Guest reviews
Every story, on one page.
Forty-two real reviews from cruise passengers who travelled with us, fresh 2025-2026 trips alongside long-time favourites from our Tayf Tours DMC archive. Source: Tripadvisor.
- Reviews
- 42
- Five-star
- 42 / 42
- Average
- 5.0
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Recent, 2024 to today
Stories from the latest port days. Same team carrying the brand forward as Tours of Ephesus.
Private Tour of Ephesus
This was a port stop for us on a cruise, and our guide was Nejdet. We had only limited time, and had customized a packed itinerary. Nejdet was on time, and quite informative. We are history lovers, and he brought the sites to life. The entire experience was warm and personable. The lunch that was part of the tour was fabulous. We managed to get everything in that we wanted to do in this amazing place. The tour was a…”
Ephesus Tour, Turkey
If you plan to visit Ephesus, I highly recommend Tayf Tours. It was the best! We were on a Royal Caribbean cruise. I traveled in a group of 10 people. We got a private tour to visit the House of Virgin Mary, Ephesus, Saint John's grave and both a carpet and a ceramic factory. The tour guide, Yesim, was fantastic. She truly knows about Turkey and its history. Very well prepared. She seems to enjoy her job a lot and…”
Trip to Ephesus July 2025
Excellent trip, organised online and fully up to expectations; transportation, itinerary and tour guide all top class; request to limit commercial visits dealt with amicably — our one visit to carpet weaving was well worth the short sales pitch at the end, no real pressure to buy. Tour guide extremely knowledgeable and also took us to an excellent Turkish lunch.”
Archive, 2015 to 2023
Long-time favourites from our Tayf Tours DMC Tripadvisor history. Names, dates, and bodies preserved verbatim from the original posts.
Ephesus was wonderful
The guide Nafia was very knowledgeable in the history of the location. She was very accommodating with our requests. The town was so interesting and beautiful. We had a wonderful time going to the ruins, the pottery factory, the small town and then lunch. What a fabulous day.”
Private Tour of Ephesus
We booked a private tour of the Ephesus ruins, including the terrace houses, while on a cruise from Athens to Rome. It turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. Our guide, Serdar, is a local guy, spoke excellent English, and was very knowledgeable about everything we were seeing. With a private tour, the pace and choice of focus is up to you, not a group. A wonderful Turkish lunch was included, served in a…”
Holiday Highlight with TAYF Tours
Travelling in a group of six, we were picked up for a private tour to Ephesus from our Bodrum hotel by tour guide Naffia and driver. We had a full itinerary with stops at Mary's house, the ruined city, the ruins of St John's Basilica and the Temple of Artemis. Lunch was open air shared platter style which our group all enjoyed. A full day with a great guide.”
Private Tour of Ephesus
We so enjoyed our tour! Sardar was very informative, easy to get along with and helped to make our short time in Turkey educational and wanting more! We were picked up at our cruise ship on time, and toured Ephesus, House of Mary, and Temple of Artemis. We also stopped at a handmade pottery shop and had a Turkish Rug Demo (no obligations for either!) Highly recommend.”
Ephesus visit
Nafia, our tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. It was a very hot day but she made the tour very enjoyable. We would certainly recommend having Nafia as your tour guide.”
Exceptional Tour of Ephesus and Area
Our tour of Ephesus & Area in Turkey was one of the most memorable experiences of all our vacations combined. Our guide Nafia was extremely knowledgeable and friendly; she had plenty of information about every highlight in our tour and always exceeded every expectation. The driver during our day in Turkey was also professional and punctual. Tayf Tours offers a good price for superb value.”
Ephesus and waterpark
We had a wonderful time in Ephesus thanks to our guide Hasan who was attentive and very kind. We learned a lot and had the chance to eat in a great restaurant with locals. A cake was offered for our daughter's birthday. The transfer to the waterpark was well organized. We had a great day!”
Great day trip
Our guide was lovely. She was very helpful and informative and a pleasure to spend the day with. Ephesus is definitely a must see when in this area.”
Amazing Ephesus with a good company
Booked the private trip from Kusadasi port to Ephesus having read reviews on Trip Advisor. Guide was waiting as we disembarked from the ship, vehicle was very good. Rose was knowledgeable and enthusiastic so brought the sites to life for us. Also gave us time to ourselves which was appreciated. Got the choice of a carpet factory, but no pressure when we said no thank you. Overall, a great introduction to Ephesus.”
Ephesus Tours
Had a great guide and particularly liked the farm style lunch and visit to the rug and leather outlets.”
Private Ephesus Tour
Our day touring Ephesus was perfect! From the moment we stepped off the ship to the time we returned, we enjoyed everything. A great tour guide, speaking excellent English, began describing the history, culture and people who influenced the area. Our first stop was the Blessed Virgin Mary's House. Then on to Ephesus...in a word...spectacular. Our guide painted a picture of daily life using the ruins. Offered the…”
Tour of Ephesus
This by far was our best excursion of our entire 10 day cruise. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and great with establishing a pace that worked well with our group ranging in age from 5-82. After Ephesus she recommended a ceramics shop and rug factory. Both stops were excellent and gave us insight into the local economy. We ended with an excellent lunch.”
Cruise Visit
We booked a private tour for The House of the Virgin Mary, Basilica of St. John and Ephesus on June 18th, 2016. This tour had more sites to see and at a better price than the cruise ship had to offer. Nafia spoke very good English and was a warm and charming and informative guide. She started our tour in a out of order sequence so that we would be ahead of the cruise ship tour buses. We would book with this company…”
Great day in Turkey
We enjoyed a magnificent day stopping here on a cruise. We used Tayf Tours and Nafia was our guide for the day. We could not have been more happy with the wonderful day she helped us enjoy, doing the ruins of Ephesus, then visiting the charming village of Sirince where she then took us to a wonderful local restaurant with amazing food for a great value.”
Private Ephesus / Şirince Tour with Sibel
A fantastic experience. Ephesus is a must see destination in Turkey. The tour booking process handled by Hakan via email was easy and efficient. We were met by our guide the fabulous Sibel as we disembarked from our cruise ship. Sibel proved to be a very informative and knowledgeable guide. She understood our requirements gave us just the right amount of information at each point of the tour.”
Excellent tour to Ephesus
My husband and I took this tour to Ephesus in May 2016. It was a great experience learning ancient history and learning about Christianity and how the gospel was preached in that region. We recommend this tour.”
Private Ephesus Tour with il Kay
We had a great day despite the pouring rain while visiting Ephesus. Our guide il Kay was a very good guide. We loved having such a knowledgeable guide with a sense of humour. He was excellent at letting us set the pace for our day. He is very proud of his country as we are of ours and we enjoyed discussing many topics. Our fish lunch was excellent! Would recommend this tour to others.”
Day trip to Ephesus from Istanbul
A very well organized private day trip to Ephesus for two of us, from Istanbul. The arrangement went very smoothly, from being picked up at our Istanbul hotel at 5 am, to being returned there in the evening. And Ephesus was amazing! We would certainly recommend Tayf Tours to anyone.”
Tour of Ephesus
The tour was booked online on travelers recommendations on trip advisor. I must say it was very well planned, everything spot on. They were punctual and had everything organized as per our booking. Nafia our guide was superb. She filled us in on every little detail. We had time to spare so she took us around the city, to a few souvenir shops too.”
Trip to Ephesus and House of Mary
Excellent guide. Very helpful and eager to explain every detail about historical and cultural aspects of Turkey, taking into consideration the needs of the single components of the family. Minivan was very comfortable. The hotel too was very good at Kusadası with excellent view at breakfast on the sea.”
A "must-do" Trip
We don't normally "do" tours, but we're so glad we chose to do this one! Our day trip to Ephesus was well-organised and comfortable and our guide, Azize was just fabulous. Friendly, enthusiastic and well-informed, Azize provided us with just the right amount of information and paced the tour perfectly to our needs. The trip to Ephesus was one of the highlights of our 2 months' travels through Europe.”
A very informative day
This was an excellent tour! Picked up at the pier in Kuşadası in a new clean air conditioned bus, we rode out to Ephesus to tour the ancient city. We were fortunate to have Nafia Demircan as our guide and she was great. She can speak English very well and was a wealth of knowledge of the area. We had a long enjoyable tour. Then she took us to the temple of Artemis and a leather factory. A great day and would highly…”
Worth Every Penny
There were 4 of us on our very own tour of Ephesus. What a fabulous day! Our guide, Nafia, made the day fly by, with her recounting of the history of the site and her warm humor and intelligence. She was also open to our several additions — the Terrace Houses and the Ephesus Museum. As we did this tour from Istanbul in one day, it really didn't seem like a very long day to me.”
Professional tour of Ephesus
We were visiting Ephesus by cruise ship and knew we would need a tour guide and driver to make the most of our day. We chose Tayf tours based on Trip Advisor reviews and weren't sorry. Serdar, our tour guide, was excellent and extremely knowledgeable about Ephesus. His tour was incredible and it was a pleasure visiting this ancient site with him. He took us to a local restaurant when we requested a non-tourist…”
Private Customized Ephesus Tour
Our guide Serdar was very thorough in explaining the sites and the history and peoples of Turkey. He was enthusiastic and open to questions. He took us to a non-tourist restaurant and helped us to enjoy the local foods. Tayf Tours was helpful and professional in the booking. A great day!”
Enchantment in Ephesus
On October 9 we arranged for a private tour of Ephesus, including the Temple of Artemis and House of Mary. Our tour guide, Azize, met us in a comfortable, elegant van and took us straight to Ephesus, where we spent the next few hours walking around in awe and amazement. Azize is a highly professional, friendly, funny, informative guide who made the ruined city come alive for us. Rates are very reasonable and every…”
Our visit to Ephesus
The visit to Ephesus was certainly one of the high lights of our Turkey holiday. Our guide, Gül, was knowledgeable and pleasant and she allowed us adequate time to explore the site at our own pace. We enjoyed that as we sometimes felt very rushed with other excursions we did.”
Jenny's Group
Excellent tour guide and very informative. Our group of 12 had a great time at Ephesus. Absolutely amazing.”
Ephesus private tour
Outstanding guide and driver! My guide was extremely knowledgeable and very personable. I thoroughly enjoyed my day! Money well spent.”
Best tour and tour guide!
Tour was everything promised. Our guide Nafia Demircan was perfect, on time, well-educated and informed, loves her profession, very engaging, informative and personable. We got an early start so Ephesus was virtually empty when we had our thorough and enlightening tour, finished quicker than expected, Nafia filled rest of time with interesting alternative stops, had great lunch and conversation.”
A Wonderful Tour!!
We arranged a tour with Tayf Tours before leaving Canada and everything was smooth and easy. We were kept well informed of what to expect and they delivered as advertised and then some. We wanted a small, private tour for our group of 4 and that is just what we got. We had a very comfortable van and driver and our guide, Zeze, was just amazing. Her English was impeccable and her knowledge of the sites of Ephesus and…”
Tayf Tours and Ephesus
We had a great time, Ky (guide) and our driver were excellent, very easy to get along with, very knowledgeable and informative. At Ephesus Ky went out his way to ensure we got through the "terraced houses" with ease and without waiting forever in a lengthy queue. The lunch was good and the round trip from the ship was done in a very comfortable and clean van.”
Wonderful Tour of Ephesus
Our guide was Nafia and I can't say enough great things about our day. She picked us up right on time from our ship and we started our day early at Ephesus. It is truly an incredible place. We visited all the usual places there and added the Terrace Houses. After Ephesus we visited a local ceramic business and learned how they use quartz to make beautiful hand painted dishes. We then were treated to a delicious…”
Great Value
Four of us toured Ephesus and Istanbul. Our guides were knowledgeable and engaging. They kept us ahead of the long bus tour lineups. We were given enough time to absorb the information we were given. Great value for our money.”
Visit to Ephesus
Had a memorable trip to Ephesus, thanks to Tayf Tours (coordination of this trip was all efficiently done by Azize). We were pressed for time, so did just a day trip to Ephesus & Mother Mary's place. We had an excellent guide, Sergen Elgi, who patiently explained us all the history behind the greco-roman ruins as our tour group of 12 people were from different countries.”
Wonderful Tour and Guide — Superb!
We booked a private tour with this company. We were staying in Istanbul and we booked a tour in Ephesus. They arranged everything. Our guide for the day was Begum, the best guide ever. We drove for about 45 minutes to Ephesus, all the while Begum gave us the history of the area and the people. She was super, very knowledgeable and her English was very good. Everything went very smooth. I would recommend this tour…”
BEST and safe way to see Ephesus and area sites!
Wow! After a few med cruise excursions with 50 of our "closest friends" this was AMAZING! I would highly recommend this to anyone who prefers independent touring and not the agonizingly slow pace of a group tour. Safe, easy and cheaper than a ship excursion. Our guide Nafia was friendly, knowledgeable, experienced, perfect English, wonderful! She made sure we stayed ahead of the crowds to get the best views — and…”
Ephesus
Our trip was organised by Tayf Tours. I can only praise them highly for all that they did to make the tour most enjoyable. Firstly the price was very reasonable, secondly they arranged for a very fluent English speaking guide, Nafia, who was absolutely fantastic. The day of the tour was our golden wedding anniversary and Tayf Tours, together with Nafia not only arranged a surprise meze lunch at their cost, they also…”
Visit to Ephesus and Istanbul
I had booked the tours to Istanbul and Ephesus in advance of our travel based on a reference from my friend. We weren't disappointed. We got great service, timely responses, English speaking guides who were very knowledgeable and friendly. Made our Turkey visit a success.”
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