Best things to do in Ephesus?

[RazaB]

About one in seventy companies seem to have trouble with my email address, for unknown reasons, so I'll allow the possibility that they tried. I'll try with a GMail address in a few days if I don't hear anything back.

 

And I agree: communication, especially when dealing with someone internationally involving a time-critical arrangement, is vital. I'll report back either way.

[sea-explorer]

I first contacted them in April using the info@ekoltravel from their website and Valentina picked it up. She has been very good ever since.

I’d suggest you check your junk mail if you haven’t already done so and if you’ve not heard back by tomorrow, then yes, try your gmail address.

Good luck and let us know how you get on. 🙂

[budmeister]

On 4/22/2022 at 1:46 PM, wolfcathorse said:

We asked our Head Waiter from Turkey this very question when we were on Equinox a few weeks ago. He said go see Mary's house and the ruins in Ephesus.

We did this and we really enjoyed it. We used Ephesus port tours with Hanry as our driver. It was listed on trip advise as for cruise guests only. We had a choice, and chose to see the carpet making school. It was actually a highlight of out trip and the best meal of our whole vacation next to it.

Edited September 26, 2023 by budmeister

[budmeister]

On 4/22/2022 at 1:30 PM, dltaeg said:

We are visiting in Aug and having looked at the RC excursions I'd rather stay on the ship. 

 

All (but one) of the RC excursions are guided tours and include things like carpet weaving and mosaic making workshops which really isn't something we are remotely interested in.  Can anyone recommend anything different do the RC excursions or a guided tour. 

I thought the same, and it turned out to by the highlight  of our trip. We did a private tour listed as for cruise people only and we really enjoyed it. We used Ephesus port tours with Hanry as our guide. We were picked up at the port with him having a sign with out name on it. It was  a large luxurious min-van type of car, and a driver drove while our guide talked to us. He was passionate and knowledgeable and made the history come alive as I never could have expected. 

 

We visited Ephesus and Mary's house, and a carpet weaving school, with lunch next to the school.

 

We had a choice, and chose to see the carpet making school. It was actually a highlight of our trip and the best meal of our whole vacation next to it. We watched the silk being rolled from the silk worm cocoons and a few ( like 3 ) students do the weaving. A person talked about the weaving and the materials. The product output part was awe inspiring in beauty and detail. These carpets could have been photographs. There was pressure to buy at all. We asked how much our favorites were, and they were 2000.00. So, it was like looking at a art gallery for us, not a shopping stop.

Edited September 26, 2023 by budmeister

[budmeister]

On 8/25/2023 at 7:07 PM, CMWITTS@GMAIL.COM said:

My wife and I visited Mary's house in 2017, three days after visiting the Vatican. as a cradle catholic i couldn't wait to visit the Vatican. It was beautiful and the art and Museum were breathtaking... However... Not even knowing the history of Mary's house when I walked in I had as close to a religious experience as I could ever imagine. Please know I'm not a bible thumping religious zealot, I'm just relaying my experience. So I don't consider it a "tourist trap", but to each his own.

Hi,

 

I am not religious, and I found this visit to be interesting and satisfying to see. We had a guide passionate about the history, Hanry from Ephesus tours, that did make a difference. I am not sure I would have been as pleased if I did not have the knowledge to understand what I was seeing. I really enjoyed the visit.

[sea-explorer]

A follow up to my earlier comments on Ekol Travel where I was more than happy to praise their communication.

 

However, we arrived in Kusadasi on the confirmed day and made our way to the prearranged meeting place but they just didn’t show!

Upon ringing their office we were simply told there had been a mistake. We had to resort to using an agency within the port and ultimately ended up paying a great deal more and being overcharged on all entrance fees to boot. That and a good proportion of the day being taken up with obligatory visits to leather and confectionery outlets. Never again!

[RazaB]

Our excursion experiences on this trip:

 

• pre-boarding Rome: City Walks was excellent and professional (I also liked their Web site/booking). I found the in-the-ear buds in their system problematic for me, but I doubt most others have a problem with them. About 16 in the group.
• Olympia/Katakolon: The Travel Insiders had a great guide who was sensitive to our individual needs. The largely pointless stop at the olive oil tasting could probably have been better used at an historical non-commercial venture. Roughly 14 in the group.
• Mykonos: self tour. We took the water taxi (very inexpensive) both ways and wandered around the town.
• Athens/Piraeus: PK Travel's guide was superb - very knowledgeable, and we felt it was just about the right amount of time around noon to tour the city area near the museum and get lunch (best lamb kabobs I've ever had). About 16 in the group. The Acropolis has to be experienced; the hundred photos I took can't convey what it's like.
• Istanbul: we booked a private tour based on a recommendation from an in-law that had traveled there earlier this year. A lot of "moving parts", but Omer the guide was excellent. A pointless stop at a rug seller.
• Ephesus/Kusadasi: Celebrity, "Destination Highlight: City Panoramic Drive". It was OK; larger group, but a decent value. The stop at the rug school was informative, though of course there was a soft-sell at the end. Large bus.
• Santorini: Celebrity, "Destination Highlight: Island Drive and Village Oia". It was a good tour of the island and a couple of the towns, but it was spoiled by the tremendous bottleneck of getting on the cable cars going back to the port (about an hour in a hot, poorly-organized line). Large bus.
• Naples: Celebrity, "Small Group: Explorations of Pompeii". I might dispute the small group description, but it's all relative; maybe 25 people? Large bus. The guide was exceptional and extremely knowledgeable, and seemed to be a legend there. I felt the addition of the VR goggles added weight and bulk, and weren't used all that much, but I admit they did help convey what areas would have looked like pre-blast. The Pompeii tour is listed as more challenging than the "moderate" ones we had, but it was much easier than, say, Athens/Acropolis.

 

Hopefully this may help someone on a future cruise.

[Thatmakes7]

On 10/16/2023 at 5:55 PM, RazaB said:

Our excursion experiences on this trip:

 

• pre-boarding Rome: City Walks was excellent and professional (I also liked their Web site/booking). I found the in-the-ear buds in their system problematic for me, but I doubt most others have a problem with them. About 16 in the group.
• Olympia/Katakolon: The Travel Insiders had a great guide who was sensitive to our individual needs. The largely pointless stop at the olive oil tasting could probably have been better used at an historical non-commercial venture. Roughly 14 in the group.
• Mykonos: self tour. We took the water taxi (very inexpensive) both ways and wandered around the town.
• Athens/Piraeus: PK Travel's guide was superb - very knowledgeable, and we felt it was just about the right amount of time around noon to tour the city area near the museum and get lunch (best lamb kabobs I've ever had). About 16 in the group. The Acropolis has to be experienced; the hundred photos I took can't convey what it's like.
• Istanbul: we booked a private tour based on a recommendation from an in-law that had traveled there earlier this year. A lot of "moving parts", but Omer the guide was excellent. A pointless stop at a rug seller.
• Ephesus/Kusadasi: Celebrity, "Destination Highlight: City Panoramic Drive". It was OK; larger group, but a decent value. The stop at the rug school was informative, though of course there was a soft-sell at the end. Large bus.
• Santorini: Celebrity, "Destination Highlight: Island Drive and Village Oia". It was a good tour of the island and a couple of the towns, but it was spoiled by the tremendous bottleneck of getting on the cable cars going back to the port (about an hour in a hot, poorly-organized line). Large bus.
• Naples: Celebrity, "Small Group: Explorations of Pompeii". I might dispute the small group description, but it's all relative; maybe 25 people? Large bus. The guide was exceptional and extremely knowledgeable, and seemed to be a legend there. I felt the addition of the VR goggles added weight and bulk, and weren't used all that much, but I admit they did help convey what areas would have looked like pre-blast. The Pompeii tour is listed as more challenging than the "moderate" ones we had, but it was much easier than, say, Athens/Acropolis.

 

Hopefully this may help someone on a future cruise.

Hi, do you have a link to the mentioned "City Walk" tour you did in Rome. I tried searching Google but nothing is coming up with that specific name. Thanks

[RazaB]

@Thatmakes7 for the Vatican tour? We also booked a Coliseum tour but I was unable to go.

[RazaB]

@Thatmakes7 below is a link to all their Rome tours, which might change seasonally:

 

https://citywonders.com/rome-tours

 

I believe this is the Vatican tour we did:

https://citywonders.com/vatican-tours/sistine-chapel-early-access

 

Any further discussion on this shold probably take place in the Rome section rather than Ephesus.

[Thatmakes7]

Thank you so much! This is very helpful 

[zinniagirl]

On 8/25/2023 at 8:07 PM, CMWITTS@GMAIL.COM said:

My wife and I visited Mary's house in 2017, three days after visiting the Vatican. as a cradle catholic i couldn't wait to visit the Vatican. It was beautiful and the art and Museum were breathtaking... However... Not even knowing the history of Mary's house when I walked in I had as close to a religious experience as I could ever imagine. Please know I'm not a bible thumping religious zealot, I'm just relaying my experience. So I don't consider it a "tourist trap", but to each his own.

This is helpful to know... we are RC and were looking forward to this visit, but then started to question if it is worth it.  Thanks for posting!

[Aka414]

On 10/16/2023 at 5:55 PM, RazaB said:

Our excursion experiences on this trip:

 

• pre-boarding Rome: City Walks was excellent and professional (I also liked their Web site/booking). I found the in-the-ear buds in their system problematic for me, but I doubt most others have a problem with them. About 16 in the group.
• Olympia/Katakolon: The Travel Insiders had a great guide who was sensitive to our individual needs. The largely pointless stop at the olive oil tasting could probably have been better used at an historical non-commercial venture. Roughly 14 in the group.
• Mykonos: self tour. We took the water taxi (very inexpensive) both ways and wandered around the town.
• Athens/Piraeus: PK Travel's guide was superb - very knowledgeable, and we felt it was just about the right amount of time around noon to tour the city area near the museum and get lunch (best lamb kabobs I've ever had). About 16 in the group. The Acropolis has to be experienced; the hundred photos I took can't convey what it's like.
• Istanbul: we booked a private tour based on a recommendation from an in-law that had traveled there earlier this year. A lot of "moving parts", but Omer the guide was excellent. A pointless stop at a rug seller.
• Ephesus/Kusadasi: Celebrity, "Destination Highlight: City Panoramic Drive". It was OK; larger group, but a decent value. The stop at the rug school was informative, though of course there was a soft-sell at the end. Large bus.
• Santorini: Celebrity, "Destination Highlight: Island Drive and Village Oia". It was a good tour of the island and a couple of the towns, but it was spoiled by the tremendous bottleneck of getting on the cable cars going back to the port (about an hour in a hot, poorly-organized line). Large bus.
• Naples: Celebrity, "Small Group: Explorations of Pompeii". I might dispute the small group description, but it's all relative; maybe 25 people? Large bus. The guide was exceptional and extremely knowledgeable, and seemed to be a legend there. I felt the addition of the VR goggles added weight and bulk, and weren't used all that much, but I admit they did help convey what areas would have looked like pre-blast. The Pompeii tour is listed as more challenging than the "moderate" ones we had, but it was much easier than, say, Athens/Acropolis.

 

Hopefully this may help someone on a future cruise.

Hi RezaB - would you mind to share your private tour info in Istanbul?  Thanks in advance.

[RazaB]

@Aka414 the phone number I have for Deniz is 905314590933. Like most people there, they are active on Whatsapp; a regular text went unanswered, but via Whatsapp he was very responsive.

 

A note on how this particular operation worked: you'll communicate with the guy who is their arranger; he will set up (depending on your requirements and preferences) both a driver and a tour guide. The driver may or may not speak any English, but the tour guide (Omer, in our case) was fantastic, both in language and knowledge. Their Mercedes busses were immaculate, modern, and comfortable.

 

In our case, the main guy (with whom we had been communicating) and his driver met us outside the cruise terminal, on the sidewalk. He confirmed a few things, introduced us to the driver, then he was done, and we didn't see him again. The driver (who spoke decent English) took us up the central area we wanted (Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Cisterns all in a central area); he took us to the tour guide, introduced us, then the driver departed. After the tour was over, the tour guide called a different driver, who arrived and took us to OUR chosen dinner spot; he didn't speak any English, but he used Google Translate and it was surprisingly effective (mostly he asked yes/no questions, so that helped). I must stress how anxious and focused that driver was on getting us to our chosen dinner restaurant (there are apparently several locations in town); he had a good heart and wanted our trip to be perfect.

 

If my contact info for Deniz doesn't work out for you, let me know. I don't recall specifically, but I think our total (not including the food) was about $170 US. This was a private tour, just the two of us.

[bennybear]

We used Levant Solmaz in Ephesus,   If you haven’t seen the terrace houses they are a  Must.  If you have we highly recommend visiting Priene.  Didyma and Miletus, three Ancient Greek cities that are amazing and not so busy.   Levant arranged a great lunch right beside the ruins.