Please sign in to post.

Turkish Bath in Ephesus

We are on a cruise which makes a stop in Ephesus/Kusadasi and we are taking a tour of Kusadasi which will bring us back to our ship likely around 5:00 pm, our ship leaves at 7:00 pm. I would like to know if there is a decent place to get a turkish bath close enough to the ship where I can get a liesurly expierience in the amount of time that I will have? Thank you very much for your help.

Posted by
893 posts

The short answer to your question is No. You just don't have enough time, given that you will likely have to be on board the ship at 6:30pm. There is The Belediye Hamam in Kusadisi (never been) that's open til 7:30pm April - October, but you'd have to re-arrange your schedule to allow time for it. And I have no idea how close it is to the port. One other thing I want to point out as an FYI. Ephesus is only the ancient ruins. The "modern day Ephesus" is actually the nearby town of Selçuk. You won't find anything actually in Ephesus, so you might have better luck asking if something is in Selçuk or Kusadasi, rather than if it's in Ephesus. Ephesus is amazing, and if you are touring there, don't miss the Terrace Houses!

Posted by
811 posts

your time is too short. i think you need a couple of hours min. to fully enjoy the bath experience, including tea time/relax after the bath. the basic package is just the scrub, but if you negotiate you can get deals on facial and other things, so it can easily run longer, including chatting with the owner, etc.

Posted by
417 posts

I agree, if the ship leaves at 7PM they generally want everybody back on an hour ahead. For some additional fun, just wander the area around the port. It is touristy, but really, the whole area is geared for tourism. Have fun!

Posted by
5 posts

Hi Russell! You won't likely have any extra time for any bathing. Ephesus is about 15 miles, one-way, from Kusadasi, around a half-hour once you get going. Ephesus is entirely ruins today, or more accurately, a ghost city. Among other things, you'll see temples (from which followers of Artemis of the Ephesians ran St. Paul out of town), not one but two Greek theaters, the facade of the famous library and much more. There are no facilities of any kind inside the ancient city, though. No baths or even rest rooms. (At least, not the kind of rest rooms you can use! There are, mercifully, modern rest rooms just beyond the exit.) It's almost two miles from one end to the other and will take at least one hour, even if you don't stop to poke around. Of course, you will poke around, and you'll probably have a droning guide who will explain the significance of every ancient rock, so you'll be there more than two hours, minimum. If you'll be touring Kusadasi, your tour will show you where the baths there are. But I would not count on much free time after you visit Ephesus, have lunch in the modern town of Selçuk, and tour Kusadasi. By the way, considering your tight schedule, you probably won't get time for an excursion to the white cotton cliffs of Pamukkale and its UNESCO World Heritage Site cousin, Hieropolis, where you can bathe in the hot springs while dodging fallen Greek columns that have toppled into the water. Perhaps a future trip! Happy travels and let me know if I can help further! David capetien10@gmail.com