Ephesus and St. Mary's House Day Trip from Izmir with Lunch

It was a fantastic experience. Guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. Gave us enough time to explore. Guide was flexible and lunch was great.

We had a fantastic tour guide Elef, an excellent driver, and the sites were phenomenal! The entire day was so very worth it.

I was initially unsure of how the experience would go, especially from booking online but it was a totally worthwhile experience! The company was very helpful when asking what time pick-up would be. They even called our hotel room when they arrived. We were picked up in Izmir and brought to an office with plenty of time before our tour started. We joined the others from our tour and were on our way promptly at 9:30. The tour guide gave us just the right amount of information and spent a good amount of time at each location. It was a hot day 38 C or 100 F, but the bus was nicely airconditioned. On our way back we dropped our other tour members off at the airport and then were quickly on the way back to Izmir.

Overall, really well-done tour, worth the price because of the ease of transportation!

The best part of our tour was the visit to Mother Mary’s house. It was made special by our tour guide who was very knowledgeable of the events that led to the discovery of her house. He also went with us in the Ephesus tour and gave us a detailed stories of each building, wall, icons. It was an enjoyable tour because of the tour guide

Our guide was extremely knowledgeable of everything Efes. He answered all our questions and was very patient. Highly recommend this tour!

Ephesus is wonderful history sites In Turkey

Our tour guide is very knowledgeable and professional.

I’m highly recommended this tour

Amazing tour guide, super knowledgable! We ended up being the only ones on our tour and really appreciated the history and guide!

It was a long day, but one of the best trips my partner and I'd made in recent times. The day began with us being picked up from our stay in Izmir--we then picked up our guide for the day and traveled to the see the sites. Our guide was informative and quite knowledgeable and he gave us relevant details on the way. Our first stop was St. Mary's House (where it's believed St. Mary spent some time of her life after Jesus' death). The surroundings of the location was tranquil and magnificent, and the house had a nice atmosphere. We then traveled to Ephesus---which was truly a grand experience. The Greeks and later the Romans knew a thing or two about building cities, baths and water and sanitation way ahead of their times---and examples of that was all around. We spent about 2-3 hours there, and didn't visit the terrace houses (needed separate fees)---but we could easily have spent another hour or two in the ruins. We then moved to the Artemis temple and finally saw the ruins of St. John's Church and his purported burial site.

There was a lunch in between---which was surprisingly good (in our experience) for a 'lunch inclusive' day trip.

We were lucky that we went in April, although, the day was a Saturday after a Turkish holiday and so there were some crowds. But not, as the guide told us, overwhelming masses of visitors as is wont during the peak summer tourist season.

Important: to carry water, sun-shades/sunglasses, hat/cap and sunscreen (for those who need it). Sturdy shoes with good grip are essential--the marble path through Ephesus are worn quite smooth and one tends to slip easily. A weather check---to ensure no rain, would be good to do as well. And of course, all the sites are visited on foot--so a bit of walking (and resting) will happen. A few snacks too would help, if you are a family with hungry kids---and do bring your cameras/GoPros/selfie-sticks and smart phones... Also, for those who are interested in ruins/history, please check if your entrance fees cover the terrace-houses entrance, if not, may be good to get those tickets before you go. We didn't, so will have to go back!

Overall, it was a grand day among ruins and wonders of the ancient world.

Nazım Bey is intelligent, informative, interesting, and knowledgeable. One of the best tour guides around. The lunch of local cuisine was delicious!

We had a wonderful tour of Ephesus with a friendly and knowledgeable guide! We had fun while learning about this amazing site. Our guide was confident, thoughtful, and professional. Would highly recommend this tour!