This was our second visit to Ephesus but this time we were travelling from Bodrum. We were picked by minibus, bang on time, transferred to a coach with an English speaking guide called Mert. For us this again was a worthwhile visit but it was a shame to see they had moved the statue of Artemis from the sight, that we saw in 2005. This was however moved because of vandalism! It was also a bit of a shame that Ephesus has become like most other historical sites, charging additional entry fees to see some aspects of the site ie the terraced houses, when you have already paid a substantial amount to visit the site. We would recommend that people visit before 11am or after 3pm as temperatures can be unbearably high in between. Make sure you have a large bottle of water with you.

Ephesus is perhaps the most beautiful ancient site on the planet. The Terrace Houses are a work in progress and the most exciting and complete ruins i saw on the entire Mediterranean. The Celsus Library is elegant, the amphitheatre enormous and the Marble Way, Street of the Curetes and Harbor Way illustrate what a grand and important city it was. Not far away are The House of Mary, St. John's Tomb and Basilca, The Temple of Atremis and the Isa Bey Mosque, all worth a visit. The city of Selcuk, nearby is friendly, tourist savvy and has great places to try local cuisine. Sisan Tours has great guides at resonable prices.

We went there from Bodrum. The travel agency picked us up together with other people at 6:00 AM! and dropped us somewhere in the middle of the road to wait for other people. we waited there for more than an hour, with no explanations whatsoever, and they were mean if you would ask for explanations. We went from the gold factory, where we lost another hour or so to a turkish delight factory (another two hours), as the company was making money by bringing people in. When we finally got to Ephesus it was noon, more than scorching hot, and the guide would talk too many details, even though we asked him to keep it short.

A beautiful place, just amazing, but ruined by bad service

After all of the hype, I was afraid that my expectations would be too high and that I would be disappointed by the ruins at Ephesus. But, I was not disappointed as these are some of the best ruins I have ever seen, certainly better and more impressive than anything I saw in Greece. Yes, including the Parthenon. For me, Ephesus compares favorably with the ruins found in Rome. Certainly worth the time and effort of getting there. It took us about four hours to see everything. Yes it was extremely hot, but the site was so impressive that it was well worth putting up with the heat. I highly recommend Ephesus.