Luxury & small-ship cruises
Private Ephesus Shore Excursions for Luxury & Small-Ship Cruise Guests
A private Ephesus shore excursion for luxury and small-ship cruise guests: your own licensed guide, a private air-conditioned vehicle, a calm and unhurried pace, and a day in Kuşadası planned around your ship.
Ephesus is one of the great ancient cities of the Mediterranean, about 20 km from where your ship berths at Kuşadası. Most lines sell it as a large coach excursion. We do the opposite: a fully private day for your party alone, with a licensed local guide, a comfortable vehicle, and a pace set by your group rather than a timetable. It is built for guests who want the shore day to feel like the ship, calm, personal, and unhurried.
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
Up to 8 guests from your own party. We never combine strangers into a tour and call it private.
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.
Tickets bought before you arrive
Your guide pre-purchases every entrance ticket, so you walk straight past the queues. At peak season that can save up to two hours, time you spend inside Ephesus rather than waiting outside.
Your language, your pace
Guided in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, 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 2019Choose your cruise line
Each cruise line has its own page, written for how its guests travel. We are adding them in order of priority.
- SilverseaPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Silversea.View
- Regent Seven SeasPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Regent Seven Seas.View
- SeabournPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Seabourn.View
- Explora JourneysPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Explora Journeys.View
- OceaniaPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Oceania.View
- WindstarPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Windstar.View
- Celebrity CruisesPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Celebrity Cruises.View
- VikingPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Viking.View
- AzamaraPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Azamara.View
- Noble CaledoniaPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Noble Caledonia.View
- Emerald CruisesPrivate Ephesus tours for guests sailing with Emerald Cruises.View
The private experience
- Private licensed guideYour own licensed local guide, never a shared 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.
Closest cruise gateway to Ephesus
Twenty kilometres from your berth to the marble streets.
Kuşadası is the closest cruise port to Ephesus, about a 20 minute drive. The short transfer is what lets a private day stay calm even on a shorter call.
The private Ephesus tours
Private Ephesus & Temple of ArtemisThe classic private half-day, well suited to a shorter call.View tour
Ephesus & House of the Virgin MaryA fuller private day: Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary, and Artemis.View tour
Private Ephesus from KuşadasıOur flexible private tour, shaped around your hours in port.View tour
Common questions
The shore day, as calm and private as the ship.
Tours of Ephesus is an independent local operator and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any cruise line named on this site.