We did a shared tour for 8 total people in Istanbul and Ephesus on 9/14 and 9/15.

In Istanbul we had Esra as our guide in addition to the driver of the comfortable Mercedes mini-bus. We got to see everything we wanted and had a tasty Turkish lunch that was covered as well as entrance fees to sites by the tour fee. Esra spoke excellent English and was very friendly and had lots of information about each site. She was also very willing to answer our questions about culture and about the recent happenings with protests in Taksim Square.

In Ephesus Anil was our guide for the day. We took the long walk through the ruins of Ephesus which were a pleasant surprise to me as I didn't know what to expect. They are digging up new things all the time it seems and the Terrace Houses have been restored partially and it was really interesting to see the ancient artwork and how they lived so far back. There is the Celsus Library and a huge old amphitheater as well which are just part of the experience. At the end of the tour we sat down and had a beer at a local bar which was a nice way to relax before heading back to the port. Anil spoke great English having lived in the US for a time and was full of information both about their culture and the sites.

If you are worried about being taken to carpet factories we did go to one in Istanbul only because Esra asked the people in our group and they said yes It was a very nice store right in the city near the tourist area and they gave us drinks while they demonstrated. The process was very interesting and they do of course give you the hard sell(nothing too pushy) but we declined and no big deal. It did not ever come up in Ephesus. They are beautiful and if we had the money I would certainly buy one but they aren't cheap.

These two tours were among the highlights of our trip and I would definitely recommend them.

We booked a tour at 17 september 2013 from İzmir port to Ephesus.Vip Ephesus Tour guide welcomed us at the port on time. The car was very clean and luxry. Our guide kept us always infront of the crowd and very informative. She is an archaeologist and we learned alot. The lunch we had was amazing. The experience was great for us. If you really want a five star service they are perfect !

We had a private tour of Ephesus, the Temple of Artemis and a stop at a traditional Turkish bath with our guide Selçuk Kaya. He was extremely friendly, knowledgeable and outgoing. We greatly appreciated how much he knew about the sites and his flexibility with what we wanted to do. We highly recommend him!