Private Ephesus Tour: Explore Ancient Greek City and Temple of Artemis from Bodrum
5.0
11 Ratings
Bodrum City
Embark on a private tour of Ephesus, an ancient Greek city in Turkey. Explore the Temple of Artemis and visit Mother Mary's house. Book now for an unforgettable experience!
Duration:
9 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Bodrum City - Bodrum is Departure City of this tour
- Selcuk - Our First city to stop for lunch
- Ancient City of Ephesus - Ephesus, on the south-west coast of modern Turkey, embodied a peculiarly fertile synthesis of architecture and culture. In 356BC the Greeks built the Artemesium (a colossal Ionic temple dedicated to Artemis the fertility goddess) which was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. During the 2nd century BC, Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the eastern Roman Empire, famous for its Artemesium, the Library of Celsus and its medical school..
- Meryemana (The Virgin Mary’s House) - The house of Virgin Mary is a typical Roman architectural example, entirely made of stones. In the 4th century AD, a church, combining her house and grave, has been built. The original two-stored house, which consisted of an anteroom (where today candles are proposed), bedroom and praying room (Christian church area) and a room with fireplace (chapel for Muslims).
A front kitchen fell into ruins and has been restored in 1940’s. Today, only the central part and a room on the right of the altar are open to visitors. From there one can understand that this building looks more like a church than a house. Another interesting place is the “Water of Mary”, a source to be found at the exit of the church area and where a rather salt water, with curative properties, can be drunk by all.
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The Temple of Artemis - The new Artemis has been rebuilt in the 2nd century BC. Located on top of the previous one, it had tremendous dimensions: 127 columns of each 17,5 meters high. Unfortunately this one has also been destroyed by fire, reconstructed and again demolished by earthquakes, rebuilt and at last looted by Goths one year later.
The statue of many-breasted Artemis was the symbol of the temple but also of abundance, hunting and wild life.
The genuine statue of Artemis, removed during the fire, is today exhibited in the Ephesus Museum. Many copies of this statue found during the latest excavations date back from the Roman period.
What's Included
- Entrance Fees
- Lunch
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Parking fees
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Entrance fees
Additional Information
We start our journey by picking you up from your hotel or the Bodrum Cruise port during the morning hours. A 1.5-hour drive will take us to Ephesus to commence our day. Ephesus, a notable ancient Greek city which is situated in Asia Minor close to the Menderes River, today lies in the West of Turkey, south of present-day Izmir. Among the eminent Ionian cities, it held the status of the region’s principal seaport. Our next destination will be the final residence of Mother Mary. After lunch, we’ll pay a visit to the Temple of Artemis, recognized as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Once the tour concludes, we will return to Bodrum and ensure you are safely dropped off at your hotel or the port.
Location
Bodrum City
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
5.0
(11 Ratings)
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Lamiradasubjetiva
May 11, 2024
Super Recommended - We really liked the tour. The transfer was on time at the hotel and our Spanish guide Hakam was very good, very educational and entertaining. We traveled a lot both on the trip and on the tour of Ephesus. The food is typically homemade and tasty. They also took us to a carpet factory and showed us the weaving process. We value it very much. The tour is highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elizabeth_h
Mar 30, 2024
Incredible Ephesus tour! - We had an incredible tour of Ephesus and the house of Virgin Mary with Ibrahim. Ibrahim was very knowledgeable and interesting and we learned a ton. Definitely would recommend!
Review provided by Viator
Waynejy6853bw
Oct 11, 2023
Wonderful Time in Ephesus!!! - Melis, our guide, and Kemal, our driver, were excellent. Melis is very well informed and shared a great deal of her knowledge about Turkey’s rich history. She was also kind and patient with my wife & myself. Kemal was extra careful with his driving when taking us from place to place. In addition to the national treasures we saw while on the tour, we would like to add Melis & Kemal to the list of national treasures also!!!…Until next time Peace Be with You Always …Deb & Wayne, USA….
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Natalie
Jul 30, 2023
A fantastic day in Turkey! - Had a wonderful day visiting ancient Ephesus, house of Mary, and Temple of Artemis! Our driver yavuz was great and our guide Balil was extremely knowledgeable and gracious. He tailored the tour to our own levels of background knowledge and interest on various topics. Our tour was during a heat wave, and our guide even rearranged the itinerary on the fly to time our visit to Ephesus outside of the hottest part of the day. The van had AC and plenty of water, and lunch was delicious. Would definitely recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Shirish_j
Jul 5, 2023
Thanks a lot ! - Amazing experience with Yanos and Ibrahim! It was a full day trip for us from Bodrum. On time pickup, fluent English communication, clear instructions and excellent service. Very knowledgeable guide , knows history very well, gives information from every angle adding fun making overall experience very enjoyable.
Review provided by Viator
Adventure760422
Jun 16, 2023
Ephesus through Zeynep’s eyes. - Our guide, Zeynep Mesta, was really amazing. She k ew so much history and information that she shared with us. She even shared some of her favorite Spotify Play Lists that impart the vibe of Turkey. And she was FUN. We. Hold not have had a better experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Csyarizona
May 23, 2023
Exceptional Request Adam as your guide! - Everything went as planned! Driver (Sonor) was punctual and safe. Our guide Adam as great at communicating with us prior to the tour, he is knowledgeable & an expert on Ephesus. Included lunch was fantastic. Definitely recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
John_m
May 10, 2023
Ephesus private guided tour - Our driver Yavous (sp) was courteous and professional and punctual. He was extremely knowledgeable of the area from Bodrum to Ephesus.
Also, his English was superb!
Our guide, Ibrahim met us in Ephesus. He gave us an excellent tour with a wealth of information. I have seen many pictures of Ephesus but, being in the presence of this ancient city is quite literally awesome! I highly recommend hiring a private local guide like Ibrahim through Viator. It is the best way to understand the history and get a unique perspective from a highly educated expert. These licensed guides have a 4 year degree in all facets of history, language, geography, religion etc...
Ibrahim also brought his lighthearted, humorous personality to our experience.
After the tour we visited a Turkish carpet weaving school. We were fascinated by their display of how silk is extracted from the silkworm cocoons. We had a wonderful time! We even got to meet the famous cat Garfield!
Review provided by Viator
Ederchris
Aug 16, 2022
A great day at Ephesos - The whole trip was excellent. We had enough time at all sights and we could also enjoy the new excavated hang houses im Ephesos. Our guide gave us a lot of interesting informations
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Missylynnz
Jun 10, 2022
Great Day Out - We had a great day out with a fantastic guide.
It was a long journey from our hotel in Akyarlar to Ephesus (over 3 hours each way) but we had a comfy large car with air conditioning.
The trips to Virgin Mary House and Ephesus were very informative and interesting.
Well worth the long journey.
We had a traditional Turkish lunch included which was good.
Totally recommend this tour!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
