Istanbul or Epheses on your own? or guide?

[Jeepsterchick]

Has anyone done these ports on your own? - How was it done? I have a couple of emails out for possibly getting a guide.

Thanks for any input!

[cberge]

Has anyone done these ports on your own? - How was it done? I have a couple of emails out for possibly getting a guide.

Thanks for any input!

 

I cannot speak for Istanbul,but I would definitely hire a guide with driver in Kusadasi to go to Ephesus...not only for a guided tour and the history,but the safety factor of not traveling around by yourself.You may want to check out your ship's tour there as well.

[KruzinAl]

Jeepsterchick, see the post beside yours.

We just came back from Galaxy Eastern Med 09/26. I have posted a review on the member reviews but it has not been listed yet. I will have more info on that.

We took a private guide Lale Kasogan, she was fantastic. Helped us in istanbul and also flew down to Kusadasi.

If you wanted to visit Istanbul on your own, you could do it for sure. take a taxi to the main square close to the Bazaar and you can walk to the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, etc and then the wild Grand Bazaar and taxi back.

In Kusadasi(lots of shopping right off the ship) but you can rent a car or taxi to Ephesus and Selchuk nearby, you can ever hire a guide at Ephesus. However, having someone organize all this for you is what we did. Group of 14 people was $1200 USD.

Kusadasi is a surprisingly modern resort area, thousands of hotels/condos and summer homes, beautiful beaches and even a water park! Ephesus is fantastic and not to be missed, there is a nice local place to eat and carpet store/tied in with the Education ministry, just as you leave Eph (name ?)

have fun

Al

Al

[bobinaustin]

We took the Ephesus tour available from Celebrity - 7 1/2 hours that went to the ruins, St. John's Basilica and Mary's house. It was very well done with a very good tour guide. The price was pretty competitive with what you could set up yourself.

In Istanbul, I had a guide book and did not engage a guide. However, we did hire guides at the Haggia Sophia and Topkapi. The ship had a shuttle into the city with a convenient drop off. If I had to do it again, I'd take a pre-booked tour that covered the major sites. A lot depends on how independent you want to be but our visit only allowed Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning in Istanbul so one must allocate time carefully.

BTW you need Turkish lira to enter the museums in Istanbul and the ship's purser does not have lira to exchange. I used an ATM.

[smeyer418]

I cannot speak for Istanbul,but I would definitely hire a guide with driver in Kusadasi to go to Ephesus...not only for a guided tour and the history,but the safety factor of not traveling around by yourself.You may want to check out your ship's tour there as well.

 

While I agree with hiring a guide, safety should not be a concern. Turkey is absolutely safe on your own. Turkey is a modern and highly evolved country and tourism is a major source of money. You can safely get around Turkey on your own but the convenience of someone who knows where to take you will save you time and frankly money as well.

[willy paul]

for Istanbul try Taner at ktanerunal@yahoo.com. We used im in August and he did a great job. Got us in to see all we wanted and a few things he recommended. Don't miss the Spice Market, better than the Grand Bazaar.