Day trip to Ephesus

Probably your best bet is to fly round-trip into Izmir and have your pre-arranged guide (with car and driver) meet you at the airport there and take you to Ephesus, which is only about an hour away.

We arranged for a private six-hour tour in the Ephesus area (but from Kusadasi port) using Ekol Travel, and our excellent guide lives in Izmir, spending much of the tourist season giving Ephesus tours. Because of the time of year you are going, you should be able to arrange this without worrying about tourist hordes. Guides are very reasonable in Turkey, and with a private guide you can decide how you want to spend your very short time, rather than waiting for the slowest person on your bus. Of course, in Istanbul itself, there is no need for any guides; just use Rick Steves' excellent Istanbul guidebook.

The only possible way to make it to Ephesus and back to Istanbul in a day is to fly to Izmir, rent a car, drive to Ephesus, hire a registered guide at the entrance, tour the site, drive back to Izmir and catch a flight back to Istanbul in the afternoon.

Be sure to specify that your guide must speak fluent English. Some guides are so hard to understand that is spoils the tour.

If you hire one at the entrance, talk with a few of them to be sure you can understand them.

You can arrange for the flight and car most easily with a travel agent in Istanbul. There are several along the Divan Yolu in Sultanahmet, where you are likely staying.

Thanks everyone!

When you have only one day for such a trip, time is of the essence! We had a fantastic one day there going from Istanbul and back recently, which we arranged through www.toursistanbul.com. All the arrangements went off perfectly on the day and it was very easy to organize it beforehand with them online.

This way we didn't have to worry about booking flights ourselves, getting to and from the airports or connecting with the tour. It was all very easy so I would certainly recommend going with them for peace of mind and to get the most out of your day.

We were in Turkey in November and used a tour company called Sammys-their website is http://www.sammystravel.com/ I would certainly recommend them.

We really loved Turkey--had some of our most memorable times there. Enjoy!

We flew from Istanbul to Izmir rented a car and drove to Selcuk. Very easy drive on a multilane divided highway. Stayed at a wonderful inn called Nilya. www.nilya.com. They aranged a guide for us to go to Ephesus. We also went up into the mountains to a small village (Sinsere ?)Both towns wee great. A chance to meet and interact with locals.

I will recommend you to visit this web http://www.turkeyvacationpackage.com/day_tours_from_istanbul_1.html and see the programme for daily ephesus tour. New Deal Travel can help you to explore turkey.

I would like to thank you for arranging my tour of Istanbul on March 16. Everything went very smoothly and comfortably. The young driver, I think his name was Mehmet, was very courteous and pleasant. I would particularly like to say thank you for my guide, Mr. Ilhan Atesgoz who was so knowledgeable and a very interesting person to talk to. He certainly made the time spent in Istanbul memorable. I shall be very pleased to recommend OneNation Travel to anyone who is coming to Istanbul. All the best and thank you again.

Rumi

THE BEST PRICE GUARANTEED PRIVATE ISTANBUL AND EPHESUS TOURS AT www.dailyistanbultours.com

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