Private Ephesus Tour
The full classic day: ancient city, Terrace Houses, Virgin Mary’s house and St John — private, unhurried, yours.
Choose your day
Ephesus Tours
Every tour on this page is private — your group, your guide, your pace, and any group size. Start with a classic, or tell us what you love and we will build the day around it.
Ephesus divides naturally into a handful of perfect days — the marble city itself, the Christian sites in the pine hills, the village afternoons, the white terraces a little further out — and the tours below map onto them. All are private, all are led by licensed guides, and all can be reshaped freely: these pages describe our favorite versions of each day, not fixed products.
Any group size works: we run tours for groups of 1 to 52 people in one coach, and for larger groups we arrange several guides and coaches. We once ran a week-long tour around Turkey for 200 people in five buses at the same time. Small or large, your group is simple and easy for us.
The classics
The essential Ephesus days
The routes every first visit should consider — done privately, timed against the cruise crowds.
Saints, Sultans & Flavors — The Most Complete Ephesus Tour
The widest day we run: nine stops across Ephesus and Selçuk — two viewpoints over the ancient city, a living mosque, the Ephesus Museum room by room, the Temple of Artemis and a lunch cooked by local women, with every ticket and the meal in one price.
Ephesus & House of Virgin Mary Tour
The marble city and Mary’s hillside chapel in one reverent, unhurried private day.
Ephesus & Terrace Houses Tour
The classic city plus real time inside the frescoed Terrace Houses — Ephesus for people who love detail.
Ephesus Half-Day Tour
The essential marble city, door to door — the honest choice for tight schedules.
From your port or city
Shore excursions & arrivals
Door-to-door days from the Kuşadası cruise port, İzmir, Selçuk hotels — or even Istanbul.
Ephesus Shore Excursion from Kuşadası Port
Gangway to the Library of Celsus in 25 minutes — a private port day timed around your ship’s clock.
Ephesus Tour from İzmir
Door-to-door from İzmir hotels, airport or cruise terminal — one hour each way, all of Ephesus in between.
Ephesus Tour from Kuşadası
From your Kuşadası hotel to the marble streets in 25 minutes — one of the region’s easiest unmissable days.
Ephesus Tour from Istanbul
Morning flight, full guided Ephesus day, evening return — Istanbul’s classic side trip, built around your flights.
Bodrum to Ephesus Day Trip
Door to door from your Bodrum hotel: 2.5 hours each way, the whole marble city, lunch included, skip-the-line tickets at gate price.
Combinations
Ephesus and somewhere lovely
The ancient city paired with a wine village or the white terraces of Pamukkale.
Ephesus & Şirince Village Tour
Ephesus in the morning, Şirince’s lanes and fruit wines after lunch — history with dessert.
Ephesus & Pamukkale Tour
Ephesus plus Pamukkale’s white terraces and Hierapolis — one long day or two easy ones, quoted to your plan.
On foot in Kuşadası
The port town, one taste at a time
A private walking food tasting through Kuşadası old town, minutes from the cruise pier.
Walking food tasting
Kusadasi Bite by Bite — Old Kusadasi, One Taste at a Time!
Six tastings through Kuşadası old town — lentil soup, simit with tulum cheese, cig kofte, mussels by the fishing harbor, a baklava vote and Turkish delight — woven between a 1618 mosque, Ottoman walls and an award-winning little museum, all on foot and minutes from the port.
Good to know
Ephesus Tours — quick answers
Which Ephesus tour should a first-timer choose?
With a full day: the Private Ephesus Tour, which adds the House of the Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St John to the ancient city. From a cruise ship: the Shore Excursion, built around your ship’s clock. Short on time: the Half-Day Highlights still covers the heart of the marble city. Wanting to see as much as one day can hold, or traveling with grandparents or small children: Saints, Sultans & Flavors, the most complete Ephesus tour, covers nine places across Ephesus and Selçuk with every ticket and the lunch included.
What do your prices include?
Guide, private vehicle with driver, pickup at your port or hotel, lunch at a local restaurant on every tour that visits Ephesus, a visit to local artisans, skip-the-line entry with your tickets held by your guide, parking and taxes. On Saints, Sultans & Flavors, the most complete Ephesus tour, every entrance ticket is included as well. On the other tours, museum and site entrance fees are quoted separately — state prices change yearly, and we would rather be transparent than tidy.
How much does a private Ephesus tour cost?
Day tours from Kuşadası, Selçuk or the Kuşadası cruise port start from €33 per person for groups of 8 or more. The Bodrum tour starts from €44 per person for groups of 8 or more; tours that start in İzmir (hotel, port or airport) or Istanbul are priced privately (Istanbul flights not included). Saints, Sultans & Flavors starts from €39 per person for groups of 8 or more, with every entrance ticket included, and the Kuşadası food walk from €33 per person for groups of 4 or more. Every tour is private: smaller groups, the Ephesus & Pamukkale tour and special requests get a private quote.
Can you take large groups?
Yes, any size. We run tours for groups of 1 to 52 people in one coach, and for larger groups we arrange several guides and coaches. We once ran a week-long tour around Turkey for 200 people in five buses at the same time. Small or large, your group is simple and easy for us, and it is always private.
Will we be back at the ship on time?
Always. Ephesus is 25 minutes from the Kuşadası pier, we track your ship’s all-aboard time, and we build a buffer into the afternoon. In many years of port days we have never delivered a guest late to a gangway.
Not sure which day suits you? Ask a local.
Tell us who is traveling and what you love, and we will suggest the day that fits — then make it happen.
- TÜRSAB license 15746
- No prepayment to inquire
- Skip-the-line tickets at gate price
- Free cancellation up to 48 hours before