Private Ephesus Tours from Your Kuşadası or Selçuk Hotel

With Get Turkey Tours, a private Ephesus tour collected from a Kuşadası or Selçuk hotel costs from $300 per person and lasts six to eight hours (season, group size and inclusions change the price, so ask us for the current one). You get a licensed guide of your own, a private van and help skipping the queue at the ticket gate (entry tickets are paid separately), and the same day also takes in Isa Bey Mosque and the House of the Virgin Mary. Meals are not included. Would you like to visit at night? A private evening tour operates from Wednesday to Saturday.

Private Ephesus tours we run in Kuşadası and Selçuk

Below are the private tours we offer around Ephesus. Each one is fully private: the van and the guide are for your party only.

You can see each of them, with photos and the complete route, on our list of tours around Ephesus and Kuşadası. None of them include entrance tickets, lunch, drinks or the tip. Current ticket prices are on our page about what Ephesus tickets cost.

The full day, starting at your hotel

Pickup is at your hotel in Kuşadası or Selçuk, and the day falls into three parts:

1. Ephesus. Walk the marble streets to the Temple of Hadrian, then on to the Great Theatre and the Library of Celsus, while your guide describes daily Roman life at each stop.
2. Up the hill to the House of the Virgin Mary. Christian tradition says Mary lived her final years here, on the slope above the city.
3. Selçuk's Isa Bey Mosque, a 14th-century building put up by the first Muslim dynasty that settled in western Anatolia.

The Terrace Houses can be added too: the roofed-over homes of rich Ephesians, with mosaics and painted walls. Check whether your quote covers them, because entry to them is ticketed separately on site. The day finishes back at your hotel.

What a private guide changes at Ephesus

Seeing Ephesus means a long walk downhill over polished marble, and when cruise ships are in, crowds build from mid-morning as coaches arrive from the port. With a private guide you can do three things a group tour cannot. You start while the site is still calm, walk in the direction that ends near your van instead of climbing back, and pause wherever you like.

That pace counts most for older visitors, for families with kids, and during summer, when heat bounces off the stone and shade is scarce. A couple who enjoy reading every information board may not need a private guide; on a first visit, though, it turns a field of ruins into a city you understand.

Ephesus after dark

Your evening begins at the Ephesus Experience Museum with an audio show, then goes into the ancient city once the sun has set. With your guide you see the Temple of Hadrian and the Harbour Street, then the Great Theatre and the Agora, and finally the Library of Celsus and the Terrace Houses, plus the ancient latrines, lit up and free of the daytime heat and crowds.

It runs on four nights only, Wednesday through Saturday, so build your dates around those days. If time allows, you can add the House of the Virgin Mary. You are collected from and returned to your hotel or Kuşadası port, and transfers are listed as included on the tour page. For summer visits, this is the coolest and easiest option.

Selçuk, the town next to the ruins

Right beside Ephesus lies Selçuk, a small town and the simplest base when the ruins, not the beach, are the point of your trip. Isa Bey Mosque stands in the town, and a short walk away is the last standing column of the Temple of Artemis, one of the ancient world's Seven Wonders. Our full-day tour collects guests at Selçuk hotels as well as in Kuşadası.

If you are tracing early Christian history, Ephesus counts among the Seven Churches of Revelation, and pilgrims come to the House of the Virgin Mary. Longer biblical itineraries are on our religious tours and tour of the Seven Churches pages.

Şirince and the hills over Selçuk

A short drive uphill from Selçuk, Şirince is a village of stone houses surrounded by vineyards. On the full-day tour combining Ephesus and Şirince, you first explore the ancient city, starting with Curetes Street and the Odeon, then the State Agora and the Fountain of Trajan, and on to the Library of Celsus and finally the Great Theatre. Then you drive up to the village to walk its lanes and stop at a wine shop selling local fruit wines, before finishing at Isa Bey Mosque.

The listing has you collected at Kuşadası port and brought back in time for the ship's departure, so it fits cruise passengers best. Staying at a hotel? Ask us about a hotel pickup for the same route. Lunch is extra, but there is time to eat in the village.

Further afield: Pamukkale and Pergamon day trips

A few nights on the coast leave room for the two big sites inland and north of here. Each is a long private day, and both depart from the Izmir port area or Kuşadası.

Pamukkale and Hierapolis need 10 to 11 hours in all. Driving to Pamukkale from around Kuşadası takes roughly three hours in each direction, so the time in the van roughly matches the time on the white travertines and at Hierapolis, the Roman spa city above them. Go if Pamukkale is not on your route later; if it is, wait until then. Pack a swimsuit for the Antique Pool, which charges its own fee.

Pergamon, with the Acropolis on its hilltop and the Asclepion healing sanctuary, needs 8 to 9 hours. The site is calmer than Ephesus and fits travellers who have seen Ephesus already and want more from the same era with smaller crowds. Starting in Istanbul? The private 4-day route from Gallipoli to Pamukkale covers Troy, Pergamon, Ephesus and Pamukkale on one itinerary.

Lunch is not included on either day. If you want a shorter second outing, pick the night tour of Ephesus instead.

Cruise passengers: same guide, fixed return time

Coming in on a cruise ship? Our private shore trip meets you holding a name sign at Kuşadası port, covers Ephesus, Isa Bey Mosque and the House of the Virgin Mary, and has you back at the ship within six to eight hours. Details for cruise days are on our shore excursion page for Kuşadası.

Choosing a hotel, or travelling from Istanbul

Still looking for a hotel? Our guide to Kuşadası hotels near Ephesus compares staying on the seafront with staying in town; Selçuk is the quieter choice. If you are coming from Istanbul, the day trips to Ephesus from Istanbul page sets the fly-in options side by side, and the two-day Ephesus and Pamukkale trip from Istanbul visits both sites.

To see every private option in the area, begin with the full list of tours around Ephesus and Kuşadası; for church and pilgrimage routes, the religious tours page is the place to look.

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