Ephesus is twenty minutes inland. The rest of the day is up to you.
Which Ephesus guide gets cruise passengers back before all-aboard. What the Terrace Houses ticket adds. Whether Pamukkale is worth three hours on the road, and which boat out of the harbour stops at the coves. Reviews of every tour you can book from Kusadasi.
Four days most first trips to Kusadasi are built on
IOff the shipFor Cruisers: Skip The Lines Private Ephesus Tour &On Time Return
IIEphesus and Mary’s HouseEphesus Temple of Artemis and House of Mary Private Half Day Tour
IIIThe long day inlandPamukkale Small Group Tour from Kusadasi Port/Hotels
IVA day on the guletKusadasi & National Park Boat Tours with Lunch and Transfer
Private guide, ship-timed group, Mary’s House, or the Terrace Houses: choose your Ephesus.
Nearly every visit here includes the ruined city above Selcuk. The questions are who walks you down Curetes Street, how much else gets folded into the morning, and what the day costs.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 7,233 reviewsTop Choice For Cruisers: Ephesus, Mary’s House With Tickets+Lunch
A guide to yourselfYour pace, your questions, a driver waiting at the gate.
Timed to the shipCollected at the pier and back before all-aboard.
Ephesus plus Mary’s HouseThe ruins, then the stone chapel up on Bulbuldag.
Under the roofThe Roman homes with their frescoes and floor mosaics intact.
Browse the 247 Ephesus listings →
Four Kusadasi bookings to settle before the gangway drops.
Most of this coast can be sorted on the morning. These four run on ship clocks, second tickets and long roads, and they are the ones that go wrong when they are left to the pier.
- IFor Ship Guests:Best Seller Ephesus Private Tour & On Time ReturnThe ship leaves at all-aboard with or without you. Book a tour built around the gangway time, not one that hopes to make it.from $39
- II3-Hour Private Ephesus, Terrace Houses, Cruiser OnlyThe Terrace Houses take a second ticket on top of the main Ephesus entry. Check which tours include it before you pay.from $30
- IIIPrivate NO Hidden Fees Ephesus, Mary’s House Guided Tour /Grp OptMary’s House sits up a mountain road several kilometres above the ruins. Without a car or a tour it is a long, hot climb.from $99
- IVPamukkale Small Group Tour From Kusadasi or Selcuk HotelsPamukkale is around three hours each way by road. It takes the whole day, so give it a day with nothing else in it.from $72
Ruins up the valley, white terraces inland, a wine village in the hills.
Kusadasi is the base: harbour, castle island and the bay. Everything else is a drive, from twenty minutes to Ephesus to three hours to the travertines.
The Kusadasi days that fill up first.
Every tour from Kusadasi →The tours more travellers book than anything else on this stretch of coast, and what puts each one near the top.
1
For Cruisers: Skip The Lines Private Ephesus Tour &On Time Return
Meet your English-speaking guide at Kusadasi cruise port and travel by air-conditioned vehicle to Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary and the Temple of Artemis. This private tour runs about four to six hours, with a flexible pace and advance ticket arrangements to help you avoid ticket lines. Guides who have led the tour include Fatih, Dicle, Tuna and Eda, though your guide is not specified in advance.
From · $39
Read our review →
2
Top Choice For Cruisers: Ephesus, Mary’s House With Tickets+Lunch
from $29
3
Private NO Hidden Fees Ephesus, Mary’s House Guided Tour /Grp Opt
from $99
4
For Ship Guests:Best Seller Ephesus Private Tour & On Time Return
from $39
5
All Included: Ephesus Ruins, Mary’s House Tour incl Entry Tickets
from $59
6
Ephesus Temple of Artemis and House of Mary Private Half Day Tour
from $15
7
Private Tour For Cruisers: Mary’s House (Meryemana) and Ephesus
from $29
Dilek Peninsula by jeep, quad, saddle or gulet.
South of town the national park runs down to empty coves, and the bay itself is warm enough for a full day afloat. Jeeps take the dirt roads with a water fight at the end, the quads and buggies stick to the hills, and the boats anchor off the swimming bays.
- 1Full-Day National Park Jeep Tour with Lunchfrom $30
- 2Guided Quad Biking Tourfrom $20
- 3Guided Buggy Adventure Tourfrom $26
Three corners of the Kusadasi coast with no copy anywhere else.
Roman ruins are everywhere on this coast. Roofed townhouses with their paintings still on the walls, a pilgrims’ chapel on a pine hill, and a village that makes wine from blackberries are not.
The Terrace Houses
On the slope above Curetes Street, a block of Roman homes has been excavated room by room and sealed under a protective roof. Walkways run above wall paintings, marble panels and floor mosaics. It is the one part of Ephesus out of the midday sun, and it needs its own ticket.
- 13-Hour Private Ephesus, Terrace Houses, Cruiser Only★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 274 reviews
- 2All Inclusive Private Ephesus, Terrace Houses tour with Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 203 reviews
- 3Ephesus Private/Mini Group Tours Terrace Houses Option Skip Lines★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 175 reviews
Mary’s House
A small stone chapel in the pines on Bulbuldag, above the ruins, where tradition holds Mary spent her last years. Popes have visited and Christian and Muslim pilgrims both come. Below it, a wall of tied wishes and a spring with taps people drink from.
- 1Ephesus Temple of Artemis and House of Mary Private Half Day Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,573 reviews
- 2Private Tour For Cruisers: Mary’s House (Meryemana) and Ephesus★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,349 reviews
- 3All Inclusive Private Ephesus, House of Virgin Mary with lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 819 reviews
Sirince
A village of white-walled stone houses in the hills above Selcuk, once Greek and still built that way. The tasting rooms pour wine made from blackberry, peach, melon and pomegranate, and the lanes sell olive oil soap and lace. Most tours pair it with Ephesus for lunch.
- 1Private Ephesus and Sirince Village Tour from Kusadasi port only★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 119 reviews
- 2Shore Excursions: Half Day Ephesus & Şirince Village Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 39 reviews
- 3All Inclusive Private Ephesus, The House of Mary, Sirince Village★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 37 reviews
Pamukkale: white terraces three hours east.
Calcium-white pools spill down a hillside, with the Roman spa town of Hierapolis on top and an ancient pool you can swim in. It is the longest day on the menu here, and these are the ways travellers do it.
What a day around Kusadasi costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. Plenty of good Ephesus mornings come in under the price of a harbour-front dinner.
Group mornings in Ephesus, hammam sessions, quad hours and the cheaper shore runs.
Private Ephesus with entry fees, the Pamukkale coach day, boat days with lunch.
All-inclusive private days, multi-site drives and guides with a car to yourself.
When Curetes Street is all marble and no shade.
From June to September the ruins hold the heat by late morning and there is almost no cover between the gates. Go at opening, then spend the afternoon somewhere cooler: under the Terrace Houses roof, in the steam of a hammam, or out on the water.
By place: the port, the valley and the long drives
Kusadasi to Ephesus, the hill villages and Pamukkale: the usual three-day loop.
Dilek PeninsulaFresh Kusadasi tour reviews.
Browse the newest tours →
Pamukkale and Hierapolis: Full-Day Private or Group Tour
Read our review →
Kusadasi Cruise Port: Best of Ephesus Tour | Skip-The-Line
Read our review →
Ephesus Ancient City, Ceramic Workshop & Shopping
Read our review →
Private Ephesus Tour For Cruisers: from Kusadasi Cruise Port
Read our review →
Private Halfday Ephesus Tour with Temple of Artemis Tour
Read our review →
From Kusadasi or Selcuk: Full-Day Ephesus Tour with Lunch
Read our review →
