Best Ancient Ruins Shore Excursions in Turkey: Our Top 13

1.ALL INCLUDED: Ephesus Ruins, Mary’s House Tour incl ENTRY TICKETS

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 1,670 reviews · 4 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $59Our pick

Review of a Kusadasi shore tour to Ephesus, Mary's House, and Artemis with tickets, port transfers, guide, and on-time cruise return.

“The clear communication prior to the tour with the smooth coordination was fantastic. However I would like to point out some things that did not make this tour as good as expected. After comparing all possible tours from all the tour operators, I carefully choose this tour through Viator from Kusadasi Shore Excursions as the description on the Viator side about this tour is very inspiring. We visited the Virgin Mary's house first and thereafter Ephesus. The tour description states that we would have 2 hours in Ephesus, however after 67 minutes we were out of there. By the (to us) most important monument in Ephesus we were told to hurry as we…”

Check availability →Read our full review

2.Private Shore Excursion: Ephesus,Temple of Artemis,St. Mary House

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 61 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $224

Review of a private Kusadasi shore trip to Ephesus, Mary’s House, and Artemis, with lunch, private transport, guide tips, value, and drawbacks.

“Excellent guide, very knowledgeable. Showed us a lot. Covered all the important sites. Well done. Pick up was easy and on time. Driver was excellent. Lunch was delicious.”

Check availability →Read our full review

3.Ephesus Ancient City Highlight Tour For Cruisers

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 35 reviews · 4 - 4.5 hours · from $22

Review of the $22 Ephesus tour from Kusadasi port, covering Ephesus, Virgin Mary’s House, Artemis Temple, guides, costs, and practical tips.

“The tour was awesome!! Our tour guide Memo was so knowledgeable, patient and helpful throughout the entire tour which made the experience truly memorable.”

Check availability →Read our full review

4.Private Tour to Ephesus including Basilica of St John and Temple of Artemis

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 32 reviews · 6 hours (approx.) · from $438

Review of a private Kusadasi shore trip to Ephesus, St John’s Basilica, Virgin Mary’s House, Artemis, and the Ephesus Museum.

“Alex was absolutely amazing! We were treated like royalty and enjoyed every minute. He was extremely knowledgeable. More than we expected! We saw Ephesus, had a fantastic lunch, toured rug making facility and still had time for shopping! It was great! Highly recommend.”

Check availability →Read our full review

5.FOR CRUISERS: Private Ephesus Ancient City & Ephesus Museum Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 27 reviews · 4 to 6 hours (approx.) · from $29

Review of a private Ephesus shore tour from Kusadasi, including the ruins, museum, shopping, transport, guide quality, costs, and cruise timing.

“Fatima, our tour guide, and Ozo, our driver, were fantastic. Fatima was very knowledgeable in Turkish history and we learned a lot about the Turkish country and culture. We shared a lunch with them at a local government chef school and the service and food were perfect. I would highly recommend this trip, and in particular, Fatima. Thank you for sharing your history with us!!!!”

Check availability →Read our full review

6.Private Tour to Ephesus including House of Virgin Mary and Temple of Artemis

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 26 reviews · from $422

Explore Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary, and the Temple of Artemis on a flexible private shore tour from Kusadasi.

“The guide was pathetic. It seemed that he did not want to be our guide. He took us to the required spots, and gave us perfunctory information. I was completely disappointed with the House of Virgin Mary. He could have told us about the water fountain and the wishing wall. We had no tools to take a few minutes to "get ahead" of the larger crowds. What should have been "memorable" for us was not.”

Check availability →Read our full review

7.For Cruisers: Ancient Ephesus & House of Virgin Mary Tour From Ephesus Port

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 10 reviews · 3 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $10Best value

Review of the low-cost Ephesus and Virgin Mary House tour from Kusadasi Port, with costs, timing, shopping stops, guides, and cruise tips.

“If you only look for a driver to pick and drop you off, this is a right tour for you. This company responded quickly to our answers starting from day 1 after booking. The guide took us to carpet store which was not in the itinerary. We were told that Ephesus wasn’t opened so that’s why we might go to carpet store to kill time before going to Ephesus. The sales didn’t push us to buy anything. We told the guide that Ephesus and House of Virgin Mary were our main itineraries. We had no interest in shopping. We then went to Ephesus for around 1 1/2 hour and House…”

Check availability →Read our full review

8.For Cruisers: Small Group EPHESUS Tour with Temple of Artemis

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 9 reviews · 7 to 8 hours (approx.) · from $120

Review of a small-group Ephesus tour from Kuşadası, with the Virgin Mary’s House, Temple of Artemis, Şirince, lunch, and expert guiding.

“The Celsus Library was breathtaking. It was very well maintained and out tour guide was humorous and informative. The house of the Virgin Mary and learning the history was wonderful to. Have to say we were impressed with this tour and would recommend to others.”

Check availability →Read our full review

9.Izmir Shore Excursion: Private Tour to Ephesus, House of Virgin Mary and Temple of Artemis

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 6 reviews · from $445

Explore Ephesus, the House of Virgin Mary, St. John’s Basilica, and Artemis on a private six-hour shore tour from Izmir.

“This tour got a 5 star rating due to our guide, Oscar. He was very knowledgeable about what to see, how to tour away from the crowds but still see everything and gave us a history lesson we will never forget. We we asked where we wanted Read more”

Check availability →Read our full review

10.FOR CRUISERS: Ephesus Ruins and Mary’s House GROUP Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 4 reviews · 4 to 6 hours (approx.) · from $24

Review of a $24 Ephesus shore tour from Kusadasi with Mary's House, Artemis, port pickup, guide, and guaranteed return.

“Lisa was a great guide. Showed us the highlights around Ephesus while doing her best to stay out of the sun. She pointed out a lot of things that we wouldn’t have noticed in our own. She was very flexible with what we wanted to see and accommodating since it was unseasonably hot.”

Check availability →Read our full review

11.For Cruisers: Ancient Ephesus Private Tour From Kusadasi Port

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · 4 to 6 hours (approx.) · from $24

Explore Ephesus, Artemis, Mary’s House, and Seljuk treasures on a private Kusadasi shore tour with lunch and port return.

“Our Guide was Yesra Fatma her knowledge and ability to communicate in English made the difference and found us a very local place for an amazing lunch experience.”

Check availability →Read our full review

12.Private Tour for Cruisers : Ephesus Ancient City & Temple of Artemis

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 2 reviews · from $68

Review of a private Kusadasi shore tour to Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis, with port pickup, guide, pricing, timing, and practical tips.

“Ata was our tour guide and was fantastic!! He gave us so much information and was very helpful with any of our questions. He even took us to some off the beaten path restaurant for a local lunch. Everything was top notch. Thank you Ata!”

Check availability →Read our full review

13.Private Tour to Ephesus, Virgin Mary, and Artemis Temple From Cruise Ship/Hotel

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 2 reviews · from $200

Review of a private Kusadasi tour to Ephesus, Virgin Mary’s House, and Artemis Temple, with pickup, guide, lunch, costs, and practical tips.

“I would like to thank Mr. Volkan for his help, interest and care from the first welcome to the last farewell. If you want to get a good service, you can choose with peace of mind.”

Check availability →Read our full review