What to do in Kusadasi, Turkey for the day??

We have never been to Kusadasi, Turkey before and I was wondering what is their to do there?, any tips/ideas??

And What do you do when you go there?? :)

Any tips/advise/ideas are very welcome.

PS: Is there any private tours you would recommend?

We have never been to Kusadasi, Turkey before and I was wondering what is their to do there?, any tips/ideas??

 

And What do you do when you go there?? :)

 

Any tips/advise/ideas are very welcome.

 

PS: Is there any private tours you would recommend?

I would suggest a private tour using on of the many services. We like EKOL. The MUST see in Kusadasi is Ephesus. A private tour will get you there and some of the other historical sites in the area.

Ephesus is a must see. Take a private tour. Go to your Roll Call and you may be able to join a tour with others.

I would also visit Ephesus. It is easy to get a taxi at the port. Make sure you agree a price beforehand.

The reason the cruise ship stops there is its proximity to Ephesus. If you have never been, that would be the thing to do.

We were just there last week. We went to Ephesus including the Terrace Houses, Basilica of St John and Virgin Mary House. We are Catholic and wanted to see the Christian sites.

We were just there last week. We went to Ephesus including the Terrace Houses, Basilica of St John and Virgin Mary House. We are Catholic and wanted to see the Christian sites.

Did you go with a ship tour or private tour? And if it was private which tour company?, we are going in August and I'm trying to decide on tour companies.

Thanks

hi do we need turkish lira in Kusadasi or we can use euros?

thanks

Did you go with a ship tour or private tour? And if it was private which tour company?, we are going in August and I'm trying to decide on tour companies.

Thanks

The terrace houses at Ephesus are a must see. Check carefully if booking through your cruise line that they are included.

Many cruise line organised tours skip the terrace houses, as the number of people allowed in is limited, and the cruise line tour size is too big.

We just used Ephesus Shuttle last week and were pleased with them. Most places accept Turkish lira, Euros and credit cards.

Do be careful with your credit card in Ephesus as we had one of credit cards compromised and our bank caught it right away so we were not out of pocket. It was compromised at a rug making school near the port.

Kusadasi itself is just a small port town with a harbour, restaurants and bars and a Grand Bazaar area, which is basically shop after shop full of counterfeit and replica goods. There is the odd authentic Turkish shop selling leather goods, rugs etc, but we didn't see many of those. Apparently there is a beach area quite close to port, but I don't know much about that as we didn't venture there. Ephesus is definitely a must do if you haven't been to this area before. You could do Ephesus first thing and then do the more touristy Grand Bazaar before heading back to the ship.

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We just used Ephesus Shuttle last week and were pleased with them. Most places accept Turkish lira, Euros and credit cards.

Thanks we were looking at Ephesus Deluxe as they include the terrace houses. Does anyone have experience with them??

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the Turkish guides as they have very stringent requirements and in my experience have all been fantastic wherever I have gone in Turkey. Having said that, we had an especially outstanding guide in Ephesus, Hakan Edirne from Meander Travel, whom I would highly recommend.

This was my fourth visit there over the years and it was very interesting to see the progress in the Terrace Houses.

We used this company for our tour of Ephesus and found them excellent. The guide was very knowledgable. Agree that a tour of the Terrace houses is a must. Fatma was great at responding to emails and creating a tour to suit our group's wishes :). I think that Ephesus is one of the unsung sites of the Med. IMHO it is better than Pompeii.

fatmaacarguide@hotmail.com

fatmaacar@ttmail.com

www.ephesuskusadasi.com

Alternatively the AquaPark looks fabulous (depending on age), my daughter and her boyfriend are going there when their cruise docks at Ephesus later this month.

Thanks we were looking at Ephesus Deluxe as they include the terrace houses. Does anyone have experience with them??

We used Ephesus Deluxe, and were very impressed, especially with the guide. The lunch break (free) is at a carpet factory, but the sales pitch was brief and not oppressive.

Stuart

Kusadashi has market with very aggressive vendors. We went on a cruise ship tour to Ephesus. It was very good, but they took us to a rug shop afterwards where we saw a demonstration and then the salesmen came in to talk about selling us a rug. It was near the ship, so we ducked out as soon as possible.

I wanted to shop in that mall near the port but the salesmen stood outside and were coaxing me to see what they had. I felt uncomfortable and would probably have bought more things if they were not as pushy. Maybe they do not realize that. We bought a rug but my husband did not bargain for it so I wonder if we paid too much.

We used Ephesus Deluxe, and were very impressed, especially with the guide. The lunch break (free) is at a carpet factory, but the sales pitch was brief and not oppressive.

 

Stuart

Thank you so much that is what I needed to hear:)

We have been to Kusadasi twice & on both occasions used Ephesus Deluxe. We bought their package with a guide and driver so there were only the 2 of us in the vehicle. Both times were outstanding. If you use them, i would recommend asking for an itinerary that stops at Mother Mary's home, Ephesus, & the Basilica of St. John. The temple of Artemis is really just one column sticking out of the ground now & you can see it from the Basilica of St. John. As for lunch the first time we were taken to a farm(?) where they also manufactured carpet. It was interesting to see & the sales pitch was not that high pressured. The second time we opted to skip the carpet factory & went to a local restaurant for lunch. The tour also included a stop at a museum in the area with some nice artifacts from Ephesus. So it was a very full day of touring & we felt very good value for the money spent.

Is Kusadasi easy to get around on your own?? and is it easy to get to the Ephesus on your own? or do you need to do a tour?

while you can walk around Ephesus alone you will miss the history and explanations of what you are seeing. We do also recommend touring the terrace houses there even though there is an extra charge,

We were just there last week. We went to Ephesus including the Terrace Houses, Basilica of St John and Virgin Mary House. We are Catholic and wanted to see the Christian sites.

Forgive me for going a little off topic but, we have a friend who is catholic and would love to have a keepsake from Virgin Mary House. I read somewhere that you can get water from a fountain there. Do you know if this is true? Do you need to bring a bottle to collect?

Thank you

We were there in May. They have a gift shop where you can get little bottles of the holy water as well as rosaries, keychains, and different puctures of the Blessed Mother. You can also bring a bottle and get your own holly water. It was similar to soyvenirs from Rome.

Sorry, holy water and it is souvenirs. My fingers have a hard time typing on this tablet.