Private Van with Guide Kusadasi & Istanbul

[Kiwi Brenda]

Has anyone booked either/both of these excursions?  Wondering how exactly it works. Not a lot of detail on the excursion on Princess website other than one person books the vehicle for everyone.  Do you just meet with Guide on the day and tell them where you want to go? Do they make contact beforehand so you can plan your time?  Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Steelers36]

40 minutes ago, Kiwi Brenda said:

Has anyone booked either/both of these excursions?  Wondering how exactly it works. Not a lot of detail on the excursion on Princess website other than one person books the vehicle for everyone.  Do you just meet with Guide on the day and tell them where you want to go? Do they make contact beforehand so you can plan your time?  Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks.

In this case, why not book a private tour company for similar thing?  We did for Ephesus out of Kusadasi port and for Istanbul.  Used sister/brother companies and got a good rate for booking two.

 

[juniper berries]

Hi we did a private car and guide in St Petersburg and it was fabulous. Pre covid. When we did this I remember  giving a form to the shore excurrsions desk with a list of places we wanted to go. We had to pay entrance fees and we used the coat check at the Hermitage and at another museum we visited. Also we paid for lunch for the guide. We meet our  guide  inside the cruise terminal after Russian imgration.  At the end of the day we were dropped off outside the cruise terminal and tipped the guide. And then went through Russian imagination again to re board the ship.  I hope this helps I know it is a different port but I am sure the way it is done is the same. Hope you have a fantastic day in both places we never got to go to either due to unrest in Turkey. We got to see Kotor which was an awesome  sail in and out. Enjoy your cruise.

Ps. We had local currency with us to pay the entrance fees and for the tip for the guide.

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

15 hours ago, juniper berries said:

 And then went through Russian imagination again to re board the ship. 

I can only imagine...! 😄 Sorry...couldn't resist!

[Ace_Caliente]

We used Ekol Travel to book a private van and guide for the 4 of us. Ask to be guided by Errol if possible - excellent English, very nice man. We paid 296 USD for 4 of us including Ephesus and the Terrace Houses. I talked to Valentina to make the booking over email after using their web form. Getting to and from Ephesus is a bit of a pain so having all of that handled was nice. They also offer tours in Istanbul, but we didn't bother booking one and just wandered around on our own.

[kilili]

We hired a private tour with Levent Solmaz in Kusadasi in 22.  It was just six of us but the van could accommodate up to 15 people for the same price and it was 365.00 USD.  This did not include entrance fees, but on the actual date he did not charge for any of the entrance fees.  He was a great guide.  We went to the House of Virgin Mary, Ephesus (including the Terrace Houses) and did a stop at a leather shop.  It was a great day.

[rebmevon]

 

We went on a great tour to Ephesus with Ephesus Shuttle in April 2022 and I would recommend them to anyone. We booked a group tour - up to 10 people but we were the only two on the tour. I was impressed that they still ran the tour for just two people. We got to Ephesus before the tour buses and our guide Orkan was excellent. Communication was quick and easy via WhatsApp and we paid at the end of the tour. All in all highly recommended and at a fraction of the cost of the cruise company tours. https://www.ephesusshuttle.com/categories/kusadasi-to-ephesus?id=1

[PoolSlider]

https://www.istanbultourstudio.com/

Used this company in Istanbul last May. Licensed and very engaging guide with driver.