Ship's tour in Ephesus

[Charliesmom]

Has anyone take a ship's tour in Ephesus?

 

Were you happy with it?

 

How many people were on the tour? Was the guide good?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Roberta

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We took the ship's tour last year. It was a small group of about 20. The guide would stop and point out different carvings, pieces and areas to us, give us background and move a bit further. At the end, we were in the town and were given the usual Rug Making Demonstration with snacks, beverages and option to buy. We walked around the town and back to the ship. Oceania people were at the exit to Ephesus with wet, elmon scented washcloths - it was quite warm. The tour was perfect and the guide excellent.

[Benita]

My husband and I hired a private guide from an agency called Ekol - web site http://www.ekoltravel.com It was great. We had a private guide and a driver with an airconditioned minivan for the day. We went to Ephesus (make sure not to miss the terrace houses) and then to the Temple of Artemis, and then to the museum located downtown, into which many of the treasures had been placed from Ephesus. We also had a picnic snack in a park. The price for the whole trip was about $70 each and that included all the admissions. It is about $15 cheaper to skip the Terrace Houses, but they were well worth it.

[caribbeansun]

I would strongly recommend using a private guide in Ephesus - there's so much to see there. We spent almost 3.5 hours going through the site and definitely see the Terrace Houses. The use of a private guide allowed us the opportunity to ask many questions and have many, many things explained that I suspect otherwise would not have been conveyed on a larger tour. Our attitude is - we're only coming here once so we had better make sure we get as much out of the experience as we can.

[Penzance]

Benita: Was your tour of Ephesus with Ekol travel recent? It wasn't clear if there were just the two of you in the Mini-van with guide and driver for $70 per person including all the admissions, or you shared the van with other travelers? If so, how many were there?

[Benita]

We were in Ephesus in July 2007 (Black Sea cruise). There were just the two of us. If you click on Ekol's web site and then click on Turkey and then click on shore excursions, you will see what they offer. We had been to Ephesus before, but wanted to see it again. We have been to Mary's house and the Basilica before, so opted to take their tour number 2, which was Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis. It was $59 per person plus $10 for the Terrace Houses (don't miss them), so the total was $138 for the two of us. If you have more people with you, the price goes down, but we wanted just us.

We also used them for a full day tour of Istanbul. We did all the usual tourist sites, as well as some independent shopping time at the Grand Bazaar. For that excursion, we had a guide and driver (although, most of the trip was on foot, as the sites are very close to eachother.)

The guides on both excursions were great and the value was exceptional.

[Penzance]

Thank you Benita. I checked on Ekol's website and they do have very good tours and rates. Your tour of Ephesus and Terraced houses with guide, driver, A/C Van and admission fees was indeed excellent. I have been quoted, by another tour operator, $300 for the same.

 

You mentioned your tour of Istanbul also included a car and driver. Was the rate around $150 too? Was there any pressure to visit a carpet store? I have been quoted, by another tour operator, $150 for a walking tour of Istanbul, plus another $150 if we needed a car and driver. Never-the-less, these rates are far more reasonable than the Oceania tours.

[Benita]

If you click on the shore excursions in Turkey and then the tours in Istanbul, we took number 1. We have been to Istanbul before, but wanted to see the Blue Mosque, Haig Sophia, and the Topkapi Palace again. It was about $60 each and included the driver and guide. (This time is was a four door Toyota), which took us from the ship to the Blue Mosque and we did the rest on foot and then the car picked us up again and took us to the Grand Bazaar for an hour and then back to the ship. The guide took us to lunch by Topkapi Palace (we paid for lunch separately). It was about $60 per person, which included all admissions. I see it is about the same price now.

[Acrusa]

We are thinking of choosing Excursion #1 Ofered by Oceania.We are arriving on a Friday and taking this tour on Saturday.The ship offered us a free half day tour but we figuered all the sites are open on saturday.

Has anyone taken the ships tour Im reffering to?

[Penzance]

Thank you Benita, you are very helpful. I have checked on Ekol's website and saw the three alternative tours for Istanbul. One thing isn't quite clear is the length of each tour. Was your number 1 tour from 9am to 4pm? If you wanted more time in the Grand Bazaar - could you? Or were you on a schedule? Was your guide fluent in English?

[Benita]

The guide was totally fluent and understandable. As there were just the two of us, we were able to start when we wanted and come back when we wanted - we had the guide, car, and driver from 9 until about 5. There really was no schedule - other than traffic in the streets, the sights were not particularly crowded, so we accomplished quite a bit of sightseeing in less time than usual. We had lunch in a cafeteria style restaurant at the Topkapi Palace, so not to waste too much time. When we were dropped off at the Grand Bazaar, we made up a meeting place with the guide (all the merchants speak English). We had been there before, but just wanted to wander for awhile - the quality of the merchandise isn't so great anymore. I think we spent about an hour there, but could have stayed longer, if we wanted.

[Charliesmom]

Thank you for the excellent information.

 

We have sent Ekol our credit card info and are waiting to get a confirmation of our tour with them.

 

Roberta

[caribbeansun]

You may wish to by-pass the carpet store. For us this ended the day rather poorly - we didn't need a hard sell by some guy in a room where they closed the doors on us - rather intimidating with just the two of us and decidedly not enjoyable.

[Penzance]

Oh, that is a consideration with Ekol. The tour guides that gave me quotes did not require payment up front. Full payment comes after the tours are completed.

 

Caribbeansun. So sorry to hear you were pressured into visiting a Carpet Store. We will make sure it is not on our agenda before starting our tour. We had enough of the Silk and Pearl stores in China!

[CruseKrazy]

I would strongly recommend using a private guide in Ephesus - there's so much to see there. We spent almost 3.5 hours going through the site and definitely see the Terrace Houses. The use of a private guide allowed us the opportunity to ask many questions and have many, many things explained that I suspect otherwise would not have been conveyed on a larger tour. Our attitude is - we're only coming here once so we had better make sure we get as much out of the experience as we can.

 

Thanks for this info. We will likely book a private tour with Ekol. :D

[Aruba]

Charliesmom, I'm curious -- we also reserved a tour of Ephesus through Ekol but they did not ask for a credit card deposit or even a credit card to hold the reservation. Did they ask you for your credit card number or did you offer it?

[Benita]

We had to put a deposit on a credit card when we booked with Ekol last year and they put the rest on the same card when the tour was completed. Sure beats carrying around cash, and we had the protection of the credit card company should something happen.

[Gail in California]

I agree that Ekol is a good agency. I used them in Ephesus & Istanbul in Oct. 2007. However, you will probably wind up in a rug store whether it is the 2 of you or a larger group. That just is the way over there even if not stated on your itinerary. There is a lot of pressure to buy the rugs. Believe me! Try telling them you do NOT want to go to one- however it is very interesting to see them made.

[Benita]

We used EKOL in Ephesus and Istanbul. We were asked if we wanted to go to a carpet store in each place and when we said no, it was skipped. We did, however, agree to go to a ceramics factory in Ephesus (great toilet facilities), where we browsed around for a few minutes (and found our ceramic whirling dervish).

[RJB]

We expest to be there in Aug. so this is very good infomation for us. Thanks to all.:)