Visiting Ephesus

[donaldsc]

I am going to be on a cruise that stops in Kusadasi Turkey.  That seems to be the closest that I stop to Ephesus.  Google Maps says that it takes slightly more than 1 hour to drive from Kusadasi  to Ephesus.  Star Clipper has a tour that visits Ephesus with a total tour length of 3 h 45 m.  This makes no sense to me if Ephesus is the major site that everyone says it is.  Am I missing something since I would guess that you can not really see Ephesus in only 1 hour or so.  Should I book a private tour or maybe hire a taxi to see Ephesus.

 

Also I just posted roll calls for the Oct 1 2022 and the Oct 8 2022 Cyclades cruises on CC.

 

Any thoughts.

 

DON

[Denarius]

Star Clippers ships do not always follow the standard cruise ship pattern of overnight sailings arriving in port early morning and leaving late afternoon; sometimes they do not arrive until lunch time,  but may not sail until late. Sometimes they may arrive early but leave in the afternoon.

Tours are tailored to fit in with the time the ship is in port.

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, Denarius said:

Star Clippers ships do not always follow the standard cruise ship pattern of overnight sailings arriving in port early morning and leaving late afternoon; sometimes they do not arrive until lunch time,  but may not sail until late. Sometimes they may arrive early but leave in the afternoon.

Tours are tailored to fit in with the time the ship is in port.

 

Many thanks.  Sounds as if you have done Star Clipper cruises before.  These will be my first.  I just love sailboats.

 

Anyway - I did contact Clipper Cruises and got their planned port visit times although they emphasized that it depends upon the wind, weather and the captain.  I figured that and there is also the chance that we might not even get into the planned ports.  The port times for Kusadisi arrival at 11:30 and departure at 23:00 so this will give me plenty of time to do a longer than 3h 45m tour assuming that I can find one that leaves at the right time.  I will just have to make sure that the tour operator knows that I am coming into port on a sailboat and my arrival times will be a bit flexible.

 

Does any of this make sense?  Thanks for the info.

 

DON

[donaldsc]

23 hours ago, donaldsc said:

I am going to be on a cruise that stops in Kusadasi Turkey.  That seems to be the closest that I stop to Ephesus.  Google Maps says that it takes slightly more than 1 hour to drive from Kusadasi  to Ephesus.  Star Clipper has a tour that visits Ephesus with a total tour length of 3 h 45 m.  This makes no sense to me if Ephesus is the major site that everyone says it is.  Am I missing something since I would guess that you can not really see Ephesus in only 1 hour or so.  Should I book a private tour or maybe hire a taxi to see Ephesus.

 

Also I just posted roll calls for the Oct 1 2022 and the Oct 8 2022 Cyclades cruises on CC.

 

Any thoughts.

 

DON

 

I got my port times for these cruises and will post them on the cruise roll calls.

 

DON

[Denarius]

21 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Many thanks.  Sounds as if you have done Star Clipper cruises before.  These will be my first.  I just love sailboats.

 

Anyway - I did contact Clipper Cruises and got their planned port visit times although they emphasized that it depends upon the wind, weather and the captain.  I figured that and there is also the chance that we might not even get into the planned ports.  The port times for Kusadisi arrival at 11:30 and departure at 23:00 so this will give me plenty of time to do a longer than 3h 45m tour assuming that I can find one that leaves at the right time.  I will just have to make sure that the tour operator knows that I am coming into port on a sailboat and my arrival times will be a bit flexible.

 

Does any of this make sense?  Thanks for the info.

 

DON

Yes, it does.

I have sailed with Star Clippers 8 or 9 times and have only known one occasion when a port was missed due to the weather; another port was substituted. But then, maybe I've been lucky. Arrival times tend to be a bit flexible depending on the wind conditions but departure times are usually adhered to.

[cluso]

We just did the Ephesus tour off the Star Flyer in early May 2022.  It took maybe 30 minutes to get there from the ship, not an hour.   The tour was long enough, plenty of walking/standing/stair climbing--no areas to sit.  Most all were more than ready to leave.  It was very crowded, and the entrance and exits were a "zoo".  Thankfully, our tour guide had our passes loaded electronically, so were we able to enter the grounds pretty fast.

[islander47]

This is the one cruise line where I generally take the ship shore excursions. They are generally priced like ones you would book elsewhere and will fit the ship's sailing schedule with no worries.

Did visit Ephesus with Star Clipper some years ago, and the tour was excellent. Just escape the bazaar as fast as you can.

[mapsd]

14 hours ago, islander47 said:

This is the one cruise line where I generally take the ship shore excursions. They are generally priced like ones you would book elsewhere and will fit the ship's sailing schedule with no worries.

Did visit Ephesus with Star Clipper some years ago, and the tour was excellent. Just escape the bazaar as fast as you can.

Agree.  
We really enjoyed the Ephesus tour.  I'd recommend choosing the option that includes the terraced houses. 

After returning to the port, the group is taken straight to a demonstration on Turkish rug making that was interesting, but time-consuming and was primarily a sales pitch.

If doing it again, I'd walk away from the group after returning from Ephesus & do the final few hours on my own.

 

We often prefer paying for a private tour, but the variable docking times makes it a little riskier to book in advance.  Plus, with the Clipper ships, you know it will always be a relatively small group.

Edited July 9, 2022 by mapsd

[littleh]

Yep star clipper Ephesus tour was an absolute highlight for us.  Air conditioned transport is a must!