We only provide private tours. You will be the only ones in the vehicle besides your personal tour guide and your personal driver.
You will mee with your tour guide with a sign written on it your name at the arrival gate of Cruise Terminal.
Private Tours included A/C Transportation & English Speaking Official Tour Guide.
Private Tours excluded Entrance fees, Lunch, Drinks, Personal Expenses and Parking Fees.
Drivers are seperate than tour guides. While your tour guide is making commentary about the sites and culture of the area. Your driver will stay by the vehicle. You will enter Ephesus from the upper gate and walk down the hill. Your driver will meet you at the lower gate. You will save a lot of time.
Yes, your tour guide will be with your group during your stay at ruins.
We organise a private tour for you and you can depart at any time you want. We generally suggest our guests to start their private tour as soon as their cruise allows them to avoid hot weather and crowded.
We are able to organize our private tours for any sized group and we have a range of tours to suit any time availability. We are able to accommodate different types of vehicles/coaches depending on the sizes of the group. All our vehicles have air condition and we have been using brand new vehicles.
We do use a sedan car for 2 people, minivan 3-14 people (Mercedes Vito, Sprinter or Volkswagen Volt or Caravella), 15-27 people Midivan (Sultan 27 pax capacity & Turquaz 31 pax capacity), 28-44 people bus (Mercedes or Mitsubishi Safir or similar)
The cruise ship passengers who arrive by sea and who are on a “daily excursion” and who do not stay overnight in Turkey do not need a visa for the day. So you will get a landing card from your cruise ship and use that card while you are entering Turkey.
If you wish to add further people to your group at short notice then please let us know no later than 3 days before the tour commences and we will do all we can do to accommodate your needs. As our pricing structure is based on vehicle then we can organise our vehicles based on the final number of passengers on the tour.
Most tours require some degree of walking; however, some excursions require extensive walking. Whatever your fitness level, we highly recommend comfortable, low-heeled walking shoes.
You can pay 10% deposit and balance is to be paid cash (USD, Euro, TL) or by credit card at the end of the tour.
You can pay 50% deposit and balance is to be paid cash (USD, Euro, TL) or by credit card at the end of the tour.
You can pay full amount time of booking.
If for any reason the cruise ship does not arrive at the port on the specified day we consider this to be outside of both parties control and we will therefore return all money paid. (deposit or full amount)
If for any reason YOU decide not to join the tour (‘turn up for the tour’) then we will charge the original credit card with the balance for the tour. If you paid full then we will retain 100% of the tour price.
In the past years we had some problems without deposit payment confirmation and after that we have decided to ask for a symbolic deposit. (15 cruise ships could not docked Port of Kusadasi, Izmir and Istanbul and then we had refund deposit/full payments of these customers between 2002-2012)
Example 1: One group has made Ephesus Tour reservation through 2 different companies. We went to the port and found out that another company is also holding the same name. When group leader came, he said he made mistake and mixed the companies. He sent confirmation messages to both companies. This was a mistake but we both had to pay for our guides and transportation company.
Example 2: We have waited for a group in another day and nobody came. We waited for the group several hours and checked with the cruise. They said they are in the cruise. We called their cabin and they said they do not want to go to Ephesus and want to spend the day in cruise without any excuse. Our guide, minibus and our representative spent couple of hours and we had to make the payments for the guide and minibus.
That’s why we decided to ask for a symbolic deposit payment during reservation. If they do not come, we at least cover some of our expenses. Also deposit payment means definite reservation and once you arrive in Port we will definitely be waiting for you. You will be sure that Anker Travel will be waiting for you. If you wish you may arrange your tour upon your arrival but we can not guaranty your tour as you know last minutes arrangements are too difficult because all the best guides have already been arranged their tour. Sometimes it is difficult to find professional guide as they can be all full. So, we can arrange your guide in advance and you can pay your balance cash or by credit card at the end of your tour.
Extending a gratuity to your guide or driver is strictly optional; however, in Turkey, these personnel may anticipate that if you were pleased with their services, you will reward them in a monetary way.
Before you cruise, you can find all the information you would ever need right on the web. You can also read about the most popular tours here as well. Onboard your ship, a qualified lecturer will hold informative talks on each port of call you visit. If you still have questions, many ships have a Port Lecturer that will be glad to answer them. You should also do a little research before you go. Your local library should have all kinds of books about your destination. Frommer's and Fodor's also have wonderfully informative books identifying local points of interest, culture and history.
Guests should wear comfortable walking shoes at all times. When visiting ruins or walking on cobble stone streets, wear rubber-soled shoes. It's also smart to wear a sun hat. There is no need for a head scarf for the visit of House of Virgin Mary or Isa Bey Mosque.
Whenever possible, shopping time is allocated within the framework of the excursions.
Cruise Lines offer similar tours, visiting the same sites. The biggest diference is that you will be met by a private representative on arrival, reserve in advance and save time and money.
Save Money - these tours are lower than you'll find on ship.
Avoid long lines at the Ship's Shore Excursion Desk.
All tours planned and confirmed before you sail.
No chance of a sell out like on board ship.
Full refund if tour is cancelled for bad weather or the ship misses port.
Very. GuidedEphesusTours.com is a web trademark of Anker Travel Ltd. which has been providing tours since 1995. Anker Travel has a wonderful reputation. GuidedEphesusTours.com is confident that customers will enjoy the same tours that you’d find on a cruise ship at lower prices and with more convenience.
The local guides are considered top experts on local history and sights, offering you a chance to fully appreciate and experience their hometowns. The listed excursions are designed and organized in such a way as to maximize your time in each port and yet allow sufficient free time as well.
At the time of Ephesus, Greek was the common language. Greek was the international language used across the Roman Empire, despite the official language being Latin. Therefore all the laws were written in both languages.
You can cancel a tour 1 week in advance of your tour departure without any charges. If you would like to cancel a tour, simply send us an email and we will be happy to assist you.
There would not be any charge if you cannot make a tour departure due to a ship delay or a missed port call. You will of course also receive a full refund if weather or an equipment problem prevents delivering the tour.
No. Although the cruise lines would like you to believe that independent tours carry this risk, we are very well aware of your ship's departure time, and our tours are designed to get you back to the ship with time to spare and until today none of our clients missed the ship by being late getting back to the ship.
The guide which will be assigned for your private Ephesus tour is licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. To obtain this license one has to attend 2 or 4 years university programs that includes archeology, history... classes. Our licensed guide will be with you at all times during the tour and will inform you about the archeological, historical and cultural facts of the area. They are expert guides who do this kind of Ephesus tours approximately 100 - 150 times a year. They are not archeologists but they are expert guides who will provide as much as information that an archeologist can do. Suggested visit time is 1 ½ - 2 hours. This may be longer depending on your interest, pace and the number of people a head of you. Your Ephesus Tour will start at the upper gate (Magnesia Gate) and you will walk down the hill and at the lower gate of Ephesus.
Ephesus is open everyday. Visiting hours vary depending on the season.
Summer Time Visiting Hours: 08.30 - 19.00
Winter Time visiting Hours: 08.30 - 17.00
Letter of Ephesians was written by St. Paul while he as prisoned in Rome. Before the execution he also wrote two letters to his companion Timothy. While Paul was in Ephesus during 53-56AD he wrote the letter to the Corinthians. Corinthians No.1 is written while Paul was in Ephesus.
It totally depends on you. Our tour will start from the upper gate and you will walk down the hill. The tour of Ephesus will end at the lower gate. Depending on your interest, pace of travel and the traffic in front of you, the duration of the visit vary. Normal circumstances our tours take approximately 1 ½ - 2 hours.
It is believed by the Biblical scholar that St. Paul came to Ephesus towards the end of his second missionary journey with his companions like Timothy, Silas, Aquila, Pricilla and probably Luke the gospel writer. Promising them he will go back to Antioch and came back to the city of Ephesus in year 53AD. He stayed over 2.5 years in the city of Ephesus till the riot by Demetrius the silversmith started at the Grand Theater of Ephesus.