Anyone used 'Ephesus Tours' for tours of Istanbul?

[PadLondon]

'Ephesus Tours' seem to have had some good reviews in posts about Ephesus. They also offer tours in Istanbul. Anyone had any experiences, good or bad using their Istanbul services?

[Harry1954]

While I can not answer your question, I would pose a suggestion. Having been to Istanbul just last month, I can safely say that excursion-size groups have a difficult time giving its participants sufficient time to see the sites as well as take bathroom breaks. Fortunately, we had booked a private tour and were able to walk to all sites, get in/out easily, take bathroom breaks when desired and generally enjoy the beauty of Istanbul.

Just wanted to post this as I still can see the frustration of our fellow HAL travelers as they waited for one thing or another while we flitted in/out of places.

Keep in mind we book almost all our excursions through HAL - carefully choosing when we go on foot or in private excursion.

harry

[yojimbo]

we used a private guide in ephesus and istanbul. his name is Levent Solmaz. i believe he has a web site. i recommend him highly

[elpapa]

We went to Kusadasi in April on the Rotterdam. Given the very high prices of all HAL tours on this trip, we did Ephesus on our own and had a fantastic experience. Here is what we did.

 

We walked off the boat as soon as we could and walked into Kusadasi through all of the shops in the sellers gauntlet at the port. Most were just opening up. On the street, we asked around to find out where to get the bus (small van) into Ephesus. We found a tourist info office about 2 blocks from the port and they advised us where we could catch the local bus to Ephesus. You do need local currency but there are ATMs everywhere and buying a bottle of water with the big bills from the ATM gives you lots of change for the bus. Anyway, we had to walk about 5 more blocks through Kusadasi (mostly a pedestrian shopping area) to find where the local buses stopped. No problem if you follow the simple map from the TI office. It was just a big intersection, not any kind of a bus station. And it was crawling with these 10(?) passenger vans comming and going in a bewildering frenzy. But.... never fear, a gentleman approached us (Just ask if no one does) and asked us where we were headed. For Ephesus, he said, just cross over to that street corner and they will direct you. And that is what happened. Of all the people milling about the various vans(buses) parked (double, triple) at the curb, some were dirvers, some were passengers and some seemed to be passenger directors who helped you find your bus. All very friendly and no shortage of enough english to help you out. All in all, what looked to be a tranport nightmare was, in reality, a very efficient system for moving people. We were soon on our way. I can't remember the fare cost but it was posted and only about $3 per person. You take your seat and then a guy will collect the fare when you are underway. You will be in with mostly Turks and they were friendly and helpful if asked. The van actually does not take you right to the Ephesus site, rather it lets you off about 1km away. If you have dificulty walking or it is too hot, there are taxis waiting. It is a pleasant enough walk on a side road and takes just a few minutes. There is a restaurant right there if I remember right where you could buy a drink or use the bathroom. Anyway, as we arrived at the site, we were approached by another gentleman who gave us the following proposition. He said that he was part of a government program to assist young people to get skills for later life in the tourist field and that they had a school nearby that they would like us to visit for no more than 10 minutes at no charge to us. Are you suspicious? we were. ANyway, in return for the visit (they would drive us to the school 5 minutes away) they would then drive us to the top of Ephesus where the tours started and we could walk down through the site rather than up through it via the entrance we were now at. Not only that, our timing was such that by the time we got to the top entrance, most of the tours will have started down and it will be less crowded. (Note: Ephesus will be busy). Anyway, we agreed. ANd guess what, what we ended up at was a place where they made rugs. For sale. But... no sales pitch! Of course you could buy if you wanted but we got a very informative talk and demonstration on how the rugs were made and how the school worked. After 15 min, we suggested that we were ready to go and with no hassle, our ride showed up and we were wisked off to the top entrance to Ephesus. On the way, our driver suggested that we visit the museum in Selchuk, the next village, after we left Ehpesus.

 

Ephesus itself is not to be missed. We debated on hiring one of the many guides hanging about at the entrance. This would not be a bad option as there is a lot to see inside and it is just a bunch of organized rocks if you don't know what you are looking at. Another option is to piggyback on one or two of the many tours going through, While the tours are done fairly quickly, you can eavesdrop on the guides as they race by you. We, however, elected to rent audio guides. I would say this is the minimum for touring the site. Using a guide book only would be very dificult I think. We used both. Be prepared to leave something like your drivers licence behind as security for the audio guides. It will be returned to you at the lower entrance when you return the audio guide.

 

So we did the site. Allow several hours, unlike the ships tour which wants to get you to bathrooms, rug sellers, shopping centers and lunch. (Hope you started as early as possible in the morning) Also vist the covered site about half way through where they are restoring some of the houses. It cost an extra $10 but is worth it to see stuff up close and personal.

 

As we left the site at the lower entrance (bathrooms at both entrances as well as sellers, shops and food) we again ran into the fellow who directed us to the school. He was very helpful again when he told us where to stand to catch the bus (van) into Selchuk. ($3). Right there, didn't have to walk back to the main road. He also recommended his favorite restaurant where we could get some authentic Turkish food.

 

The bus took us into Selchuk, 10 min, and we found the restaurant where we were invited into the kitchen to choose from the simmering pots and other displayed foods. Well, I can't read a Turkish menu but I can pick out what I like. So we had a great lunch there and then walked over to the Museum. Which is really worth seeing as all of the best finds from Ephesus are there. Then back on the bus (From the bus station right near the museum) and back to Kusadasi. Side bonus we didn't expect: The bus was full out of Selchuk and when we got to the Ephesus stop, we just kept going so those waiting had to wait for the next bus. They run about every 20 min and maybe they schedule extra ones, I don't know.

 

To sum it all up, we had a great day for minimum cost. We met some really friendly and helpful Turks and got to see our favorite ruin at our pace with no long bathroom or shopping breaks. The van drops you off back at the original intersection and you can walk back through all of the Kusadasi shops to your ship. Our lack of Turkish was no problem and we were met everywhere with smiles from the local people.

 

I'd be happy to ramble on further if anyone has any questions.

 

Gord

 

gordpope@shaw.ca

[sadie mae]

I used Sammy's Tours in April for a private shore excursion to 3 places including Ephesus. Had a driver and a guide (guide's name was pronounced Or). He was excellent, spoke 5 languages and normally works out of the Istanbul office. We loved our time in Turkey and would like to return for longer than 1 day.

JB