Small-Group: Ephesus and The House of Virgin Mary Day Trip from Istanbul

We were picked up at our hotel at 4am and returned about 8:30pm. Throughout the entire 16 1/2 hour day, we only spent about 1 hour at Ephesus and were given no free time at all inside the city. We were taken to a rug shop so that they could show us how rugs are made but then they tried to sell you. The icing on the cake was next being brought to a leather shop to ensure a lights out fashion show with again more sales efforts to get us to buy their leather products. We signed up for a tour of Ephesus not a sales trip. Finally, the tour guide was terrible. Extremely strong accent, hard to understand and she didn’t have her facts correct about history but she passed along her superstitions and her opinions. Although the one hour in Ephesus was amazing, largely the day was a waste.

Our trip to Istanbul was amazing, but we really wanted to see Ephesus while in Turkey. Viator made this possible. They arranged an early morning picked up from our Istanbul hotel and put us on a Turkish Airline flight to Izmir (Turkey’s 3rd largest city). Our guide and driver met us at the Izmir airport and drove us the short distance to Ephesus. Our tour included four major stops. The first stop was the Ephesus House of Virgin Mary and Saint John (Jesus put his mother in John’s care while dying on the cross). The second stop was the ancient city of Ephesus. The ruins of this Greek city included: the Odeon (Senate), Hadrian’s Temple, Mosaic sidewalk, Library of Celsus, and the Theater. The theater has held several modern concerts including: Pavarotti, Sting, Elton John, and Ray Charles. The third stop was lunch and a short carpet making demonstration at Turkmen Carpet. The last stop was the Basilica of Saint John. Throughout our visit we were kept informed and entertained by our very knowledgeable and awesome guide Ceyla Ergon. She was great! At the end of the day, we were put on a return flight and taken back to our hotel. Everything was super professional and we highly recommend it.

this was truly a small group tour the guide was great and very informative. I could not have asked for anything better.

Excellent tour and guide. Very efficient pickup at the airport and transfers to and from the hotel. Amazing opportunity to see two 2 pretty special places. Highly recommend and can be accomplished in one day/

It was an absolute privilege to walk in the same paths and alleys as were some of the political giants, gladiators and philosophers of the Roman empire had walked and to experience the Christian history of this ancient jewel. What made our visit to Ephesus so special, was that our guide Ismail majored in history, archaeology and religion as part of his bachelors degree. It was amazing to discover some of the hidden gems in Ephesus and to imagine what the city must have looked like 2000 years ago :-

My partner and I recently late March 2017 visited Ephesus on a day trip. Our guide, Ismail was very knowledgeable and took the time to explain in detail the major highlights of Ephesus and made sure we avoided the crowds. He made sure we were checked in for our return flight. A great way to experience this part of Turkey and truly unforgettable. Thank you.

I thoroughly enjoyed the private tour to Ephesus July 8, 2016 and want to commend Gokce Tascilar and the drivers for their excellent services and hospitality. Will be remembered for a long, long time - for sure!.

Excellent guide - Mr Top. Not at all crowded. Wonderful weather. Flight connections and airport and hotel pick ups perfect.

I was picked up at my Istanbul Hotel on time and efficiently transported to the airport for the flight to Ismir, where I was met by the tour guide. The guide was knowledgeable and informative. The entire tour was well-organized and efficient. there were just 2 of us with the guide--which is not typical, according to my understanding.

This was an excellent tour in every way! We were staying privately in Istanbul and so an arrangement was made for the minibus to pick us up at a nearby hotel. This would have been easier to arrange if an email address had been provided rather than a local phone number, however, we managed email contact in the end and all went well. All the staff involved with transfers were good at their jobs, prompt, efficient and welcoming. Would be a good idea to tell/remind people to bring passports official photo ID to the airport fortunately we did have ours. Similarly for those who collect frequent flyer points advance knowledge of the airline might help ours was Turkish Air - Star Alliance. The tour itself was absolutely brilliant and our tour guide was much the same. We were very fortunate to have Mr Serhat Top as our guide he was knowledgeable, insightful and enormously helpful. This was no 'follow the orange umbrella' tour! Everything was included in the tour as per the printed information, so this may be more along the lines of a means of alternate gratuity than travel advice: we found that our 5 day Museum Passes bought in Istanbul also would have worked at a number of the sites we visited. Lunch was relaxed outdoors dining.The meal was traditional, simple and very satisfying. The restaurant staff were more than helpful and obliging, especially given my garlic allergy - advised in advance. The cooperative carpet making presentation and demonstration was very informative. We had make it clear to our tour guide beforehand that we were not in the market to buy carpets or leather goods for that matter. The journey home went smoothly and we were met and transferred by the same people who had sent us off that morning. Yes, it is a long day but worth every minute of it. We'd certainly do it again if we found ourselves back in Istanbul. Thank you Viator!