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Ephesus Tour: Explore Ancient Roman Ruins
3.5
29 Ratings
Bodrum
Step back in time on a full-day tour of Ephesus from Bodrum. Explore the ancient city’s iconic landmarks, enjoy a delicious lunch, and immerse yourself in history.
Step back in time on a full-day tour of Ephesus from Bodrum. Explore the ancient city’s iconic landmarks, enjoy a delicious lunch, and immerse yourself in history.
Duration:
13 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Bodrum City - Guests are picked up from their hotel around 06:30 in the morning, and the Ephesus tour commences at the meeting point with other travelers. The journey to Ephesus takes approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes.
- Selcuk - Before exploring the Ephesus ruins, there will be a brief visit to a jewelry store.
- Ancient City of Ephesus…
- Bodrum City - Guests are picked up from their hotel around 06:30 in the morning, and the Ephesus tour commences at the meeting point with other travelers. The journey to Ephesus takes approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes.
- Selcuk - Before exploring the Ephesus ruins, there will be a brief visit to a jewelry store.
- Ancient City of Ephesus - A comfortable bus will collect you, and the road trip begins. To enhance the experience, several stops are included, such as one at Bafa Lake for a refreshing breakfast. Another stop is planned at a Turkish delight factory in Selcuk, where you can savor these delicious treats and purchase some to take home! The bus will then proceed to Ephesus, preparing you for an exceptional sightseeing adventure. With a guided tour, a professional guide will share significant insights about the ruins and points of interest.
Ephesus is set to awaken your senses and captivate you with its beauty. The most significant structure, which no longer stands, is the Temple of Artemis, one of the ancient world’s wonders. As you view its remnants, the guide will explain the importance of this structure. In Ephesus, you will also see the Celsus Library, the ancient Odeon, the theater, and various other notable ruins.
- Meryemana (The Virgin Mary’s House) - Following a comprehensive tour of this ancient site, the tour continues with a visit to the Virgin Mary’s House. It is believed that this is where she spent her final days, and today this charming house is a significant site for the Christian community. It is beautifully situated in a serene landscape, allowing you to relax and absorb the positive energy surrounding you.
- Selcuk - After lunch, guests will be hosted briefly at the renowned Turkish Delight shop on the return journey to Bodrum.
- Selcuk - One-hour open buffet lunch break
- Bodrum City - After lunch, the journey back to your hotel in Bodrum begins, with an estimated arrival time of 20:30.
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Driver/guide
- Bus with Full A/C
- Ephesus entrance fee - If option selected
- Open Buffet Lunch
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Driver/guide
- Bus with Full A/C
- Ephesus entrance fee - If option selected
- Open Buffet Lunch
What's Not Included
- Breakfast
- Food and drinks, unless specified
- Admission fees
- Admission fees
- Breakfast
- Food and drinks, unless specified
- Admission fees
- Admission fees
Additional Information
Travel back to the time of the Ancient Romans with this exciting full-day journey to Ephesus from Bodrum. Ride in a modern, air-conditioned coach and step into the past as you discover one of the Roman Empire’s most illustrious cities guided by an expert. Marvel at the grandeur of the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the Great Theatre, and…
Travel back to the time of the Ancient Romans with this exciting full-day journey to Ephesus from Bodrum. Ride in a modern, air-conditioned coach and step into the past as you discover one of the Roman Empire’s most illustrious cities guided by an expert. Marvel at the grandeur of the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the Great Theatre, and imagine the hustle and bustle of times past as you stroll the marble-lined streets. The tour, which includes a halt for breakfast (at your own expense) and comes with a complimentary lunch, is a real treat for history buffs.
- Photo’s and CD’s are being sold by independent photographers. Please take their contact number as we are not in contact with them. Please also check the CD’s if they are the right one while you recieve.
- We serve breakfast and lunch at the road restaurants in accordance with our itinerary. All drinks, including water, are chargeable at lunch. Breakfast is not included in our tour price, but there is a break for breakfast. If you want, you can request a sandwich for the morning from your hotel (usually some hotels give this for free)
- A certain majority must be present in the group for the Virgin Mary’s visit.
- In this tour, there are two 35-minute shopping breaks.
Location
Otogar
Our meeting point from all other regions is in front of the Bodrum city center bus garage
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
3.5
(29 Ratings)
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Elliot_n
Oct 26, 2025
Memorable Tour - Worth it, the guide was good keeping us connected to the tour throught the travel. It was 2 and half trip from Bodrum city to Ephesus.
Review provided by Viator
Susan_h
Aug 27, 2025
Brilliant day out - It’s been a total knowledgeable experience our tour guide Miriam was brilliant I enjoyed everything the breakfast the lunch the Gold factory and the Turkish delight factory the house of the virgin Mary it was a great day from start to finish don’t let the length of the day put you off because the time flies highly recommend it
Review provided by Viator
Lisa_d
Nov 8, 2024
History came alive in Ephesus - Excellent tour with a very knowledgeable guide. It was a long day filled with history! I was picked up at my hotel and had a nice breakfast on the way to Ephesus and enjoyed some shopping along the way.
Review provided by Viator
Yvonne_c
Oct 16, 2025
Excellent tour of historical site of Ephesus - Our tour guide was great when she joined the tour. The first tour guide on the bus didn’t speak English and therefore there was not a lot of information provided. We made numerous stops after pick up to collect additional passengers but this was it apparent as we sat on the bus for long periods without knowing what was going on.
However when the English speaking tour guide boarded she was very informative.
Our first stop was for breakfast and this was terrific- the place also made olive oil which was exceptional and we bought some bottles to take home with us.
The second stop was Gallata a jewellery factory, was interesting but not somewhere we would visit again. Getting out of the shop entailed walking through several vendor stores who were keen to sell their wares and very pushy.
The time spent at Ephesus was wonderful and our tour guide was very knowledgeable and informative. The digital museum at the end is a must visit. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there.
Last stop was Turkish delight factory again not something that I would bother with in future.
Review provided by Viator
Daniel_m
Sep 2, 2025
Ephusis great!! House of Mary dissapointing. - Tour was very insightful and historically detailed, the lady spoke good English and had a nice sense of humour. Ephusis itself is a place of special heritage and blows your mind!!!
Food was great. The Gold shop stop was pointless and very few seemed interested!!
House of Mary is treated like a theme park rather than a sacred shrine and pilgrimage site, you are given little time to meditate on its significance. Its also pushed by Native Turks who are Muslim "as virgin Marys house" despite the Catholic Church never dogmatising this, it not being in Biblical scripture and earliest records from church Fathers alluding this are post 4th century. This isn't mentioned in the infancy gospel proevangelium of James and her dormition was supposedly in Israel. Explain how its 100% authentic please?
Anyway, the views on mountain are worth the 25 Euros.
Turkish people are milking this cow dry and if I'm honest 90% of Protestants wouldn't even bother!!!!
If its sacred!! Treat it like its sacred!!! Not a Theme park!!!
Review provided by Viator
Katherine_h
Aug 31, 2025
I have been before and... - I have been before and wanted to show my family. We thoroughly enjoyed it. However, there were a couple of points we didn’t enjoy.
1) my husband is very knowledgable about Ephesus and some of the information given by the tour guide was incorrect. Also, it says on the booking information that you would go to the Virgin Mary site if the majority want to go. Around 10 people on the bus wanted to go. I counted 22 of us that didn’t and we ended up getting dumped in a town where there was nothing to do other than sit in a cafe and wait for them to come back over an hour later. We did not enjoy that at all and we was not happy considering the majority didn’t want to do that part.
Then on the way home the English guide left early and said about how we were going to get a transfer to our hotel and not to worry. We ended up getting off the bus into taxis/taxi bus’s to our hotel. However, this was confusing and when people were getting off we was panicking about whether we should be getting off or not. The French couple next to us were the same.
The other spots along the way was a stop at the gold factory and Turkish delight factory, which was fine. They wasn’t long stops.
We enjoyed the lunch that was included.
Other than that the tour guide was lovely, friendly and ooked after us during the visit. Ephesus is amazing and well worth the visit. I had never been to the museum there and that was amazing, we thoroughly enjoyed that.
Review provided by Viator
Jill_b
Jun 17, 2025
Day trip to Ephesus. - The basis of it was good with a very good driver and an excellent guide but stopping at a gold warehouse was a waste of time and the lunch was a disgrace and a health hazard. The food had been sitting around for hours, maybe even days, unfriendly service and a disgrace. The breakfast stop was good too with very good service provided there. The best part was our wonderful English speaking guide and she should be looked after well.
Review provided by Viator
Anna_d
Oct 19, 2025
Good value but an unnecessarily long day - The guide meant well and put a lot of effort into the day, however, one of the guides interpreting was quite rude. If we’re honest it felt like you were picked up in the morning and held onto until the 12 hours were up with strategically planned stops that were very clearly designed for sales. Ephesus was amazing couldn’t recommend more and our guide was very knowledgeable. However being made to go somewhere for breakfast we had to pay for, an olive farm, a jewelry sales factory, lunch, a Turkish delight factory and forced to go to the nearest town while the rest of the group went to a new addition to the tour (Mary’s house) wasn’t what we imagined. We were advised we would only go to Mary’s house if the majority were in favour. Even though just four people out of around 20 wanted to, we went while the rest had to wait in a nearby town. It was very much pushed on us and obvious that we were going regardless (as it’s an extra 25 euro per person to go). The lunch was pretty poor. Every stop as listed previously included a detailed sales pitch to the group and the jewelry store sold jewelry for thousands of euros. It was quite uncomfortable to be pushed into and wait around in such an expensive store. While €50 per person for the bus to Ephesus and back with lunch was good value, we would have much preferred to just go to Ephesus and straight back. It’s a long enough day (2.5 hours one way) without all the additional stops we didn’t sign up for. Hotel pick up was handy but again without the excessive stop offs, we wouldn’t have to be picked up at 6am!! Would recommend if you’re looking for a good value return trip and knowledgeable guide of Ephesus but be warned that it’s a very long day, Mary’s house will be included (otherwise you’re waiting in a nearby town which wouldn’t have much on unless a Saturday with the Bazaar) and lots of sales pitch stops.
Review provided by Viator
Navigate63783273661
Oct 5, 2024
Good venues, very good guide, poor organisation - This is a difficult one to review.
Positives
The tour guide - Emma was very good and very informative. She even helped us two days later on a tour that she wasn’t part of
The place itself was brilliant. Well worth visiting
Negatives
The pick up was late
The tour could have been much shorter. The diamond factory and Turkish delight factory tours were a waste of time
It felt disorganised. There was no English speaking guide until Emma joined the tour an hour into the coach trip
The trip was overbooked which meant I had to sit next to the driver (for 6/7 hours). This also meant that we struggled to hear the guide around the site - not her fault! There were two coaches
All in all the organisation was poor but the place and guide was very good
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Culture430961
May 14, 2025
very bad trip, wasted our whole day and wasted our money - The tour guides we were with spoke German and Polish, very little English
The only place I wanted to go to onthis tour, they did not take us and that was the House of the blessed virgin Mary. Before I booked this tour , I spoke to someone to make sure they take us to this place and they said yes but you have to pay extra money for entrance fee, which was okay with us, I don't what was said on the bus, but they did not take us there and when I questioned them they said there was not enough participants. They did not even take count on who wanted to go or not. That was part of the tour they should have taken us there. Yet they wasted our time and took us to Gift shops so they can earn commisiion from the stores. We didnt want to go to no gift shops we paid money so we can see the Culture and hostrical sites.
They also were supposed to pick us up from our hotel and drop us bck to the hotel..
that did not happen on the way back, they dropped us off about a mile and a half from our hotel whichich was on top of a very steep hill, that we could not climb up to it, so we hired a taxi at our own expense to take us back to our hotel
Review provided by Tripadvisor
