We will be taking a Princess Cruise in June 2009. One of the stops is Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey. Would love to see the terrace house and House of the Virgin Mary. What else should we see? Does anyone have a name of a good tour guide? Thinking a private tour would be better than the ship excursions.

Here is the name of the tour guide Ihad and I was very pleased with them.


Jenny / Ekol Travel Ltd.

[email protected]

You will get the complete tour of the ruins of Ephesus and also the Virgin Mary House... which is a little further away.

Have a nice time

I was on a cruise and ship stopped early morning around 6.30/7.00. Decided to get a taxi to Ephesus and negotiated a fare with driver who took us to Ephesus,carpet factory and government owned gold shop.Taxis wait for the cruise shipsw to come in.I especially wanted to see the remains of the temple of Diana(Artemis)one of the Ancient Wonders of the World which is very near the ruins of Ephesus.Some other people on the cruise got a bus to the site.The cruise trips are expensive and you do not have a choice.I bought a booklet guide to Ephesus just outside the entrance and had sufficient info to satisfy me.We had to board the ship by 1 pm so our time was limited.Fantastic place and I would go again.The ship excursion did not cover the temple of Diana.
People will try to sell you what thay say are ancient coins etc but just take no notice.I bought a couple of statues of Artemis and knocked the vendor down from 40 euros to 15 euros.If you want any other info e mail me at [email protected].

Guides can not ( or should not ) accept direct clients by law. And I wonder if jenny is Turkish or not as the law for being a professional guide requires Turkish citizenship....
TXlady, bettr to find a good travel compnay to have private tour of Ephesus. Do not miss Museum of Selcuk.....

Happy travelling,

Murat

We were just in Ephasus last week and, like crdtny, we also purchased one of the Ephesus guidebooks at the entrance and found it sufficient. We already knew some of the history though, from doing our own research. I do highly suggest the second entrance into to houses. It's a live archeological site and very cool to see.

The house of the Virgin Mary is in such a beautiful setting; I think the drive up was just as fascinating as the site itself. The Temple of Artemis is a small site but definitely worth going.

If you do have time, the ruins of St. Johns, in Selcuk and only about 10 minutes from Ephasus and 2 minutes from the Temple of Artemis, is also a fascinating site. Very large, and it's believed to be the final resting spot for St. John the Evangelist.

Tracy