach to the Virgin Mary's house. Ask whoever is driving you, to drop you in the lower car park which is closer. Also, it is possible for a car to get into a car park right on top of the Temple of Artemis... coaches sometimes park further away.

 

Visiting the ruins at Epheseus, usually the coaches drop people at the top. Then people follow a 1km trail through the ruins on uneven ground. On a hot day this is a long walk! Our taxi driver said that he could drop us at the bottom of that trail. We wouldn't see the whole area but at least we could see some. We chose to do that next time.

[Ertungaecir]

Hello Hiltner,

I have worked as a tour guide in Kusadasi for 12 years and I know so many guides, and I must say that I do not know any colleague who takes percentage from restaurants. Food is anyway very reasonable in Turkey (you can have very good meal for10 USD), so do you really believe that somebody would expect or offer comission? Before you give advice and tips about an area, you should be very carefull and have very good knowledge about how things funcion there.

 

Lets clear-up a misperception. If you book a "private tour" with any reputable company or guide, you are the one who can control the itinerary. For example, most of the tour companies in Kusadasi will encourage you to go to some kind of shopping venue such as a "jewelry factory," "rub factory," or "pottery factory." Some of these places are legit and can be fun, and others are simply enterprises set-up to handle tour groups. What they all have in common is that they "kick back" a percentage of sales to the tour company and/or guide. It is the same with restaurants. If a guide takes you to a restaurant you can be sure the guide is getting some kind of "kick back" whether it be cash or a free meal (or both).

 

In Kusadasi there is excellent shopping and lots of eating venues in the shopping (bazaar) area right across the street from the port. You do not need to pay for a guides time to go eat! While it makes sense to have a professional guide to explain the ruins (and related history) it does not make sense to be paying a guide to sit and watch you eat :).

 

My advice for this area is for first-time visitors to book a private tour with a reputable local company (i.e. Ekol, Ephesus Deluxe, etc). But then do not be too shy to make it clear to the guide what you want! For example, when DW and I hired a private guide to go back to Ephesus (it was our third visit) we made it clear we wanted more time in the ruins, wanted to learn more in depth history, and had no interest in shopping. It turned out that our guide was friendly with the curator of the entire huge site and this did give us some benefits (this guide is no longer in Turkey).

[senorbanda]

You might want to give Ephesus Deluxe a look. They have a semi-private guaranteed departure tour that goes to the sites that the OP asked about. We used them last Oct. and it was an enjoyable experience. Very reasonably priced.

[account4fun]

We used Ekol tour and were very happy we did! It was a private tour so completely customized. We went to Ephesus and the terrace houses and then had lunch at a fantastic local spot and then went to a rug factory. Overall great day!

[LEtue]

Another vote for Ephesus Shuttle! We toured with them in October and did the following tour:

 

Tour 4 - A1 : Private Ephesus - Artemission Temple - The House of Virgin Mary - St. John Basilica Tour

 

When I reserved the tour for our group of 14 I just let them know up front that we did not want to include any additional stops and we were never asked to add them later. There were a few in our group that didn't do the Terrace Houses but there was a place to wait while the rest of us went in. The inside climbing isn't strenuous but the stairs at the exit had no handrail so it could be difficult for some. I would definitely recommend that you include them!

 

Overall, it was a great tour and our guide was very professional. I booked them based on other CC reviews and I plan to book another tour with them when we return in 2016.

[Granny DI]

Forget the virgin Mary house, it's a modern construction designed to take money from gullible tourists.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Agree 100%...kept thinking what am I missing here?????

[EagleRocker]

Another vote for Ephesus Shuttle! We toured with them in October and did the following tour:

 

Tour 4 - A1 : Private Ephesus - Artemission Temple - The House of Virgin Mary - St. John Basilica Tour

 

When I reserved the tour for our group of 14 I just let them know up front that we did not want to include any additional stops and we were never asked to add them later. There were a few in our group that didn't do the Terrace Houses but there was a place to wait while the rest of us went in. The inside climbing isn't strenuous but the stairs at the exit had no handrail so it could be difficult for some. I would definitely recommend that you include them!

 

Overall, it was a great tour and our guide was very professional. I booked them based on other CC reviews and I plan to book another tour with them when we return in 2016.

 

Let me echo these comments. On the Reflection now and did this same tour yesterday with a fantastic guide (Cengiz). It was just my husband and I and we had a wonderful time. I have knee issues and a foot problem. I did not find the stairs inside the Terrace Houses to be difficult, you do them in bits and pieces. However, the stone steps at the exit going down were rough on my bad knees; no rails and they are kind of steep so hard for stiff, inflexible knees. I saw a couple people struggling and I had to go down slowly. That said, I would visit the a Terrace Houses again in a heartbeat - fascinating!

[Travel To Be Free]

Considering doing just the transportation option with the ship, which then gives you a headset to do the ruins. We did Dubrovnik on our own, without headsets, and were so happy we did. We saw large tour groups standing in the heat and they looked miserable, while we were able to navigate with our maps and stop for a coke when we wanted.

 

I don't like getting in a tour where I feel trapped. We've done a lot of tours and will be just getting off a 7-day land tour of Greece, so I know we'll have seen a lot of ruins.

 

Do you feel a tour is a "must" here in order to get a good feel of Ephesus? We're not interested in St Marys House, but I'll have to research some of the other places listed above.

 

Would kind of like to do a short-medium Ephesus tour and come back to the port area as it looks beautiful. (How much is a good price for 5 x6 or similar rug there? We won't have time in Istanbul to look and it would be nice to have a Turkish rug.)