4.7 / 5Exclusive Ephesus, St John and Carpets
Fabulous tour
December 05, 2023
From Kusadasi we went to top of Ephesus and enjoyed an incredible walk down through a very interesting and important part of ancient history. Our guide was knowledgeable and kept a reasonable pace. Included as a nice lunch in the garden at the carpet factory with intriguing demonstrations of silk worm processing and carpet weaving.
Reviewer: Cec Wiseman
Ephesus Tour/ Persian carpet demonstration
September 28, 2023
Of all our excursions off the ship, this was the pinnacle of our entire trip. Our tour guide John was impressive with his knowledge base as well as in his presentation…Amazing!! My wife and I really enjoyed our day.
Thank you!!
Reviewer: Patrick
Ephesus, St. John and Carpets - Great Tour
September 07, 2023
We arrived on Odyssey of the Seas on time. The tour guide was waiting for us at the port. The tour to Ephesus was very educative. The guide was very knowledgeable about the place and its history. The lunch outside the carpet factory was very nice, tasty and joyful. The visit to the carpet factory was amazing and my family enjoyed it the most! The Minibus was clean with great air-condition. This was a great tour with a great guide and well worthy the cost. Strongly recommended!
Reviewer: Israel Schechter
Absolutely enjoyed Exclusive Ephesus
July 30, 2023
From the simple pick up to finish, back at the pier, this excursion was perfect. Noah our Host/guide, filled our day with history, context and amazing insight. When the visuals alone would have sent us home in awe, we learned the incredible stories of this ancient are.
Reviewer: Rob Gerber
Outstanding Tour
July 18, 2022
My guide, Ekin, I had a personal tour guide, made sure that I got an appreciation for not only the significance of Ephesus in its time, but the local area of Kusadasi in the present. first of all he was extremely knowledgeable and could connect the relevance of the history with the way of life at the time. He knew Ephesus and its history and its cultural and political significance to the region in that era. He was personable and unassuming. He made the tour exceptional.
Reviewer: Roy Phillips
Ephesus trip
December 27, 2016
The ride and accommodation to get to the location was safe and while we road the information was helpful with the history. The tickets and access where swift and made getting to the ruins and secondly the church easy. The location was well understood and the history was amazing. The guide was very helpful and kept us moving so that in the time that we had we could see all the best views and locations.. The trip was fun for my family including my 16 year old; we enjoyed seeing where Paul preached and John was entombed.
Reviewer: Quinten Stewart
Casual/Easy walking tour
December 24, 2016
I was pleasantly surprised that only two us in this tour group as our tour guide had not been given an assignment for 3 months. She was pleasant, timely, and quite knowledgeable. The tour last from 9am to about 3pm, including Ephesus, St. John Church, and carpet demonstration/sales + Turkish lunch. In general, the tour was informative, easy on walking, and very pleasant overall. I was disappointed that she did not take us into the new excavation of Ephesus ""tent city"" and she did not offer us the option to do us as we have plenty of time.
Reviewer: Phil Lowe
Highly Recommended
December 22, 2016
This was by far the best excursion on the entire cruise. Our guide was phenomenal, giving us important tips along the way. Ephesus was amazing, seeing all the ruins, the public restrooms, and the area where the ""rich"" resided. Thereafter, going to see how they make the handmade carpets and pottery was very informative and enjoyable. The lunch that was provided to us in the courtyard was delicious and exquisite. This excursion was much better than the Classical Rome and Exclusive Athens with free time in Plaka, both of which were garbage and a complete waste of money.
Reviewer: Stuart
greeat personalized tour
December 19, 2016
We didn't expect it but the tour ended to be just for us, Our guide was very well informed and attentive. We loved the meal. The carpets exhibition was not what I expected because there was little exhibition and more selling, but they were no pushy so I didn't mind (but perhaps they should advice that this part is more for people on the market)
Reviewer: Olivia Kosakoff
It was great to visit these very special sites
May 16, 2016
We appreciated our guide's historial knowledge which made these visits very interesting.
Reviewer: Gengkis
Great day in Ephesus!
November 14, 2015
We had an excellent tour guide named ""Kamber Dinek"". It ended up just being a private tour with my husband and I and ""Kam"". Well worth the price, Ephesus was our favorite stop/excursion on our cruise to Greece and Turkey. Very informative in exploring Ancient Ephesus and enjoyed our Turkish lunch.
Reviewer: Natalie
Fantastic
October 24, 2015
Canan Tunakorat was the best guide we had in the 8 excursions we took on the two cruises. She was informed and had great communication skills.
Reviewer: Tom
Best tour we experienced on our cruise!!
August 27, 2015
This tour was the highlight of our cruise. The people, the shopping, the handmade carpets. The afternoon lunch was amazing with a wonderful host. The ancient city of Ephesus, was truly remarkable, and I was pleasantly surprised how nice we were treated by the Turkish merchants, this tour was a ""Turkish Delight""!!
Reviewer: Al from Winnipeg
Amazing trip!
July 13, 2015
We were 4 people in this tour! It was a great value for a nearly private tour! The meal was under the trees in an amazing setting! We loved every minute of this trip!
Reviewer: Bill and Isabel
Amazing Tour
July 08, 2015
The whole tour was just fabulous. We were the only 2, so we had our own private tour ..... bargain. Lunch was amazing & very traditional cooked by local villages. Exceptional Value.
Reviewer: L&J ADVENTURERS
Fantastic Tour & Great Guide
June 29, 2015
My wife and I visited Ephesus on June 10, 2015 and booked your Exclusive Ephesus, St. John & Carpets tour. We had an absolutely wonderful time! The sites on the tour were amazing, but what made it really special was our tour guide. I believe his name was Cam. He was very knowledgeable about every place we visited. He gave us wonderful background information, history, local lore, etc. in a very informative and entertaining way. He is very personable, charming, polite and easy to ""warm"" up to! My sincere thanks and congratulations to Cam and you for a wonderful day in Ephesus.
Reviewer: Dave
Educational & fun tour!
June 23, 2015
Cruise ship excursion - organized, informative & fun with a delicious lunch in ideal surroundings with a very gracious host! Tour guide was energetic, knowledgeable & fun!
Reviewer: Slow but sure!
Amazing day!
November 17, 2014
John, our tour guide was amazing!! He was the best guide we had on our whole trip through Greece and Turkey, knowledgeable and a very pleasant person to spend a day with. Our experience buying a carpet was a unique time and once again John was most helpful, giving us advice.
Reviewer: BC travels the World.
A very successful tour guide
November 13, 2014
We found our guide to be the best guide over many years of traveling we have ever experienced. He (Genghis) was both eloquent in explanations, inclusive for all the people sharing this trip, and truly made our shore excursion both unique and enriching in our understanding of the areas we saw. Please convey to him our thanks.
Reviewer: Will & Susan
Excellent tour to Ephesus
December 10, 2013
We were met by Mehmet at the ship. Everything was handled in a very professional, friendly, courtious way. This was a wonderful day seeing Ephesus, experiencing a wonderful and delightful turkish lunch in the middle of an orchard and learning about rug making.
Reviewer: Christine
A full day of discoveries!
December 06, 2013
If you take this tour, you have to be ready to attend a serious carpet making demonstrations which includes a fairly aggressive sales pitch. You do have the option of returning to the ship and they engage you in the sales pitch only if you demonstrate an interest which I did. They do however wine & dine you and it's very nice to savour all the Turkish cuisine, including wine and liquors. Overall good experience.
Reviewer: Diane
Great product
November 24, 2013
This excursion to Ephesus was beyond our expectations. Our guide, Mehmed was a great guide, knowlegeable and informative.
Reviewer: Scrabblelover
Exclusive Ephesus, sy. John and carpets
October 10, 2013
We booked the excursion on the Internet and were not sure how it would turn out. We ended up having the most amazing experience. Our tour guide named Kam was a wealth of information and made us feel very comfortable. Our tour ended up being a private one as no one else signed up for it. I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the ruins and learned so much from our guide. I would definitely recommend this excursion and would love to go again.
Reviewer: Nancie48
Over and above!
October 09, 2013
This was our first time using Shore Excursions as a tour option while at port. A voucher given to us by our travel agent needed to be used up and Shore Excursions was the recommended company they offered us. We are STILL talking about the amazing day we had and the great service we got. A terrific bang for our buck! Our group was small and we were never waiting for guests arriving late to the bus. The group size allowed us to personally share our experiences throughout the day. Ephesus and St. John's were a tremendous walk through centuries ago. The knowledge and pride of the guide we had helped us visualize what it would have been like to live there. We were treated to a lunch cooked for us by a local family and included beverages and local delicacies. Fabulous! Our day finished with a tour of a rug making facility. We feel that we got a big bang for our buck, a great investment.
Reviewer: Jan & Dave
Amazing Turkey!
October 06, 2013
Turkey was amazing! The historical sights and carpet demonstration were educational and amazing! The lunch was tasty. The tour guide was excellent - very interesting and helpful.
Reviewer: Retired Nana
Tour of ephiseus
July 14, 2013
This was an exceptional tour. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and friendly.
Reviewer: Mig
Great Tour
June 13, 2013
Turkey is assume. Did not know much about it before we went but was suprised at how nice it is. Ephesus is very impressive. Lunch at the carpet factory was very good and relaxing. We all learned a lot about the making of the carpets. Very nice tour.
Reviewer: Vicstictok