KUSADASI · TURKEY
Marble streets, turquoise water, white terraces inland.
Ephesus and Mary’s House. Pamukkale’s travertine pools and the ruins of Hierapolis. Cruise-port shore excursions, Turkish baths and the boats out to the islands.
The port-day classic
Start with the one every ship books.
Ephesus from the gangway and back in time for sail-away. The single day Kusadasi was built around.
The classics
Kusadasi’s Most Popular Day Tours
Ephesus, Mary’s House, the Temple of Artemis, and the long road inland to Pamukkale. The tours the harbour fills up with at sunrise.
Off the ship
Three port-day picks the harbour books on repeat.
Guaranteed return-to-ship, skip-the-line at Ephesus, the experienced cruise-day operators. Three slices designed around a docking schedule, not a tour-bus calendar.
Where the ancients walked
Three things you can only do here.
Walk a Greco-Roman city the size of a small Manhattan. Wade in pools that have cascaded down a cliff for two thousand years. Stand at the foot of one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
The marble city
Ephesus
The best-preserved Greco-Roman city in the Mediterranean. The Library of Celsus rebuilt from rubble, the 24,000-seat theatre still used for concerts, the marble street where Mark Antony, Cleopatra and Paul the Apostle walked. Excavations have run continuously since 1869 and they’re still pulling things out of the ground.
- 1 FOR CRUISERS: Skip The Lines PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR &On Time Return
- 2 Top Choice For Cruisers: Ephesus, Mary’s House WITH TICKETS+LUNCH
- 3 ALL INCLUDED: Ephesus Ruins, Mary’s House Tour incl ENTRY TICKETS
Cotton castle on a cliff
Pamukkale & Hierapolis
White travertine pools terraced down a hundred-metre cliff, with the Roman spa city of Hierapolis on top — necropolis, theatre, and the thermal pool you can still swim in over toppled marble columns. Four hours inland from Kusadasi; everyone says it’s worth the drive.
- 1 Pamukkale Small Group Tour from Kusadasi Port/Hotels
- 2 Pamukkale Small Group Tour From Kusadasi or Selcuk Hotels
- 3 From Antalya Pamukkale Hot Air Balloon Flight with Lunch
One of the Seven Wonders
Temple of Artemis
The largest temple of the ancient world stood here for nearly six hundred years before the Goths burned it. One marble column still on its original foundation, the rest in rubble around it. Five minutes from Ephesus, and most people miss it because they don’t know where to look.
- 1 Ephesus and Temple of Artemis Private Tour from Kusadasi Port
- 2 SKIP-THE-LINE: Group or Private Ephesus & Artemis Tour with LUNCH
- 3 Kusadasi: Ephesus & Temple of Artemis Tour with Entry Ticket
By place
Pick a corner of Kusadasi.
Ephesus for the marble city. Pamukkale for the white terraces. Mary’s House for the pilgrimage. Artemis for the wonder. Selçuk for the bazaar. The National Park for the coves.
By activity
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Cruise tour if you’ve got six hours and a sail-away time. Skip-the-line if Ephesus is the only stop. Boat if you want the islands. Hot air balloon if you want everything from above. Turkish bath if you want the heat.
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