Ephesus - Tour A or B??
 

Will be cruising Greek Islands plus 10-hour-day docked at Kusadasi. Trying to decide which tour of Ephesus to do:
A - 7 hours - includes the sites of Library of Celsus, Baths, Great Theatre; plus stops at House of Virgin Mary, Basilica of St. John and the Archeological Museum, plus lunch.
B - 4 hours - includes the above sites in Ephesus but specifically includes the Terrace Houses, which I hear are must-sees.
Our agent believes Tour A does not include stopping in Terrace Houses.
What would you recommend for Ephesus?

My experience while staying in Kusadasi was to hire a taxi who waited for us and we toured Ephesus on our own. You can request to stop wherever you like. Bring a guide book or buy one at the site. I enjoyed it very much.

I'm not understanding this. One is a 7 hr tour that you think does not include terrace houses--the other is only a 4 hr tour that includes everything in the 7 hr tour PLUS the terrace houses. Is this possible? I'd take the 4 hr tour, of course unless there is some explanation as to how this is possible, other than lunch which can't take 3 hours.

You need a new agent if they do not know and just "believe" something about tours but aren't really sure. It's their job to find out.

Are you sure tour B includes the same things? I would expect that it might not include the House of Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St John, perhaps.

If the 7 hour tour does include the terrace houses (there must be a better descripton of this tour available), I might take it as you probably don't have anything else to do in that time, anyway. If tour A does not include terrace houses (which would be very odd), I'd look around.

viator.com has tons of day excursions to Epheses that give better descriptions than this and make it clear what they cover. I would avoid one that talks about carpets.

I LOVED seeing the Terrace houses and would recommend your option "B" The Terrace houses were wonderful & a "big wow" not to miss.

For me the 4 hour tour was definitely long enough for the visit to Ephesus.

Of course everyone is different & has different priorities of their "MUST SEE" things to include.

Just make sure you wear appropriate shoes as it is crumbling stones, uneven paths and stairs and steps into the Terrace House.

TrendGirl2

Four hours is enough for Ephesus. At least for my family. You don't want to miss the Terrace houses.

The Terrace Houses are well worth seeing, IMO. I would have hated to miss them.

And I agree that the timing -- about 4 hours for Ephesus itself -- should work.

Bring water, sunscreen, and a hat or other protection from the sun and enjoy!

Curious, what are the costs of those tours?

We joined up with a few other people from the cruise ship, formed our own group and hired a driver with a van for the day. It turned out to be the cheapest way possible and we were in charge of our own tour.

You can always hire a guide at the Ephesus Site to describe what you personally want to see and know about. A good guide book works too.

Aliced, most of the sites in the 7 hour tour are inside Ephesus, which is really easy to tour. The exception is the House of the Virgin Mary, which didn't impress me (but is easy to get to in a taxi from Ephesus), and the museum. Personally, I'd take a taxi, as others have said, and to Ephesus on your own. The Terrace Houses are halfway down the "route" within Ephesus, so once you get there you can simply buy tickets, go inside, and continue with the rest of the site. After you see Ephesus you can take a taxi to town, have lunch there, and decide whether or not you want to go to the museum, or simply walk around the town and shop.

I rarely recommend tours or guides. I STRONGLY recommend a guide for the Terrace Houses of Ephesus. JMO.

Don't miss the Terrace Houses.

Not sure what sort of tour you are taking but there are many good operators who will tailor your tour to what you would like and they are not that expensive either.

That being said going to Ephesus should include IMHO a trip to the terrace houses. We were amazed really and i consider it a must see. Our guide took us to a fabulous local restaurant with at least 20 selections for a great buffet lunch. We actually had a port stop the following yr. in Kusadasi and then we saw Marys House and the village of Sirince what was really quaint and we went to this same restaurant again. The food is fresh made and a lot is grown in their yard. Do consider it! As you can see its ranked 3/89 in the region.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...ean_Coast.html

The Terrace Houses are fascinating -- it would be a shame to go to Ephesus and not see them.

We, too, had a long day at Kusadasi. Instead of taking the ship's tours, we booked a private guide and spent the whole day seeing everything you listed, plus had lunch at a private house in a small village. It was well worth the money, and the private guide told us about and pointed out things that we would have missed on our own.

Just two additions to all the good advice above :

1. Make sure your tour or guide does not include visits to Leather, carpet or jewellery stores. Loss of valuable time to allow commissions to tour operator and guide.

2. Visit the archeological museum even if only to see the mosaic of the eyes that follow you no matter where you stand.

Thanks all, believe we'll opt for the four-hour tour of ancient Ephesus including the Terrace Houses. Christina, the seven-hour tour includes the Library, Baths, Great Theatre (covered in the four-hour too), then departs for House of Virgin Mary, Basilica, Museum and lunch. Annettetx, did you use Tours by Locals as your private guide? That is another option still not ruled out. Agreed, no thanks, on the bazaar of carpets & jewelry. Sassafrass, the 7-hour tour price is locked in at $105 pp, with the 4-hour tour flexible, $128 based on 4 in group, cheaper for more.