Private Ephesus Tours & Shore Excursions from Kusadasi
Tours of Ephesus is a TÜRSAB-licensed local operator (licence no. 2290) based in Kusadasi, running private tours to Ephesus and the surrounding sites every day of the cruise season. We are not a booking platform: the team that answers your message assigns your guide, dispatches your vehicle and stands behind your day.
The short answer
Private Ephesus tours from Kusadasi Cruise Port run 3 to 7 hours as shore excursions, from USD 73 per person with all entrance fees included (2026 rates). Every tour is private, with a licensed guide, a separate driver, no pre-payment, and guaranteed on-time return to your ship.
By the Tours of Ephesus operations team · Last reviewed September 2026
How every tour runs
Every tour below runs the same way. A licensed professional guide works exclusively for your party, with a separate professional driver and a commercially registered, insured, air-conditioned vehicle. All entrance fees are included in the per-person rate (2026 rates), and Ephesus is entered through the upper gate so the walking runs downhill, with the ticket bought before you dock. There is no pre-payment: your reservation is confirmed without a deposit, you pay at the end of the tour in cash or by card, and if your ship cannot dock you owe nothing. Your guide meets you inside the port shopping plaza at Starbucks with a small named sign, at the time you choose, and on-time return to your ship is guaranteed. Ephesus is a 20-25 minute drive from the port; nothing on our standard routes is more than 35 minutes away. Still sketching the day itself? The hour-by-hour port day itineraries show what three, five or eight hours ashore allow.
Half-Day Essentials (3-4 hours)
Built for short port calls: Ephesus is only 20-25 minutes from the ship, so even a tight window fits the essential sites.
Extended Half-Day (5-5.5 hours)
Five to six hours ashore adds the Virgin Mary, St. John or Sirince without pressure, with lunch included on every route.
Full-Day (5.5-7 hours)
Seven hours or more in port opens the complete circuits: every major site, quiet Ionia, or the definitive five-stop day.
Guest photos
Shared with us by our guests.
Photographs our guests sent back after their tours, published with their permission. Un-staged and un-retouched: this is what the day actually looks like.
9 October 2026: our guide Cihan Yaşkaya with two Holland America Oosterdam guests, Cihan on the right taking the selfie, among the columns of Ephesus, on a private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour from Kuşadası cruise port guided in Russian. 
3 October 2026: a family of four off Royal Caribbean Odyssey of the Seas with our guide İbrahim Pancar, on the right, above the Library of Celsus on a private Biblical Ephesus tour of the city where Paul taught for about three years (Acts 20:31), from Kuşadası cruise port, guided in English. 
3 October 2026: five guests off Royal Caribbean Odyssey of the Seas at the House of the Virgin Mary with their guide Burçak Akdemir, fourth from left, on a private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour from Kuşadası cruise port guided in English. 
3 October 2026: our guide Burçak Akdemir takes a selfie with her Odyssey of the Seas guests at the spring below the House of the Virgin Mary, on a private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour from Kuşadası cruise port guided in English. 
30 September 2026: four guests off Odyssey of the Seas with their guide Murat Fesli on the Kuşadası seafront, their ship at the cruise port behind them, heading back to board after a private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour guided in English. 
21 September 2026: eleven MSC Divina guests on the steps of a Roman archway at Ephesus with their guide Cihan Yaşkaya, on the right in the straw hat, on a private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour from Kuşadası cruise port guided in Russian. 
21 September 2026: eleven guests off MSC Divina on the tiers of the Odeon, the small council theatre at the top of Ephesus, on a private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour from Kuşadası cruise port guided in Russian by Cihan Yaşkaya, seated in front. 
2 October 2026: our guide Mehmet Tunalı takes a selfie with two guests off the Ritz-Carlton Evrima at the Library of Celsus, on a private tour from Kuşadası cruise port that continued to the House of the Virgin Mary, the Temple of Artemis, a traditional Turkish lunch and a carpet-weaving demonstration. 
21 September 2026: guests ashore from the Ritz-Carlton Evrima at the Library of Celsus with their guide Mehmet Tunalı, who works in English and Russian, on a private Ephesus and Temple of Artemis tour from Kuşadası cruise port guided in English. 
21 September 2026: the Library of Celsus seen through the arch beside it, on a private Ephesus tour from Kuşadası cruise port, guided in English by Mehmet Tunalı (who also guides in Russian) for guests off the Ritz-Carlton Evrima. 
24 September 2026: Oceania Nautica guests resting by the Library of Celsus on a private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour from Kuşadası cruise port, photographed by their guide Mehmet Tunalı. 
16 September 2026: two guests off Odyssey of the Seas above the Library of Celsus, the Gate of Mazaeus and Mithridates beside it, on a private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour from Kuşadası cruise port with Tours of Ephesus. 
16 September 2026: a Mexican group off Odyssey of the Seas below the Library of Celsus, their private Ephesus, Virgin Mary and Artemis tour run in Spanish by our guide Celal Ceylan, on the right in the white shirt. 
16 September 2026: our Spanish-speaking guide Celal Ceylan at the front of the minibus on a private Ephesus tour from Kuşadası port, the vehicle carrying nobody but his own group. 
9 September 2026: two couples off Celebrity Xcel at the Library of Celsus on a private tour, photographed by their guide Gökhan Günaydın. 
5 September 2026: guests off Enchanted Princess on a private tour with our guide Ferah Pekdemir on the Celsus plaza, stroller and all. 
18 July 2026: our guide Fulya Tamer with her guests at the Yedi Bilgeler wine house, a stop a private tour can add on request. 
18 July 2026: our guide Ebru Özkan and her private tour group at the top of Curetes Street, the Library of Celsus at the far end. 
3 August 2026: our Spanish-speaking guide Ebru Özkan, kneeling front and centre, with her whole private tour group off MSC Divina on Curetes Street, the Library of Celsus far below. 
13 September 2026: our French-speaking guide Eli Halegua with his private tour group off Celebrity Infinity, on the plaza below the Library of Celsus. 
4 August 2026: an American family off Celebrity Infinity with our guide İbrahim Pancar in the Celsus plaza, on the private Biblical Ephesus tour. 
18 July 2026: our guide Ebru Özkan with her private tour group at the Temple of Artemis, the lone column and Ayasuluk Castle behind. 
July 2026: our guide Gökhan Özden with his whole private tour group at the harbour dove sculpture, their ships at the berth behind. 
An almost empty Celsus square, the reward of a private tour’s early start. 
Lunch in a garden near the ruins on a private tour, our guide Nafia Demircan at the table. 
Beside Arete, virtue personified, in her niche on the library. 
The Grand Theatre from the upper rim, a group on the stage far below. 
The Celsus facade in the first morning light, before the plaza fills. 
Beside a carved sarcophagus and the story cut into it, with a licensed guide. 
On the marble plaza, the library and the Gate of Augustus behind. 
The Roman public latrines, reliably the stop with the most questions.
Before you choose
Questions cruise guests ask first
What the whole day costs, line by line, is in what an Ephesus tour actually costs from Kuşadası; the official ticket prices are in Ephesus entrance fees 2027. Weighing a luxury private day against a standard one? See what actually changes at the luxury level. New to Ephesus from a cruise? Start with the first-time cruiser guide, or meet our licensed Ephesus guides.
How to choose
Start with your hours ashore. Under five hours in port, take a Half-Day Essential: the 3-hour Ephesus tour fits even tight calls, since the site is only 20-25 minutes from the ship. With five to six hours, an Extended Half-Day adds the Virgin Mary, St. John or Sirince without pressure. Seven hours or more in port opens the Full-Day routes. If you are unsure, send us your ship and date and we will tell you honestly what fits. On a cruise morning, our Kuşadası cruise port guide walks through the timing in detail.
How to book
Write to us by WhatsApp or email with your date, group size and preferred tour. We confirm your guide and vehicle the same day, with no deposit and nothing to pay in advance: you settle at the end of the tour in cash (USD, EUR, TL) or by Visa/Mastercard. If your plans change or your ship cannot dock, you owe nothing.
WhatsApp +90 532 324 2489 · TÜRSAB #2290