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TOURS IN ISTANBUL TOURS IN EPHESUS TOURS IN CAPPADOCIA TOURING TURKEY
Hi Kagan,
We finally got home! We had a great time in Ephesus, Yelda was such a great guide and it made Ephesus our favourite stop! We appreciated her patience as we struggled along with a stroller and 2 kids in the ancient on a hot day :) we were so glad that we had the 2 carseats and the boys got their much needed naps in there :) Thanks for the day in Ephesus! please pass this along to Yelda!
Fam Carmen Ng... Ephesus with Yelda in June, 2011
 Many people doing tours with us in Ephesus area are guests arriving to either Kusadasi or Izmir ports on board cruise ships.
Driving from Kusadasi Port to Ephesus is appx 20 minutes.
Driving from Izmir Port to Ephesus is appx one hour.

Assuming that the cruise ship of guests stops in Kusadasi Port...
starting at 8.30am, finishing around 4-5pm, there is good enough time to see/do:
- Ephesus,
- Terrace Houses of Ephesus,
- House of Virgin Mary,
- Temple of Artemis (not much left to see today... accept this as a short photo stop),
- Museum of Ephesus (a small museum with a fine collection of pieces from Ephesus... not overwhelming),
- visiting a local mosque (in case if the ship does not stop in Istanbul; where there are the best examples of Ottoman-Islamic architecture & engineering),
- and lunch in a local restaurant (if necessary).

If the ship stops in Izmir Port,
there is no time to cover all listed above.
In such times, we concentrate more on majors as:
- Ephesus,
- Terrace Houses of Ephesus and
- House of Virgin Mary.

And, we have guests arriving Istanbul only, requesting a daily trip to Ephesus.
Since Istanbul to Ephesus is appx 8 hours driving, the only way to do this is by flying.
These are one hour domestic flights with highest standard planes;
Turkish Airlines have frequent morning and evenning flights to Izmir Airport that is appx one hour driving distance from Ephesus.
A day trip from Istanbul to Ephesus is a bit tiring but very doable for guests having set reservations in Istanbul hotels.
For guests having no confirmed bookings in Istanbul hotels, a better idea is
- to fly to Izmir in the morning,
- spend the rest of the day in Ephesus area,
- overnight in Ephesus area and
- fly back to Istanbul the next morning.

One way or the other, Ephesus is a greatest visit ever. With assistance of someone who knows how to explain Ephesus, it may well be the highlight of your trip.