Celebrity Cruises · Celebrity Ascent
A Private Ephesus Day for Celebrity Ascent Guests
For guests sailing on Celebrity Ascent, a private Ephesus shore excursion means your own licensed guide and vehicle from the Kuşadası berth, an early start that beats the summer heat, and a return timed to your all-aboard.
Celebrity Ascent calls at Kuşadası this season and her published 2027 itineraries keep the port on the route. Her calls sit squarely in the warm months, so this page is about the thing that matters most then: the early, shaded, unhurried version of Ephesus that only a private start can buy. On Thursday 22 October 2026 six guests from Canada did exactly that: off the ship at 08:30, Ephesus from the Upper Gate to the Lower Gate with our guide Eli Halegua, the Temple of Artemis at 11:45, and back at the port by about 12:30. The same day four guests from the United States asked for a later 10:00 start and a full Biblical day with Hakan Cebeci: Ephesus read through Acts 19, the Temple of Artemis, lunch in Selçuk, the Basilica of St John and the House of the Virgin Mary, back at the ship at 16:45. A third party, six guests from Panama, took the longest day of the three with Celal Ceylan: six sites from 08:15 to 16:40, the Ephesus Archaeological Museum among them, plus a carpet workshop they asked to add on the way.
Celebrity Ascent at Piraeus, photo by Sakis Antoniou via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Cropped and optimized for web use.
Why cruise passengers choose us
Five reasons guests book a private day with us instead of the excursion sold on board.
Award-winning, not just experienced
Eight TripAdvisor awards since 2013, from Certificate of Excellence to Travelers’ Choice, voted by real guests rather than marketing teams.
Exclusively your group
Your party only, from two guests to a group of forty. We do not match parties, so the only people with you are the ones you arrived with.
We work around your ship, not the other way
We build the day backwards from your all-aboard time and keep a comfortable buffer, so the return to the ship stays calm rather than a race.
Skip-the-line entry
Your guide carries QR-coded tickets for every site in your programme, bought before you arrive, so you walk straight through the gate. What that means at an Ephesus gate, and what it does not.
Your language, your pace
Guided in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Russian or Japanese by a licensed expert, never a memorised script.
Recognised by travellers
Eight TripAdvisor awards across a decade.
Certificate of Excellence six times between 2013 and 2019, then Travelers’ Choice in 2021 and 2023. Voted by real guests, not marketing teams.
Certificate of Excellence2013 to 2019High summer, done right
An August day at Ephesus is won in the first two hours. A private car off Ascent puts you at the gate while the marble is still cool and the light is still gold, and by the time the day heats up you are done with the open stretches and standing in the shade of the Terrace Houses canopy. The coach schedule cannot do this; a private one is built for it.
Water, shade, and no forced march
Summer guiding is choreography: cold water in the vehicle, the shaded side of Curetes Street, rests in the theatre’s cool stone, and a pace that never turns a holiday into a hike. Your guide reads the group and bends the route, which is exactly what a fixed-itinerary coach cannot offer.
Your private route through Ephesus
Where it suits your group, we enter at the Upper Gate and walk gently downhill to the Lower Gate, so the walking is easy and there is no climbing back. The Library of Celsus, the terraced streets, and the Great Theatre come to life at your pace.
Planning your day around the ship
We build the day backwards from your ship’s hours in Kuşadası and keep a comfortable buffer before all-aboard. We do not publish fixed port times here, because they change by sailing. Tell us your date, this season or from her published 2027 itineraries, and we confirm your call and shape the day around it.
The private experience
- Private licensed guideYour own licensed local guide, never a coach group.
- Private vehicle, matched to your partyA private, air-conditioned vehicle sized to your group.
- Senior-friendly pacingA gentle pace with rests whenever your group needs them.
- Ship-aware return planningThe day is timed to your ship, with a comfortable buffer before all-aboard.
- No forced shoppingNo carpet or jewellery stops. Your hours ashore stay at Ephesus.
- All listed admissions includedClear, transparent pricing with the listed entries covered.
Private Ephesus tours to pair with your call
Common questions
Shade, water, and marble: summer the sensible way.
Tours of Ephesus is an independent local operator and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of Celebrity Cruises.