Which tour company for Ephesus?

[cefh]

Any recommnedations for a tour of Ephesus, the Terrace Houses and the Virgin Mary house? Preferences between Go Ephesus, Hello Ephesus and Ephesus Deluxe?

[Turtles06]

We used Ekol in January for a private tour of the Virgin Mary House, Ephesus (including the Terrace Houses, which are in Ephesus), and the Temple of Artemis. I can't say enough good things about Ekol; their guide was fantastic and they were terrific and easy to deal with to set things up.

 

There are many raves on here about Ekol. If you do a search for them, and for the other tour operators you are considering, you'll find many posts about them.

 

Whoever you use, have a great trip!

[BigGuy25]

We used EKOL last summer and were very pleased!!

[maryann ns]

Please do a search (under "Ports of Call other Mediterranean Ports" look on towards the top of the page on the right for the various operators. People generally have not tried several companies so they can only describe their experience with the one company they did use and cannot make comparisons.

 

That being said, I had a fantastic day with Hello Ephesus last November. From the initial correspondence to the payment at the end all was handled in a most professional way. Our guide, "Bill" spoke great English and tailored to tour to our wishes. Others have had good experiences with other companies.

[grvdggr71]

We also used Ekol Tours and found them to be excellent. Four people in a large and clean van - myself, my wife, the guide, and the driver. Best money I have ever spent on a tour!

 

If you use them and you have the time and desire, I highly recommend asking your guide for a recommendation for lunch. Although lunch is not included in the tour price, my wife and I enjoyed a fantastic 4 course meal with drinks for $20 (total), and it was DELICIOUS!

[CintiPam]

EKOL Travel; excellent guides and good prices. No problem is you want to exclude any shopping.

[zeppysky]

Any recommnedations for a tour of Ephesus, the Terrace Houses and the Virgin Mary house? Preferences between Go Ephesus, Hello Ephesus and Ephesus Deluxe?

 

Has anyone done the Ekol jeep tour? We are going early June and I am afraid the heat and sun may make it uncomfortable. Touring with 4 under 30s and my husband and myself mid-late 50s.

[mantellp]

I am very curious about the jeep tour as well... It's my wife and I and our 3 kids, so I don't want it to be too miserable for them. I have heard so manygood things about both Ephesus and Ekol.

[oc323]

Ekol was wonderful. Their guides are professional and will provide you wonderful service.

[oc323]

I did the jeep tour. Be prepared to get a bit dirty and dusty. It is in an open air jeep. Very bumpy and wear a sun hat.

[Britbird]

We've just got back on Eurodam 4/29. HelloEphessus is now Helloephessus deluxe. We had a marvelous day tour, just us four, with a driver and a very knowldgeable guide (Eljan) We saw everything and never had to queue !! Due to the ash situation we had to re-arrange our date. They are dependable, flexible, very persoanable and the price reasonable.

[MercedMike]

Another vote for Ekol. They were very helpful in arranging our tour the way WE wanted it. Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/blacksea2.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[renebfl]

Excellent guide. Really got the feel for life in Ephasus and Istanbul using them.

[marp109]

We used Ekol travel with Inan as our guide and he/tour were just what we wanted. We got to Epheseus first and while still teeming with people, not as dreadfully hot as experience others had with other tours. He took us exactly where we wanted and was quite knowledgeable (studied 5 years for tour license) and even, discretely, disagreed with another guide about one of mosaics in terrace houses and explained why. People on other tours who went to Mary's house first cooked in the afternoon at ruins and this was in May! Would highly recommend him as he was ready and waiting for us and stayed with us as long as we wanted him to. There were so many conflicting threads about other companies that we decided to go with Ekol. BTW, we were able to pay with credit card with a quick stop at the office and no deposit.

[Albert Ross]

We used Fatma Acar of Helliantus Anadolu Tours and would have no hesitation in recommending her.

http://www.ephesuskusadasi.com/invitation.php

[lvcruiselover]

We just returned from Brilliance of the Seas May 3 sailing and had a wonderful tour with Hello Ephesus. As previously reported all emails and communication were handled professionally and in a timely manner. We had private tours in all ports and I believe that the guide that we had in Kusadasi was the best of any. I had organized a group of 17 from our roll call and had several people tell me that it was the best tour that they had the whole trip!

[Mlynn]

Just back from the Equinox sailing--we used http://www.kusadasi.biz/

for our tours in both ports. We had wonderful guides in both locations with lunch included. Our tour in Kusadasi included the terrace houses which are not to be missed!!

[stripe]

Just back from the Equinox sailing--we used http://www.kusadasi.biz/

for our tours in both ports. We had wonderful guides in both locations with lunch included. Our tour in Kusadasi included the terrace houses which are not to be missed!!

 

Which of their tours did you take??

[cruiseidaho]

Our group of six used Hello Ephesus for tours in Kusadasi and Istanbul, May 12 and 13. We had wonderful tours in both areas. The guides and drivers were excellent. Our guide in Istanbul, with 30 years of experience, was a walking encyclopedia of Turkish history, as well as an amateur comedian. The guide for Ephesus was equally enjoyable and being a native Ephesian, imparted unusual insights into the history and culture of the area, especially in our visit to the Terrace Houses.

 

From the time of booking almost 6 months ago, to the follow-up email after our cruise, we were in constant contact with Ms. Nilay Parlak who promptly answered all inquiries. I can highly recommend this company.

[BARNOWL ONE]

I would also like to highly recommend helloephesus as a tour provider to ephesus. Our tour to the sites was one of our best tours on our recent cruise on the prinsendam. All correspondence with nilay at helloephesus was answered promptly and she handled the changing numbers of folks with no problem. Our guide was waiting on the dock for us when we got ashore. She spoke excellent english and was extremely knowledgeable of all the sites at ephesus. The bus we used for 12 people was a new, air conditioned mercedes bus. There was also a delicious meal served at a beautiful outside restaurant... As an aside, the restaurant was next door to a rug factory and we were ushered into the factory after lunch for a presentation and sales pitch. Most of the folks on our tour enjoyed the rug thing...we all felt that was why we had had such a delicious lunch...i'm sure if you let nilay know you didn't want and rug pitches, she would take care of it...john hildebrandt palm coast fl

[olsoncam]

We used a private guide named Ertunga when we docked at Kusadasi in April. He let us customize our tour, and he was willing to change it as we went. We went to the house of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus, Terrace houses, Basilica of St. John etc. One of the highlights of our tour was having lunch in the village of Sirince. Ertunga arranged for us to have a private lunch at a local villagers house. Her house was around 300 yrs old, and she fixed us a nice Turkish lunch. We also decided to go to the carpet factory to see how the carpets were made, and we asked to go to a leather shop, where I bought a nice leather coat. Ertunga picked us up at 7:30 am, and we did not return to the dock until 5:30 pm. His price was for a full day tour, and we chose where to go. I would highly recommend his services. He can be contacted on his web site ertungaecir.com.

[52footer]

Has anyone used Ephesus Shuttle?

[john.63]

Has anyone used Ephesus Shuttle?

 

we had a wonderful private tour in april. we had a comfortable van with driver. our guide Ali met us. he is very knowledgeable and personable. he took us to Virgin Mary's house first and Ephesus was next, included the Terrace Houses (not to be missed). we had lunch at a local restaurant. Our last stop was the Basilica. we paid 330 for 6 of us. We had a very enjoyable day and definitely recommend them.

[GeorgiaPeach51]

We just returned from Brilliance of the Seas May 3 sailing and had a wonderful tour with Hello Ephesus. As previously reported all emails and communication were handled professionally and in a timely manner. We had private tours in all ports and I believe that the guide that we had in Kusadasi was the best of any. I had organized a group of 17 from our roll call and had several people tell me that it was the best tour that they had the whole trip!

 

I have some reservations about Hello Ephesus. The tour was good, the tour guide was good. Knowledgeable, personable, good English. BUT, I had specifically emailed to request that we NOT be taken to a rug place...we had no desire to see rugs, see demos of rugs, etc. Rug demos are NOT listed on the tour. Lo and behold, the lunch that was provided inclusive in the tour turned out to be at a rug place, which we didn't initially realize. By the time we figured it out it was too late and I was peeved because I specifically asked them NOT to take us to a rug place. So, I would not recommend them, as a result.

[WNcruiser]

We just used Kagan Kosagan from privatetoursinturkey.com. He was awesome! Very informative and personable, one of the best guides we have ever had.

 

Kagan is also a GUIDE, not just a driver who dumps you off at the sites. He goes with you to all the sites and has even done some excavating at Ephesus so knows the sites extremely well.

 

He also took us to one of the best lunches we have had. A local restaurant with no tourists and incredible fresh food. You will not be disappointed. And NO RUG STOPS!!