Does Rick have any recommendations for a tour guide for this historic site and neighboring city?
For those who have been recently do you recommend staying near the airport or in the city for an overnight stay ?
We’re flying in from Athens in the late October and plan to spend 2 nights so we can spend a full day touring the site and city.
I appreciate any recommendations and advice.
Thanks
Laurie
There is no airport in Kusadasi, the closest big town, so I assume you're flying to Izmir? If so you're an hour's drive away from Ephesus. Staying in Selcuk would be more efficient time wise, especially if you want to get to Ephesus early in the morning. Kusadasi is the closest big city.
Here is a search result for similar questions asked in the past year: https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=1y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=ephesus+tour+guide SRM Travel in Istanbul is the company RS uses for Turkey guides and they do offer private guide services.
Based on recommendations on this site and others, we have booked Ephesus Shuttle for our tour.
We just returned from a cruise and I used Rick Steves's recommendation of Mutlu Bulut for Ephesus tours. I can't recommend him enough. Mutlu spoke excellent English, was prompt in responding to my emails and suggested additional sites for us to visit. He planned a wonderful tour for us, including a great lunch spot. Mutlu has lived in the US and was very knowledgeable at every site we visited. He was even willing to buy entrance tickets prior since there were 3 cruise ships in town that day which maximized our tour time.
His contact information is [email protected].
Julie
As others have mentioned Mutlu Bulut, I also wanted to share my experience with him. I just finished a Mediterranean cruise a few days ago.
Mutlu was very professional, and over email ([email protected]) he helped me plan an itinerary that fit within the time I had at port. He 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 we'd had more time, he could also have included the House of the Virgin Mary, the Basilica of St. John, and other nearby sites.
The tour itself was exceptional. Mutlu 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 stayed okay in the heat (we were there in late July and brought sun umbrellas, but it was 104°F/40°C that day). He tailored the tour as we went, based on what caught my kids' interest, and gave us free time to explore places like the Library of Celsus on our own as we wished.
He's a wonderful tour guide, and I'd absolutely recommend Mutlu for a tour of Ephesus and the surrounding area. Kuşadası was our favorite day of the whole week-long cruise, thanks to him!
Selcuk is by far away the most convenient place to stay if you were going to Ephesus. And it’s a nice little town with a lot to see and do there. I really enjoyed my stay there.
marmorboys,
Just joined this forum to make a post with the same request. I'll just hijack your responses for now.
For my trip in 2027 I have decided to stay in Izmir and to get a tour from there. I decided against staying in Kusadasi or Selcuk to simplify my travel days, Direct from Athens to Izmir in the afternoon, Ephesus the next day, then Izmir to Istanbul the following morning. I think I could get to Istanbul the same day as my Ephesus tour, but going to go slow and relaxing instead.
