Windstar · Wind Star
A Private Ephesus Day for Wind Star Guests
For guests sailing on Wind Star, a private Ephesus shore excursion means your own licensed guide and vehicle from the Kuşadası berth, with calls long enough for the honest triple: Ephesus, the Virgin Mary, and a Şirince table.
Wind Star’s Kuşadası calls this season are among the longest in port, and long hours are the raw material of a great shore day. This page is about spending them the way her guests tend to want: fully, gently, and without a coach in sight.
Wind Star under sail, Rodney Bay, photo by Ian Gratton via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. 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
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 2019The long call is her signature
Wind Star’s Kuşadası days this season run long, often from early morning into the late evening, and that width is the whole opportunity. It is the difference between choosing one site and having the day: Ephesus properly, the House of the Virgin Mary in the hills, and a table in Şirince, all without once looking at a watch.
The triple day, done honestly
Plenty of operators sell three stops and deliver three drive-bys. With a long call and a private vehicle the triple is real: the ancient city at an unhurried pace, the quiet shrine on Mount Koressos, and a village lunch under the vines, each given the time it actually needs. Your guide holds the thread between them.
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 Terrace Houses fold in where time allows, and with your hours, time allows.
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 and we confirm your call and shape the day around it.
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.
Private Ephesus tours to pair with your call
Common questions
Three places, one unhurried day: what a long call is for.
Tours of Ephesus is an independent local operator and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of Windstar.