Private Ephesus Shore Excursion with House of Virgin Mary Kusadasi

Kuşadası cruise port

Kuşadası is one of the busiest cruise ports of the Turkish Aegean coast, and most ships call here so that passengers can visit Ephesus, about 20 kilometres inland. A private Ephesus tour from Kuşadası port is the most relaxed way to do it: your guide waits for you at the port with a sign showing your name, and the vehicle leaves as soon as you are ready.

Because the tour is private, the start time can follow your ship's schedule, and the pace adapts to you: more time for photos at the Library of Celsus, a shorter walk for those who prefer it, or an extra question for your guide. Please send us the name of your cruise ship when you book. We confirm the meeting time with you one day before the tour.

House of the Virgin Mary

Your first stop is the House of the Virgin Mary, a small stone chapel on the forested slopes of Mount Koressos, above Selçuk. According to tradition, Mary spent the last years of her life here, and the site is a place of pilgrimage for Christians and also for Muslims, who honour her as Maryam. The chapel stands on the foundations of a much older house and is surrounded by trees and quiet gardens.

Visitors walk through the simple chapel, then pass the springs whose water many believe to be healing, and the long wishing wall where people tie small pieces of cloth or paper with their prayers. Allow about an hour here; the mountain air is cooler than in the valley. House of the Virgin Mary tickets are included in the default option, so you go straight in with your guide.

Ancient Ephesus: the upper city

Ephesus was one of the great cities of the Roman world, the capital of the province of Asia and a major port, and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best-preserved ancient cities of the Mediterranean. The visit usually starts from the upper entrance, so you walk downhill along the marble streets with your guide for about two and a half hours.

In the upper city you see the Odeon, a small theatre used for council meetings and concerts, the State Agora, the Prytaneion where the sacred flame was kept, the Memmius Monument, the Temple of Domitian and the Gate of Hercules. From there Curetes Street, lined with statues, columns and shops, descends towards the lower city, passing the elegant Temple of Hadrian and the public latrines, a highlight for many visitors.

Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre

At the bottom of Curetes Street stands the most famous monument of Ephesus, the Library of Celsus. Built in the second century as a library and monumental tomb for a Roman governor, it once held thousands of scrolls, and its restored two-storey facade, with columns and statues of the four virtues, is the image everyone recognises. Morning light on the facade is ideal for photos.

Continue along the Marble Road past the Commercial Agora, the great market square of the city, to the Great Theatre, carved into the hillside and able to hold around 25,000 spectators. From its seats you look down the Arcadian Way, the colonnaded avenue that once led to the harbour. Ephesus is worth visiting for this view alone, and with a private guide the history comes alive.

Temple of Artemis and Selçuk

After the visit, lunch is served in Selçuk, the small town at the foot of the ancient site. Then you stop at the Temple of Artemis, once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was among the largest temples ever built by the Greeks, with more than a hundred columns, but today only a single re-erected column stands in a green field, often with a stork's nest on top.

From here you have the best view of Ayasuluk Hill, where the ruins of the Basilica of St John rise below a Byzantine and Ottoman fortress, and of the İsa Bey Mosque, built in 1375 and one of the finest early Turkish mosques of Anatolia. The three monuments together sum up the long history of the area, before the short drive back to Kuşadası cruise port.