The 15 Best Ancient Ruins Shore Excursions Worldwide

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

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…”

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Ancient Olympia Half-Day Tour from Katakolo Cruise Port

2.Ancient Olympia Half-Day Tour from Katakolo Cruise Port

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 228 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $14Best value

Review of the affordable Katakolo to Olympia bus tour, with practical advice on timing, costs, guides, transport, and what to expect.

“Very convenient bus, the driver was very kind. Everything went on time. Very good experience. Well done.”

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Athens Shore Excursion: Acropolis Walking Tour

3.Acropolis Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 131 reviews · 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $136

Review of Athens Acropolis shore excursion with port pickup, expert guides, Plaka free time, costs, walking demands, and practical tips.

“A real archeologist lead our tour. What a treat. He paced the tour well enough to allow my 76 year old mother to pull off the ascent up the Acropolis. Bus met us at the cruise port, well organized and air conditioned. Back in time to get back for our cruise departing. Would totally do again.”

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From Cruise Port: The Acropolis & Athens Highlights Tour

4.From Cruise Port: The Acropolis & Athens Highlights Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.6 · 105 reviews · 3h 30m · from $104

Review of the Acropolis and Athens Highlights Tour from Piraeus, with port transfers, expert guiding, Plaka time, costs, and practical tips.

“Activity was great, but the pick up from the cruise terminal was stressfull. The taxi driver drove to our ship to collect us, but we had to go to via the cruise terminal. The two are miles apart. After much phoning and running around, our taxi driver found us. He was brilliant and thankfully we did not miss too much of the tour. Make sure you have a working phone, if you do this tour from a cruise ship. Would defo recommend.”

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Athens for CRUISE SHIPS with opt. Acropolis from Piraeus Port

5.Athens for CRUISE SHIPS with opt. Acropolis from Piraeus Port

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 63 reviews · 6 hours (approx.) · from $83

Review of a six-hour Athens shore tour from Piraeus, with the Acropolis, major sights, free time, transport, costs, and practical tips.

“We had a perfect tour of Athens. It only really scratched the surface of this amazing city, there is so much to see, but for a one day tour it was ideal - good combination of driving, walking around and free time without overheating or overdoing it. Álex is a treasure!!! Arrangements wit pick up and drop off directly at our ship were very convenient. All in all good organization and execution - well done!”

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

6.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.”

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Half-Day Ancient Olympia VR Audio Tour from Katakolo Cruise Port

7.Half-Day Ancient Olympia VR Audio Tour from Katakolo Cruise Port

★★★★★★★★★★3.5 · 57 reviews · 4 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $66

Review of the Ancient Olympia VR tour from Katakolo, with transport, tickets, phone-based audio, costs, drawbacks, and practical cruise-port advice.

“The Olympic ruins were extremely interesting to see and experience. The history was fascinating. The amount of archaeological discoveries and artifacts that were exhibited on the grounds were remarkable. And the signage displayed explained everything very clearly. We enjoyed our visit to the grounds and the museum. We were disappointed that the app provided didn’t work out very well and that the tour provider wasn’t available for assistance on the grounds. Otherwise this would be a 5 star tour.”

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Katakolon Shore Ex: Skip-the-Lines Ancient Olympia & Olive market

8.Katakolon Shore Ex: Skip-the-Lines Ancient Olympia & Olive market

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 37 reviews · 4 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $131

Review of Katakolon’s Olympia shore excursion, with skip-the-line access, museum time, olive tasting, port pickup, and practical tips.

“Great to see the spot where Olympic games began. Tour guide could have elaborated less due to the extreme heat. Our tickets included admission to the two museums. They were mentioned early on tour but never offered or suggested in our allotted time. This was a disappointment.”

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Ephesus Ancient City Highlight Tour For Cruisers

9.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.”

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Kusadasi Shore Excursion: Private Tour to Ephesus including Basilica of St John and Temple of Artemis

10.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.”

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Shore Excursion: Acropolis, Athens City tour and The New Acropolis Museum

11.Shore Excursion: Acropolis, Athens City tour and The New Acropolis Museum

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 30 reviews · 5 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $130

Review of Athens shore excursion with Acropolis, changing of the guard, National Gardens, Temple of Zeus, museum, and port transfers.

“Amazing tour. Started off learning about Athens subway and how it is truly a museum. Watched the changing of the guards. Very cool. Then stroll through royal gardens. Quick snack break and on to the main attraction. Margaret was the best tour guide we have had this trip. She is well educated, so energetic about Greek history and an amazing communication style and voice. Learned so much. The tour of Acropolis was a bucket list we learned every step from the bottom to the top. Stunning place to visit. I am not a museum person the Acropolis museum has converted me. So well designed. Transport was easy. Be aware you…”

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From Cruise Port: Athens City, Acropolis & Acropolis Museum

12.From Cruise Port: Athens City, Acropolis & Acropolis Museum

★★★★★★★★★★4.4 · 27 reviews · 5.5 hours · from $128

See Athens from Piraeus with guided Acropolis access, the Parthenon, city sights, and Acropolis Museum in a 5.5-hour tour.

“Our tour guide was excellent! We had a wonderful time. The tour needed a lunch break… say half an hour. Would suggest half an hour less time in the Archeological Museum.”

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FOR CRUISERS: Private Ephesus Ancient City & Ephesus Museum Tour

13.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!!!!”

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Athens City Tour with Acropolis & Plaka from Piraeus Cruise Port

14.Athens City Tour with Acropolis & Plaka from Piraeus Cruise Port

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 26 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $30

Review of the Athens City Tour from Piraeus, with Acropolis access, Plaka free time, port pickup, audio guide, price, and practical tips.

“Although we were aware that this was not a guided tour, the tour was not organized and we didn't get ear pieces and could not hear a lot of what the guide was telling us about where to go and where to meet when we were through. He gave us a QR code to listen about the history of the sights at the Acropolis, which was supposed to walk us through each section, but the audio kept going back to the beginning point. We, and others in our group got frustrated and turned it off. We also should have been told to bring our own headphones for our individual phones…”

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Kusadasi Shore Excursion: Private Tour to Ephesus including House of Virgin Mary and Temple of Artemis

15.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.”

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