Priene or Sirince for Kusadasi?

[bennybear]

We have visited Kusadasi three times so have seen Ephesus, the terrace houses etc.   We are trying to decide between Sirince and a visit to Miletus, Didyma and possibly Priene?    Hal offers Miletus and Didyma for less cost than a private excursion that also includes Priene.   As we have a lot of OBC we would prefer One of the ships tours, but don’t want to make a big mistake and leave out Priene.  Thoughts?  

[Hlitner]

On ‎5‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 6:53 PM, bennybear said:

We have visited Kusadasi three times so have seen Ephesus, the terrace houses etc.   We are trying to decide between Sirince and a visit to Miletus, Didyma and possibly Priene?    Hal offers Miletus and Didyma for less cost than a private excursion that also includes Priene.   As we have a lot of OBC we would prefer One of the ships tours, but don’t want to make a big mistake and leave out Priene.  Thoughts?  

It depends how "ruined" you want to be :).  We have gone to Miletus, Didyma and Priene on two occasions, each time on our own.  Each of these ruins is unique and we enjoyed visiting all three.  All things being equal we would skip Sirence which is a village that has lost some of its charm as it became more of a tourist oriented place.  But a different point of view might be that visiting two ruins and also walking through Sirence gives you more variety.  

 

The last time we visited all those ruins we did it with a rental car (from Kusadasi) when we were on the Prinsendam.  Since our ship overnighted in Kusadasi we had no fear about missing the ship.  I can understand why the tour skips Priene because it is somewhat out of the way.   Our experience with some tours in Turkey is that they prefer to leave enough time for some kind of "shopping stop" rather than cramming in another site.

 

I should mention that the first time we visited those 3 ruins was about 25 years ago.  At that time they were not even being used as tourist sites and the ruins were free and just sitting out there!  We had hired our own car/driver and could not believe that these ruins had no protection, security, etc.  But the last time we visited (about 6 years ago) they were all tourist destinations with fences, admission fees, etc.  But unlike Ephesus, the other ruins are generally not crowded.  In fact, we once found ourselves all alone at Miletus.

 

Hank

[bennybear]

Hank,  thank you for the information.   From what I have read Priene seems very interesting too,  do you recommend it?

[Hlitner]

On ‎5‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 5:40 PM, bennybear said:

Hank,  thank you for the information.   From what I have read Priene seems very interesting too,  do you recommend it?

If you are really into "ruins" you are going to enjoy all three places :).  If you do not care about ruins you will probably start to think you would rather be in Kusadasi shopping.   Because of your post, DW and I started talking about these 3 places last evening.  To be honest, having been there a couple of times it is hard to remember which ruins are which...if you know what I mean.  But they are all fascinating and different.   I am outspoken as a frequent cruiser who has little love of cruise line excursions.  We avoid them, like the plague, unless they are the only reasonable alternative to see what we want to see.  Why would a cruise line not add Priene onto that tour?  You already know my thoughts...but I do think it is outrageous.  

 

But you have a large OBC to use and that is a compelling reason to book the excursion.   It is also a pretty long drive from the Port so there is something to say for not having to deal with the concern of getting back to the ship on time.

 

Hank

[bennybear]

We too prefer private tours. And when I look at google maps Priene is in that same general area.  So unless it is too steep for the average customer?   I think I am going to do the private tour, with a well regarded company.  That way we get to have a real Turkish lunch and not a boxed lunch from the ship😄. I have appreciated your insights.  Hope our paths cross some day.   Probably driving around the Italian countryside.

[cruisemom42]

I will enthusiastically endorse going to Priene. The ruins are very evocative. Yes, it is somewhat of a climb but not extremely strenuous and one can take it slowly if needed.  Priene is one of the few Greek towns that was never re-colonized as a Roman city. The theatre is small but amazing. The icing on the cake is that Alexander the Great is known to have stayed there. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priene_Inscription

 

This is not to say the Miletus and Didyma are not also worthwhile. (Didyma in particular is very impressive.) But if you go to all three, you get the chance to see a mostly Greek city (Priene), a mostly Hellenic temple (Didyma) and a mostly Roman city (Miletus, although originally Greek, the remains you can see today are mostly Roman...)

[bennybear]

Thanks Cruise mom!  I was  hoping you would respond.  It seems a shame that the ship tours skip Priene,  But a smaller tour with a Turkish lunch makes it all worthwhile.   And after extreme temple step climbing in Japan I will be prepared! 😀

[roberts2005]

Just curious what theOP decided to do.  I also do not want to do Ephesus   The couple we travel with is not into ruins.  Can you get a nice lunch in Sirince as well?

[John Bull]

I can't comment on Didymus,  Priene etc but by elimination my post endorses the advice you've been given.

 

We rented a car & drove up to Sirince.

A pleasant drive up, but Sirince is one-street village of stalls & shops. We were there for just a half-hour and spent the rest of the day on the beach.

(Like you, we'd visited Ephesus on a previous cruise)

 

JB 

[roberts2005]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

I can't comment on Didymus,  Priene etc but by elimination my post endorses the advice you've been given.

 

We rented a car & drove up to Sirince.

A pleasant drive up, but Sirince is one-street village of stalls & shops. We were there for just a half-hour and spent the rest of the day on the beach.

(Like you, we'd visited Ephesus on a previous cruise)

 

JB 

We have hired a driver for our group of four so we have the ability to go anywhere.  What was the beach like.  Sandy or rocky?  Was the water clear?

[John Bull]

6 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

We have hired a driver for our group of four so we have the ability to go anywhere.  What was the beach like.  Sandy or rocky?  Was the water clear?

 

National Park just past Guzelcami, about 15 miles / 30 minutes south of Kusadasi. 

Sandy beach, don't recall how clear the water but certainly not dirty. Backed by forest (the road continues thro forest, your driver should know whether ts scenic or has anything of interest). Park & beach popular with locals. First time I'd seen Muslim girls in Burkinis. No facilities as I recall, but shops & cafes in Guzelcami or before

But probably no need to go so far, there'll be beaches on the way.

 

JB 

[bennybear]

We did the private tour to Priene, Miletus and Didyma.  It was very worthwhile but we found the climb up a little difficult as I have knee issues.    I can’t understand why these places are not more visited as it is stunning.

[boblerm]

 

On 1/17/2020 at 6:46 PM, roberts2005 said:

Just curious what theOP decided to do.  I also do not want to do Ephesus   The couple we travel with is not into ruins.  Can you get a nice lunch in Sirince as well?

 

I loved my visit to Sirince,  a very picturesque, idyllic setting, but it doesn't warrant an entire's day visit.  Since you have a driver, if you can arrange a stop there around lunch time, I would recommend it.  My visit there was about 10 years ago however, so I can't say whether it has changed much since then.

 

 

 

I have a very fond memory having lunch in this spot with my family, hearing the call to worship from the Mosque below.  Very peaceful.

 

 

 

Just a little bit touristy

 

 

 

Bob