Outside Kusadasi

We will be traveling to Kusadasi in early September. In port from 8 am to 6 pm. While we have visited Ephesus before, my son's girlfriend has not. My thoughts are to visit Ephesus and the Terrace Houses and then proceed outside the area. Where would you suggest Sirince Village or Miletus and Didyma?

Well first, for the benefit of others who have never been to Kusadasi, folks should not think of this part of Turkey as a 3rd world country. The infrastructure, highways, services, etc. in this part of Turkey are very well developed. Kusadasi and its environs are actually a major tourist destination and receive over 1000 cruise ship calls a year. Others, primarily from Europe, come to this part of Turkey for sun, sand and the ruins.

As to the OPs question, going to Sirence is quite easy since its located very close to Ephesus. Unfortunately, Sirence has lost much of its prior charm (when it was a small hill top village) and now become a major tourist destination. So you have this small village with plenty of cafes, restaurants, shops, etc. As to the other major ruins in the region (i.e. Miletus, Didyma and Prience) these are not very close to Kusadasi. We have been to these ruins on two occasions, the first time about 25 years ago when we simply hired a taxi for about 5 hours. Most recently (last year) we simply rented a car in Kusadasi and drove to those 3 ruins as well as visiting the non-touristy town of Tire for its weekly market. Unlike going to Ephesus, these other 3 ruins involve over 100 miles of driving (it takes nearly 1 1/2 hours to get to Miletus). So if you want to go to those other ruins you should plan it for an entire day. Using a rental car is a good option or you could arrange to go with a major tour company like Ekol. We do not recommend hiring a taxi since our experience is that many of the taxi drivers are truly "crazy drivers." We felt a lot safer driving our own car :). The roads in this region are all excellent and with the help of a GPS it is pretty easy to navigate.

Hank

Sirince Village if you like shopping.

Miletus and Didyma if you like ruins.

BTW, I went to Priene, Miletus and Didyma a few years back with a private driver. It took us about 6 hours to see all three and I could have spent longer at a couple of the places (but I had to get back to meet with a group going to Cappadokia....)

I am going back to visit all 3 again on my October cruise. I hope they are still as unspoiled.

Since some of you have been to Ephesus, & since Ephesus is on the way to Sirince, I wonder whether it might be worth dividing your forces. Drop son's girlfriend (presumably with son ;)) at Ephesus, & continue to Sirince. It's about 20 minutes further on. 60 to 80 minutes in Sirince, drive back & collect at Ephesus a couple of hours after you dropped them.

I'd rate that as long enough for most folk.

You might then want to go up into the hills behind Ephesus to the House of the Virgin Mary, though it's provenance is quite weak.

Whilst I'd agree with Hank that Kusadsi etc are very modern & well-developed, Sirince doesn't fit into that category. It isn't going to wow you, but its a pleasant little old backwater in the mountains.

You could do this quite easily & economically with a rental car, though if you want to spend time at the end of the day in Kusadasi that's probably best done after returning the car cos traffic in town is thick & parking not easy..

Just a thought

JB :)

Thank you all for your input. Shopping is not really my thing. Vacation is for exploring and discovering. I did not realize Miletus was such a distance. I have a good 9 hours in port (8 - 6). Perhaps go Didyma first and work my way back. I just wouldn't want to feel rushed. I will probably go with a private driver as my husband is not the adventurous type when it comes to driving in foreign countries.

Sirince Village if you like shopping.

 

Miletus and Didyma if you like ruins.

 

BTW, I went to Priene, Miletus and Didyma a few years back with a private driver. It took us about 6 hours to see all three and I could have spent longer at a couple of the places (but I had to get back to meet with a group going to Cappadokia....)

 

I am going back to visit all 3 again on my October cruise. I hope they are still as unspoiled.

Well, not exactly unspoiled. We had the same questions when we returned last year (maybe it was 2 years ago). There is actually some infrastructure at those sites and even admission fees! One of the sites even had a restaurant! But the good news is that there are still not too many people overrunning the ruins.

Hank