My wife and I are taking the Athens and Heart of Greece tour in April, 2027, followed by a 10 day cruise on the Celebrity Infinity. We prefer to book excursions directly with local guides rather than through the cruise line. We are looking for recommended local guides in the following ports: Thessaloniki, Kavala, Kusadasi for Ephesus, Rhodes and Heraklion in Crete. I have the Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports guidebook which includes information on some of these ports. If you have experience with local guides in any of these 5 ports, please share your thoughts and guide contact details.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
10573 posts
What a great combination of land tour and cruise! Enjoy.
Posted by
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
1711 posts
We are on the April 23 Infinity.
On our first cruise there we took a ship excursion to Ephesus however the prices appear to be very much more expensive now.
I am the guy who stops to take photos and drag myself at the back of the tour group always getting in trouble for being tardy so tours really are not in my sweet spot.
We just wandered around the old town area in Rhodes and got lost in the maze of alleys. The ship docked close to the old town.
In Heraklion we just walked to the old town area and then visited the Koules fortress at the end of the dock. Also within walking distance of the port.
The big attraction is of course Knossos. There will be lots of taxis at the port to get you to Knossos. It is about 20 minute drive. There are guides at the gate. You can hire a guide for yourselves ( expensive) or you can wait until about 10 people arrive to make up a group around 10 people per guide. Get there early as you can before it gets crowded.
We just walked the waterfront promenade at Thessaloniki.
Posted by
2 posts
I just got back from a Mediterranean cruise a few days ago. I can only speak to Kusadasi (Ephesus), but for that port I can highly recommend Mutlu Bulut ([email protected]). He is listed in the guidebook you mentioned and I saw several positive reviews on this forum as well.
Over email, he helped me plan an itinerary that fit within the time we had at port, which made the whole process easy and stress free. We ended up touring Ephesus, the Terrace Houses, the archaeological museum, a weaving school, and a great local restaurant for lunch. If you have more time than we did, he can also include the House of the Virgin Mary, the Basilica of St. John, and other nearby sites.
The tour was exceptional, he was knowledgeable (full of interesting facts) and entertaining the whole time. I was traveling with my 12 year old twins, and he was great at engaging them so they had fun too.
He went above and beyond, making sure we got great photos and that we were okay in the heat (it was 104°F/40°C that day), though April should be much cooler. He tailored the tour as we went along based on what caught the kids' interest, and gave us free time to explore places like the Library of Celsus on our own.
Kusadasi ended up being our favorite day of the whole cruise!