Off the ship, into Ephesus.
Marble streets half an hour inland, thermal terraces at Pamukkale, jeep tracks above the bay and a hamam before the gangway closes: what each trip costs, how long it takes and which one fits your day here.
Seven that carry a Kusadasi trip.
The Library of Celsus with a guide who knows which gate opens first, the House of the Virgin Mary on its quiet hill, a boat that anchors off Pigeon Island for a swim. These are the bookings people come back talking about.
PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR FOR CRUISERS: On-time Return and Skip-Line
Private Ephesus tour from Kusadasi cruise port with skip-line style timing and guaranteed on-time return. Guided ruins, Mary’s House, Artemis.
From $29 per person
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★ 4.8Port-day proofSmall Group Tour for Cruise PassengersFrom $291,100 reviews
★ 5.0Books out earlySKIP-THE-LINE: Group & Private Ephesus Tour ENTRY FEE & LUNCHFrom $7935 reviews
★ 5.0Cruiser favouriteAll Inclusive Private Access Ephesus Tour (SKIP-THE-LINE)From $67843 reviews
★ 5.0Worth the liraALL INCLUSIVE Private Ephesus, House of Virgin Mary with lunchFrom $169819 reviews
★ 4.8Easy half-dayMary’s House Private & Group Tour with Ticket+LunchFrom $31738 reviews
★ 5.0Guide worth havingALL INCLUSIVE Private Ephesus, House of Mary, LUNCH, EntrancesFrom $134735 reviews
The white terraces are worth the drive.
Pamukkale is calcium carbonate poured down a hillside for two thousand years, warm water still running over your feet at the top. Hierapolis stands behind it with a theatre and a necropolis, and the antique pool lets you swim over fallen columns. Leave at six, back for dinner.
How should you do Ephesus?
Everyone goes to Ephesus; the difference is who takes you and how hard the clock presses. Three ways to spend the morning, and every option behind each one is priced with what travellers said about it.
Back before all aboard
The private port run
4 to 6 hours (approx.) · from $39 · 8,527 traveller reviews
A driver and guide waiting at the pier with your name on a board, the site by nine, and a written promise about the return time. You choose the pace at the terrace houses and nobody counts heads at the gate. The version most cruise passengers end up glad they paid for.
See the port pickups →
Eight to twelve people
The small group day
5 hours · from $29 · 1,100 traveller reviews
Shared cost, one minibus, usually Ephesus plus the House of the Virgin Mary and a lunch stop in a village kitchen. Hotel pickups in Kusadasi and Selcuk, back on the coast by mid afternoon. The best value on this page if you do not mind a fixed schedule.
See the small group days →
Gate ticket only
Your own pace at the gate
4 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $29 · 7,233 traveller reviews
You already know Hadrian from Trajan and you would rather read the stones alone. Buy the entry with fast track, take a taxi from the port, start at the upper gate and walk downhill past the library to the theatre. Add the terrace houses ticket at the door.
See tickets and fast track →
The afternoon belongs to the hamam.
Heated marble, a scrub mitt that removes the dust of Curetes Street, foam up to your ears and tea in the cool room afterwards. Most places sit ten minutes from the harbour and run until early evening, which suits a ship that sails at six.
Lunch comes with the day.
Village kitchens above Sirince, mezze under a vine at Selcuk, grilled fish on the way back from the ruins. These trips build the meal into the price, which on a hot afternoon is the difference between a good day and a long one.
Three swim stops and a slow boat.
The gulet leaves the marina mid morning, drops anchor off the national park where the water goes turquoise over sand, feeds you at noon and drifts back past Pigeon Island. Bring a towel and nothing else.
The older story sits on the hill.
A small stone house among the pines where pilgrims still tie their wishes to a wall, the Basilica of Saint John on the slope below, and one lonely column left of the Temple of Artemis in a field of storks. Half a morning, and quieter than anything at the main gate.
The coast, in day sized pieces.
Ephesus for the marble. Selcuk for the storks and the museum. Sirince for wine on a terrace. Pamukkale when you have a whole day and a driver who starts early.
Which shape of day is yours?
Twelve ways to fill the hours between the pier and the last call: pick the shape of your day and the options behind it are priced and rated.
An hour of coast road changes everything.
Ruins in three directions, a wine village in the hills, thermal terraces inland and Izmir at the end of the motorway. Every one of these is back in Kusadasi the same evening.
Three days between the pier and Pamukkale.
Two nights in Kusadasi and one long drive inland covers most of what people fly here for. This is the order that works when the afternoons are hot.
Day 1
Ephesus before the heat
Upper gate at opening, downhill past the library and the theatre, terrace houses if you have the ticket. Lunch in Selcuk, museum after, back on the coast by four.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Water, then marble and foam
A boat out to the national park bays with swim stops and lunch on deck, then a hamam near the harbour before dinner on the seafront at Ladies Beach.
Plan day two →
Day 3
The long drive to Pamukkale
Early pickup, three hours inland, barefoot down the terraces at midday and Hierapolis in the afternoon. Sleep on the way home; you will have earned it.
Plan day three →
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