We toured the House of Mary, which was humbling; we went to the ruins where we were the only private tour group with bottled water and umbrellas on a scorching hot day; we enjoyed a lovely outdoor lunch on some very nice grounds. Our tour guide was exceptional! She not only spoke excellent English, she asked us our preferences for time spent at each site, and she was quite patient when we changed our minds at the last minute. It was a safe and memorable trip!

Although its a bit far, yet the place was amazing. so much history and culture and its good for couples, family and friends. we went there in the afternoon and we didnt have much time to explore all the area because it was dark so soon. overall, really recommended.

Had an amazing tour of Ephesus with this company and have nothing but the highest praise.There were only 6 in our group and our fabulous guide had a great knowledge of all the areas we visited but also a very wry sense of humour which was much appreciated after our hideous experience on a Ship Tour in a previous port. I cannot recommend this company highly enough

Had a private tour to Ephesus with a party of 8. Our tour guide Fatih was very friendly and informative. We felt safe despite everything we had heard on the news before arriving in Turkey. Would definitely do this tour again and would highly recommend to anyone wanting to visit the area.

We worked with Mr. Lose to customize our Ephesus tour. In addition to the Ancient site, we wanted to visit the House of the Virgin Mary and the ruins of the Temple if Artemis. Fatih, our guide, met us outside the cruise terminal, and escorted to meet Zeki, our driver. Fatih made sure that we saw everything we wanted to see, and learned as much as possible in our short visit. Zeki made sure we arrived safely. Fatih even pointed out small details such as the stone backgammon board on the side of the ancient road, which we would have missed, if we were on our own. We also wanted to visit an Iznik pottery craftsman. Faith took us to Firca, where Ali made us welcome and showed us the different lines of pottery. In addition to the high-quality lines, they also offer lines which are more in the souvenir price range. All are charming. One line had a moonstone glaze that glows in the dark, when the lights are out. The designs range from traditional to ancient Hittite motifs. I appreciated that Fatih spent time to learn about the various products, so that he could better guide future customers. Ipekevi, a shop just outside the edit gate of ancient Ephesus that sells 100% natural fiber clothing for men and women, was also on our list of must dos, based on a recommendation from another travel forum. The 100% cotton women's garments are hand-embroidered, and some of the silks scarves are handwoven. The three Sultan Brothers are the proprietors, and we received a warm and gracious welcome from Ramci, the eldest, and his youngest brother. We were impressed with the large selection and quality of the clothing, but were in awe of the vast array of exquisite silk and cashmere scarves. The colors, designs and textures overloaded our senses, as Ramci unfolded scarf after scarf for us. I consider the blouses and scarves that I purchased collector items, as they are unique. During our hour in Ipekevi, Fatih and Zeki waited patiently for us. It was lovely to simply climb in our van and be taken from destination to destination. It was a fabulous day, the highlight of our trip.

We had a great time, we really enjoyed every moment since our pickup from the Airport. Our tour guide "Gizem" was wonderful, full of enthusiasm, excellent english, funny, we enjoyed the information she told us, the tour was excellent because of her and my GF is missing her alot :)) . The driver was also amazing and very helpful. They left us with great memories and for sure we will return back.

Really excellent driver/guide with wonderful English and highly knowledgeable. Filled us in on everything from current political situation (they had just had a controversial election) to the validity of the House of the Virgin Mary to the history of Ephesus both biblical and ancient. The delicious al fresco lunch was included in the price (didn't expect that!) and the entire trip was extremely reasonable and beat a ship's tour by more than half. While I wasn't thrilled about the stops to the rug factory or the leather store, both turned out to be absolutely fascinating and the prices and fashions in the leather factory were phenomenal. Learned a lot too. A great way to see the area from a cruise ship with no hassle and great service.

Nothing is new unless you consider a 4tth century building as new because other buildings and ruins are over 2000 years old. Our driver did an awesome job describing the biblical and non-biblical related history of this area. We visited many sites including Hadrian's Temple, the Terrace Houses, House of the Virgin Mary, etc. During the 6 hour tour we had time for a very nice outdoor lunch which included plenty of food and drink, a very interesting tour of a hand made rug making facility next door and also time to shop in a heavily discounted HIGH quality leather factory/retail store. The driver was fluent in English, very knowledgeable and friendly. The price for 4 was40% less than a 40 person size group that was offered by the cruise ship. Tour with this company and you will not be disappointed. All my emails to Denise were answered promptly.

Our tour started at the port of Kusadasi. Our tour guide, Gezum was very knowledgeable of the sites we visited. Our first stop was the House of the Virgin Mary. We then went to Ephesus and Gezum explained all about the excavations and history of the site. We toured the Terrace Houses and that alone was well worth the price of the tour. All the people on the ship I spoke with on the ship tours did not get to see the Terrace Houses. We then drove to the Temple of Artemis and viewed the single column remaining of this Wonder of the Ancient World. Lunch was at a Cooperative and we learned about silk weaving. Then saw all the beautiful carpets.

We were met at our ship by our guide, Doğukan. We had a group of five, and were joined by one other group of two. We toured comfortably in a van which would hold about 12-14 persons. Doğukan allowed just the right amount of time at each stop. We made several stops including The House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus, Turkish lunch and carpet weaving presentation, among others. The tour was entitled Ephesus Deluxe - it was semi-private, and it lasted approximately 7 hours. Doğukan was very knowledgeable and passionate about the sights he was showing us. He gave us more information and history than we could have imagined. Before arriving, we were a little apprehensive of our stop in Turkey because of the unrest and other current events in the news. Doğukan made us feel welcome and very comfortable and safe during our tour. It turned out to be our favorite port on the cruise. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and feel it was worth every penny. Thank you, Do!

We booked a private tour for our cruise stop at Kusadasi for Ephesus, Mary's House and Terrace houses. Our guide Doğukan picked us up at the arranged time in a clean and air conditioned mini van (for just the 2 of us), the driver was friendly and drove carefully throughout our tour. We had enough time at each place and Doğukan was very knowledgeable, informative, witty & fun! The tour was definitely worth the money, especially when you compare to the ships tour prices. We prefer to do trips at ports on our own and this was one of the best. It can get hot, so make sure you have water and hats with you at Ephesus! It is an amazing place to see. The only negative we have is I specifically stated and was agreed no stopping for shopping or food on the tour, our guide was not aware of this and we had to be firm and say no stopping. All in all I would recommend them and use again ourselves.

Our group of four took the Ephesus Deluxe + Istanbul full day (The DUO) semi-private tour on September 25th (Istanbul) and September 26th (Kusadasi). Our guide for the first day in Istanbul was a women who called herself "Nur". Nur was a very knowledgeable guide but also very bossy. We were unfortunate to be traveling to Turkey in the mist of a religious holiday. This meant that both the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market were both closed. We were disappointed but assured by our guide that there would be ample opportunities to shop. Not long after we arrived for a tour of our first site, our guide Nur stated she had not eaten breakfast and so we were going to eat an early lunch. The problem is most of the people in the group weren't hungry as we did eat breakfast before leaving the ship. Our guide Nur also told us that we would probably miss the Blue Mosque tour because it didn't open until 2:30 PM and would be too crowded to get in because all of the cruise ship tourist would be trying to get in at the same time. Some of the members of our group insisted that we at least try since we were already missing both the Grand Bazaar and Spice Market. Nur eventually gave in to the majority and we managed to get in to the Blue Mosque quite easily. During our tour, we passed several shopping areas that showed potential, however, Nur already had a shopping location on her agenda. She took us to this rather expensive jewelry store and carpet maker for a presentation that took most of our tour time. After a great deal of protest she took us to a place that we saw called the "Artisan's Bazaar." This was a good substitute for not being able to see the Grand Bazaar but we only had 45 minutes to shop because we spent so much time in the Tour Guide's sanctioned shopping area. The next day we took a tour with the same company to Ephesus from Kusadasi. Our tour guide was a delightful young lady named "Gizem." Gizem was professional, extremely intelligent and fun. She did a wonderful job of navigating us through the crowds of the Virgin Mary's House and the sights of Ephesus. Gizem's tour was hands-down one of our groups favorite of the entire cruise. Her insight and passion, and flexibility was simply invaluable. I would recommend going on a tour to Ephesus with Gizem without hesitation.

We used Ephesus Deluxe for a half day tour of Ephesus, the Terrace Houses & the Temple of Artemis on Tuesday October 6th. The tour of Ephesus and the Terrace Houses was great. My major problem was, although I specified this in the emails leading up to booking and it was even on the reservation form - we asked for no scheduled shopping stops but they had scheduled us to go to a leather factory. We told the guide tha we would prefer not to - at this point the guide became very brusque and distant, and failed to adjust the available time at Ephesus to allow for more time there since we were not going to the leather store. As they didn't respect my reservation request I cannot recommend this company. The tour in Ephesus was great - the guide (I can't remember her name) was very informative. Unfortunately, not honouring requests made upon reservation that were agreed upon has tainted the memory of the tour.

We were part of a group of 4, plus our guide Selcuk and our driver. We started in Ephesus, including the Terrace Houses. It was an amazing experience---don't miss the Terrace Houses---They were one of the best parts of the tour for sure. Seljuk is very knowledgeable and accommodating, even taking us on a side trip to a ceramic studio at our request. We had a delicious, traditional lunch and then a trip to a rug shop. We felt no pressure to buy, we really enjoyed the presentation, it was very interesting learning about the silkworms. We were able to see The House of the Virgin Mary and St. John's ruins also. It was a full, enjoyable day and our guide made it that way! We would highly recommend this tour and guide.

We had a very knowledgeable guide for our tour of Ephesus. Gizem is a very intelligent woman going for her PhD and her knowledge of the history of Ephesus was amazing. You can tell that she really enjoys her job. With that said I asked not to be brought to a carpet selling event in the emails before I booked. Lunch was included in the tour which was delicious but was at a carpet school. After the demonstration of how a carpet is made (very interesting) we were taken to a room where they try to sell you carpets,hence the emails about not being interested in going to this. We were promised by Deniz that this will not happen,unfortunately it did! It was very uncomfortable for my husband and I because we didn't want to buy anything like carpet. Carpets were being rolled out and felt like it was never going to end. I told them numerous times we weren't interested. I was told not to worry about buying a carpet but to put us in a situation like this was very uncomfortable. Eventually, we left but felt that they didn't honor our request not to do this. I feel bad about this review because Gizem was a great tour guide and unfortunately this is not her fault as she isn't the owner of the company. She is just doing her job! This was a private tour so it should never had happened. I'm sure there were other places we could have went instead of this.