Which tour company for Ephesus?

[Napi's Mom]

In 2006 we were lucky to have Nejat Incedogan do the tour for us. He was highly respected by all the other guides...they came over and asked him questions as they passed us in the ruins. He walks with canes, and keeps up amazingly well, actually was great for ME as I also walk with a cane, and have problems with tourguides who , more the less ignore my problems with keeping up (one of the reasons I now do private tours when possible.) He lectures on the journeys of Paul thru the holy land. Because of a mixup, the tour of Istanbul we also had with him turned out was double booked because Mercury had canceled several stops in Turkey, and he thought he was available and wasn't. He got Levant Solmez to take his place, I for one far preferred Nejat- do a "search" on him and you will find some great posts!! He still sends us e-card at Xmas & Easter!!

[jaxson11]

Just back from 10 day tour, including a stop in Kusadasi. We booked the Ekol Jeep tour based on a friend's recommendations and were not happy. First of all, there is NO 'off-roading' or anything that requires or optimizes use of a jeep. Second, the jeep provided was very rusty with intermittently working seat belts, not at all safe. Third, the jeep apparently wasn't licensed to carry tourists. We were stopped by Turkish police on our way out of Ephesus and sat in the hot sun for over 30 minutes while they questioned and ultimately fined our driver.

 

Our guide was good, the Ephesus tour itself was interesting and Sirince a nice (but unexceptional stop), but the jeep itself was a waste of time and money.

[whale-watcher]

We have booked Ekol for our Sept. cruise.Did they push any rug demonstrations? We are only a little interested and don't want to spend a lot of time looking at rugs or leather.Thank you.

They offered but did not push the rug demo...we ended up going, and it was actually a lot of fun (and only lasted about 15 minutes). We did not purchase anything, and were treated well by all involved.

[High C's]

In 2006 we were lucky to have Nejat Incedogan do the tour for us. He was highly respected by all the other guides...they came over and asked him questions as they passed us in the ruins. He walks with canes' date=' and keeps up amazingly well, actually was great for ME as I also walk with a cane, and have problems with tourguides who , more the less ignore my problems with keeping up (one of the reasons I now do private tours when possible.) He lectures on the journeys of Paul thru the holy land. Because of a mixup, the tour of Istanbul we also had with him turned out was double booked because Mercury had canceled several stops in Turkey, and he thought he was available and wasn't. He got Levant Solmez to take his place, I for one far preferred Nejat- do a "search" on him and you will find some great posts!! He still sends us e-card at Xmas & Easter!![/quote']

 

We used Nejat in 2008, and I completely agree with you - he is the BEST! The tour we did with him of Ephesus was actually our third visit there, but it felt like the first, as we learned so much more from Nejat!

I have been emailing him recently regarding our return to Kusadasi next year (2011). Unfortunately Nejat advised me that he has recently had hip replacement surgery and is not accepting tour bookings at the moment.

For anyone who knows Nejat, I am sure you join me in wishing him well. He is such a wonderful man.

[Podie]

Seven of us used "Sammy's Travel" and had a spectacular day with a wonderful tour guide, very comfortable mini-bus, and excellent driver. Our reservations were made in dollars, which I liked due to the euro fluctuations. We paid $65 each. I highly recommend them.

[cruisemom42]

We have booked Ekol for our Sept. cruise.Did they push any rug demonstrations? We are only a little interested and don't want to spend a lot of time looking at rugs or leather.Thank you.

 

 

I just used Ekol in Kusadasi a couple of days ago, for the second time. You just have to let them know up front (in your email communication) that you are not interested in any shopping, and they should abide by that. I did that on my first tour with them and had no issues. This last tour was a group tour, so our guide did ask the group about interest in either leather or a rug demo but did not push it when he saw there was little interest.

[BigGuy25]

I just used Ekol in Kusadasi a couple of days ago, for the second time. You just have to let them know up front (in your email communication) that you are not interested in any shopping, and they should abide by that. I did that on my first tour with them and had no issues. This last tour was a group tour, so our guide did ask the group about interest in either leather or a rug demo but did not push it when he saw there was little interest.

 

We did the same ... we had seen the rug demo in Istanbul and asked them not to stop for one in Kusadasi.

[vino100]

We have booked Ekol for our Sept. cruise.Did they push any rug demonstrations? We are only a little interested and don't want to spend a lot of time looking at rugs or leather.Thank you.

 

Well I'm back from my cruise and Ekol did a great job.We ended going to the rug demonstration and really enjoyed learning.there was no pressure to buy,but guess what.......we all bought a rug.:D I love mine and am already enjoying it at home.Of course the main focus was on the Virgin Mary's house and Ephesus. Both fantastic.

[C.Real]

Just returned from cruise aboard RC Vision of the Seas. On visit to Kusadasi, we did a private tour of Ephesus prearranged with Nur & Ekol Travel Turkey. We had a group of six (originally eight) people. We were greeted at the pier by our professional, English speaking tour guide. She is an historian with in depth knowledge of the entire region. We were driven to the various Ephesus sites in a modern air conditioned van complete with a dedicated driver. As we had opted out of shopping and carpet buying opportunities, we were able to use our time to visit each of the sites of interest that had been specified in our agreement. I was blown away by Ephesus, especially the Terrace House. We also saw the house of the virgin Maryand the temple of Artemis. The tour was great and the experience was wonderful. Nur & Ekol Travel completely followed through with our agreement with them. Their service exceeded my expectations. Kusadasi is a beautiful, clean place. While we were there, the people we met were friendly, courteous and respectful. Should we ever return to the region, Nur & Ekol Travel would now be my first choice to use for tours of the area.

[Falcons07]

We just returned from cruising on the Brilliance and had a most wonderful tour of Ephesus with a young man recommended on here named EMRE ATES.

This tour was the highlight of all our excursions ! He is extremely personable, warm & so delightful...his English is impeccable and you can tell he loves what he does. He has you 'walking in the footsteps' of the people of Ephesus.

 

Emre 's email is: arkamasa@hotmail.com

 

 

 

Terry ( any questions..Zipcat@aol.com)

 

..

[trentmister]

We also had a great tour with Bill from Hello Ephesus. He took us to the museum, the basilica of St John, Ephesus including the amazing terrace houses, the carpet center with lunch (which was delicious!), the house of the Virgin Mary, and he also took us inside a Mosque and explained some of their routines/beliefs. Bill is a very kind man with a heart for the stray dogs and cats that are abundant in Ephesus... always stopping to pet the dogs and carrying a bag of food for the cats. The carpet center was interesting and the carpets were beautiful; they treated us very kindly even though we did not purchase anything. Bill was very knowledgeable and pleasant throughout the day. I highly recommend Bill/Hello Ephesus.

[lyap65]

Hello Weluv2cruise2007,

I was looking at Ephesus Shuttle as well and could not believe the price he quoted us for 2 people with a 25% discount from Kusadasi on October 2, 2010. The reply I received from Curiotravel was that ‘You will have private guide who will be with you from arrival till departure. he will guide you in the sites. and also you will have A/C van with driver.’

 

I am not able to decide for now because there are not many mentioned about this company. Thanks to ‘barbetal’ and john.63 [#23] mentioning about them.

 

 

Maxtripcare

 

Just returned from my cruise aboard Norwegian Gem with a stop in Izmir. I can hands down say that our tour with Ephesus Shuttle and Mrs. Yelda Celik was one of the best tours I have ever had. My wife and I were touring with our 2 yr old daughter and were a bit concerned about how she would do on a long trip. She did great and any reservations I had regarding lack of prior feedback on CC boards was quickly diminished once I was met at the port by Mrs Celik and the Ephesus Shuttle tour driver. They were prompt and courteous and the the Mercedes van was clean, comfortable, and spacious. There was absolutely no hard sell rug demonstration/tour which we were pleased to find out since we wanted to maximize our time seeing Virgin Mary house, Ephesus, and Terrace houses. They exceeded all expectations and Mrs. Celik was so informative and her english was excellent. We had lunch at a great spot recommended by Mrs Celik and also stopped at a Leather store based on our request. Of course the real highlight was the stops at Virgin Mary house and Ephesus. Terrace houses should not be missed. They are amazing sites with so much history and background that a guide is a must. The tour price quoted was very reasonable compared to what I was quoted from other tour companies and of course the ship excursion rates. Thanks Ephesus Shuttle for a wonderful tour and an unforgetable experience!

[Turtles06]

Just returned from my cruise aboard Norwegian Gem with a stop in Izmir. I can hands down say that our tour with Ephesus Shuttle and Mrs. Yelda Celik was one of the best tours I have ever had. ...

 

Yelda Celik was our guide on the Ephesus tour we did thru Ekol Tours back in February (off the Jade docked in Izmir) and we loved her too. It was absolutely the most enjoyable day of our 12-day cruise. Yelda was just fantastic; perfect English, incredibly knowledgeable. She made the ruins of this ancient city come alive for us.

 

If you are touring Ephesus, I hope you are lucky enough to get her as your guide.

[planefun]

the tour company used by RCL was wonderful. i'm not sure who they use, but im sure you can arrange a private tour with same company for alot less. we enjoyed the rcl tour as we did our own tours in Israel and Egypt.

[Atwell]

Yelda Celik was our guide on the Ephesus tour we did thru Ekol Tours back in February (off the Jade docked in Izmir) and we loved her too. It was absolutely the most enjoyable day of our 12-day cruise. Yelda was just fantastic; perfect English, incredibly knowledgeable. She made the ruins of this ancient city come alive for us.

 

If you are touring Ephesus, I hope you are lucky enough to get her as your guide.

 

We also had Yelda as our Ephesus guide in September 2010 through Kosagan Tours. She might take tours from either group or maybe she changed companies. She was, indeed, a wonderful guide. Her photo is shown on the Kosagan web site.

 

http://www.privatetoursinturkey.com/teammembers.html

[cruisemom42]

We also had Yelda as our Ephesus guide in September 2010 through Kosagan Tours. She might take tours from either group or maybe she changed companies. She was, indeed, a wonderful guide. Her photo is shown on the Kosagan web site.

 

http://www.privatetoursinturkey.com/teammembers.html

 

Almost all of the guides at Kusadasi are freelancers who work for multiple agencies.

[wantocruisemore]

We also had Yelda as our Ephesus guide in September 2010 through Kosagan Tours. She might take tours from either group or maybe she changed companies. She was, indeed, a wonderful guide. Her photo is shown on the Kosagan web site.

 

http://www.privatetoursinturkey.com/teammembers.html

 

I just reserved our Ephesus tour for our group of 9 for next July, 2011. It is with Kosagan and they said that Yelda would be our guide. They gave me a rough price estimate but said it would be around Dec. before they could give a firm estimate since they have not set their 2011 prices yet. They are however reserving and could go ahead and guarantee our guide.

 

So excited to be getting Yelda after all the good things I've heard about her.

[maryann ns]

I am glad to see Bill is still around. We had great guides in Rome, Sorrento, Antalya, and Cairo, but Bill was the best of all of them.

[petesweet]

We just got back from our trip and used Levent Solmaz for our tour. He was an excellent guide. He was waiting for us with an air conditioned bus and driver. He is very well educated, speaks excellent English, and has a passion for his country. We went to Epshesus, Terrace Houses, Sirince, etc. He took us to a great place for lunch. We are really glad we hired him and would highly recommend him for a great tour. His e-mail is info@leventsolmaz.com

 

Our group of 60 booked a wonderful tour with Levent Solmaz. Most thought it was the highlight of the trip. The group was divided into three vehicles, and no one had any negative remarks about any of the drivers/guides--only complimentary reviews.

The Terrace Houses were a special delight, so don't pass those up. There were a few in our group who could not handle the steps, and arrangements were made for them to sit it out while the rest of the group enjoyed that part of the tour.

I highly recommend Levent Solmaz (leventsolmaz.com). He was a pleasure to work with from the very start and throughout the planning process.

Kathy