We were very happy with this tour. This private tour is the most cost effective tour in our trip. All the admission fee and meal are included. And we enjoy a big Mercedes Benz bus for our private 7hr tours. Our personal tour guilder and private car driver come to the port ahead of our booking time since they checked the cruise ship arrival time. It is very easy to meet them at the port exit. We visited Virgin Mary’s house, the ancient city of Ephosus and Temple of Artemis. Since we were the first two groups in those places, we were able to view the Ephosus without crowds. Our personal guilder Lisrk companies us on the tour and gave us very detailed stories about all the places we are visiting. She also made extra effort to accommodate our request to visit Aegean coast.

This was my second trip to Turkey and my first outside Istanbul so I was not quite sure what to expect, particularly for a tour covering a fairly long distance on Christmas Day in not very promising weather conditions. As it turned out, we had an extremely articulate, intelligent and charming guide called Ogün, who was able to adapt quickly to exactly what we wanted to do and needed to know, who was informative without trying to lecture, enlightening without being glib, and genuinely interested and enthusiastic about his job without being formulaic or routine. He was also possessed of a good sense of humour which made him very easy to relate to. The tour itself was well organised, prepared and managed even down to the food Ogün chose for us to eat. By the end of the day, we were sorry to say goodbye because our guide had become our friend for some 10 hours and turned the day into one of the most memorable of the year.

I appreciate the tour because of the Service and the history of ottoman man and Virgin mother Mary for 2 days and I appreciate about Mr. Ogun of his service and his places

In General Tour Altinkum guides were good. But there was one lady guide that took us from Izmir to Pamukalle. Omg, it was quite disappointing, as she only gave us 1.5 hrs there. And after that she was quite rude as well. Disappointed!

(Review en Español tras la de Inglés) I booked a tour to Ephesus, the house of the Virgin Mary, and Sirince on July, 6th, 2023. I booked the tour in Spanish for my family, that were visiting Izmir for my wedding. There were several things wrong, that should make you reconsider if booking with this company is worth it: 1- We didn't go to Sirince. It seemed like the tour guide was in a rush, and "forgot" about it, although I specifically asked for the visit during the tour. 2- In Ephesus, we skipped the theatre. This is a major attraction, as in the words of the tour guide, "it is closed because of some renovation work". This was not the case, and I told my family to go and take a quick look and visit if they wanted. 3- We spent an enormous amount of time in shopping outside Selçuk. I then understood immediately the rush on the important parts. 4- The Spanish level was far from good. The tour guide (Rabia) had probably a B1 level. 5- A couple of members of my family could not join. Even though we talked about paying ONLY for the people present on the tour, they made us pay these 2 extra. 6- The tour guide was rude and not very knowledgeable. When asked about these situations, from the central office they told us they were going to reimburse 52€ for not going to Sirince. The tour was 37€ p.p. We were 18 (with the 2 missing). Overall, I will not recommend this tour. It is much more worth it to check other options, or even get into Ephesus yourself. You can always hire a tour guide simply in the ancient city, and it will take you for some hours there. We were only there for 1 hour and a half... ------- Reservé un tour a Éfeso, la casa de la Virgen María y Sirince el 6 de julio de 2023. Reservé el tour en español para mi familia, que estaba de visita en Izmir para mi boda. Había varias cosas mal, que deberían hacerte reconsiderar si vale la pena reservar con esta compañía: 1- No fuimos a Sirince. Parecía que el guía turístico tenía prisa y se le "olvidó", aunque pregunté específicamente sobre esta parte durante el recorrido. 2- En Éfeso, nos saltamos el teatro. Esta es la mayor atracción, ya que en palabras del guía turístico, "está cerrado por unas obras de reforma". Este no era el caso, y le dije a mi familia que fueran y echaran un vistazo rápido y lo visitaran si querían. 3- Pasamos un tiempo enorme en unas tiendas a las afueras de Selçuk. Entonces comprendí inmediatamente la prisa por las partes importantes. 4- El nivel de español estaba lejos de ser bueno. El guía turístico (Rabia) probablemente tenía un nivel B1. 5- Un par de miembros de mi familia no pudieron unirse. A pesar de que hablamos de pagar SOLO por las personas presentes en el recorrido, nos hicieron pagar estos 2 extra. 6- El guía turístico era un poco grosera y no estaba muy informada. Al preguntar por estas situaciones, desde la oficina central nos dijeron que nos iban a devolver 52€ por no ir a Sirince. El tour costaba 37€ p.p. Éramos 18 (faltaban los 2). En general, no recomiendo este tour. Vale mucho más la pena comprobar otras opciones, o incluso entrar en Éfeso uno mismo. Siempre puedes contratar un guía turístico simplemente en la ciudad antigua, y te llevará algunas horas allí. Solo estuvimos 1 hora y media...

Highly recommend this tour if you are in Ephesus for a day! Thank you Riza and Erdogan for their kind hospitality. The group of 4 of us enjoyed the trip very much!

Excellent tour and a wonderful guide, Gorki. Very friendly and knowledgeable. Definitely would do another tour. Local knowledge was extremely helpful to make the most of our trip

Another incredible tour and made perfect by our tour guide Efe. Highly recommend taking this. You won’t regret it.

We would recommend this trip without hesitation. It is expensive but worth it. You have to pay that bit extra for quality. I think the key to this is two-fold: 1. Kerem the manager at Tour Altinkum. He promptly answered every question I asked by WhatsApp in the days before our trip and at the end when we arrived back in Istanbul Airport and our driver was delayed owing to traffic congestion he was monitoring closely and did not rest until soon afterwards everything was sorted. 2. Barboros or Barb for short, our local tour guide in Ephesus who picked us up with the driver Salim in Izmir Airport and who was just brilliant with his knowledge and attention to our specific interests. We had a very early start 4.30 am pick up from hotel. The driver was there at 4.20 am and was very friendly and spoke good English. From Izmir whisked to Ephesus . Pleasantly surprised it was just my wife and myself. So this was as private and as personal as you get. Barb has excellent English and an encyclopediac knowledge of Ephesus and the region's culture. He got it just right curating the sites and giving us private time to absorb it all. Highlights the vastness of the thoroughfare of this incredible ancient metropolis and the House of the Virgin Mary. Also, Barb arranged an incredibly tasty genuinely local lunch which was a pleaant surprise. And we welcomed his offer to visit a family run ceramic craft shop which showcased beautiful works of local art and we were plased to buy a couple of things we will treasure. Also we took up the offer to visit an elite leather shop where my wife bought a lovely jacket. We did not feel under any pressure to visit those places but they were authentic representations of the local economy and we were pleased to have the opportunity to see and avail. All in all a quality day out. A very long day. With traffic congestion not back in hotel until around 9.15 pm to catch a late dinner. But very much worth every minute. And I must say arrangements at both Istanbul and Izmir airports were very smooth. No problem carrying 150 ml. sunscreen in my bag that would not be allowed at home in UK or Ireland. A final word. A beautiful sunny mid April day, not too hot. The perfect time of the year to absorb the wonder of the world that is Ephesus. Thank you especially Karem and Barb.

Our tourguide Mitten was awesome! It was only 3 people so it was pretty intimate and doesn’t feel passive. We took our time going through the sights

There wasn’t much to see in house of Virgin Mary. In my opinion that could have been skipped. Ephesus is a must visit for anyone visiting Turkey. Overall we had a wonderful experience. Our guide: Metin was friendly and highly knowledgeable.

This was an amazing day for us. Hotel pickup, transfers and drop off were all on time and very easy. Our guide, Riza, was so knowledgeable about the area, agriculture, local products. He had lots of stories about ancient Ephesus and made the tour very interesting. We learned about the local culture and people who live here. The lunch was huge and very good. Our driver, Okan, was very careful and had a sense of humor. We stopped at two local businesses and requested a third stop so we could buy some local olive oil and pomegranate sauce. It was a long day but so worth it to see this truly fascinating site. Thanks Riza and Okan!

Excellent guide Riza, and driver, Erdogan. I would highly recommend. The tour was very informative, and the food was excellent, too. Felt very safe throughout, with my spouse and two children. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to see this part of Turkey.

Tours can vary drastically in quality from guide to guide. Most guides simply leave you with nothing much to complain about, having walked you through the popular destinations with some amount of explanation, often incomplete. I'm pleased to write that Efe is much better. We spent two days with him, touring Hierapolis and Ephesus, and he was really a delightful guide to have when touring such historically rich sites. He told a rich historical narrative about these areas, letting us understand what life was like for the people living there, and he knew all sorts of interesting tidbits about life in Roman times. Additionally, Efe was really well spoken and easy to talk to; he has a lot of worldly knowledge and common sense, making conversation effortless and fun. He isn't just a local expert on these ruins, he has a lot of knowledge about history in general. Really, the whole tour was just a seamless experience. I can't recommend Efe (and the city of Ephesus) enough.

Truly a dream come true everything was so amazing and beautiful. Our guide lady Conchita was incredible very knowledgeable and informative, always attentive to my questions just like a dream come true to be able to visit and enter the Virgin Mary house.