Ancient City of Ephesus

I was lucky to see Ephesus twice, in the space of two weeks. The first time was in mid April, on a tour of Turkey with my wife, when we stayed at Kusadasi and went on a conducted tour, a day trip, that included Mary's house. The second time was in late April, when we had a shore excursion to Ephesus as part of a cruise around the eastern Mediterranean aboard the MV Celestyal Olympia. Note: both were conducted tours, and though both the guides were good, I feel someone with an interest in history might better off without a guide. What you need is a bit of background knowledge of the place, and a good travel guide book for maps of the site. (most recent editions of travel guides have excellent colour maps and pictures). On both occasions we entered by the upper gate (there is an information centre here, for those doing the trip on their own). We then walked downhill to the lower gate. All tour groups do it this way: enter through the upper gate, walk downhill, while their transport goes to the lower gate to meet them. Very convenient. But, if you are on your own, I don't see any reason why you have to follow this pattern. You can wander around the complex on your own, in any fashion. Ephesus has been excavated for well over a hundred years, and it is the best ancient Greco-Roman city in existence: yet nearly three-quarters of it is yet to be dug up! One can only marvel at what more will be revealed! Don't miss the following highlights: the odeon, the latrines, the huge theatre (where St. Paul preached to the locals), the terraced houses, the footprint leading to the brothel, the harbour road, the agora, temple of Hadrian, and most famous of all, the totally unmissable Library of Celsus. History buffs ought to read up about all this. Even if you are not a history buff, you will find the place utterly fascinating (the guides know enough to keep you entertained with anecdotes and details of the various objects of interest. ) On one of my visits, it rained briefly and the whole place got very slippery !! There is a lot of walking over very uneven ground: wear good walking shoes. Very difficult to manage a stroller due to uneven ground.
Try and go on a nice sunny day, when it is not too hot! It will be a memorable experience.

This site is worth a couple of hours, and its also worth visiting the terrace houses within the site. Its an extra 36 lira, but well worth it. It is also included in your museum pass if you've bought one.
The Library is the real star here. We arrived just after 10am and had the area to ourselves. The town mini buses leave from the bus depot on the main road in town every half hour, on the hour and costs 4 lira. It picks up where it drops you off, again every half hour.
If you're inclined to see the Temple of Artemis, then the driver will be happy to drop you there on the way back in to town.

I have seen the ancient city of Jerash and Petra and I think Ephesus does not have a lot going on if you compare it with Jerash. Both the cities are actually very similar when you think of the architecture and the type of temples built there that you simply cannot stop yourself from comparing the two. But Jerash has been so very well preserved and has been excavated to such length that it really feels like you are walking through the actual ancient Greek city and not just some ruins. In comparison with Jerash, only the Celsus library can be considered as something "magnificent".

If you have not seen any ancient Greco roman cities in the middle east then you will certainly like it here though. The place is huge and you can easily spend around 2-3 hours here if you are keen on taking pictures. Although most of the time will probably be spent at the amphitheatre and the celsus library.

Its one of the most famous historical places in Turkey.
When you in the area then you have to visit it, the biggest antic theatre is here.
In the summer its very hot and for this bring your water with you because the water price inside is very high.
Also you can bring same food for the cats who live inside Ephesus.

Without my local friend, I'm not sure I'd find the way to the bus stop for Efes from Selçuk train station. The bus was very cheap, something like 4 liras one way, and takes about 10-20 minutes.

Efes is included in the Aegean museum pass. Even though some places were still being renovated, we could walk nearly everywhere and take great pictures. There were a lot of visitors, but still a lot of opportunities to get pictures with just ourselves. The place was also clean.

It was my first activity in the trip, and already set the level very high in what Turkey can offer.

You’ve undoubtedly read all the fantastic reviews about Ephesus, so no need to repeat this again. However one tip:

Tip: Highly recommend that you download the archaeological audioguides before you goto any of the Turkish sites. They are free of cost, speak your language, and allow you to get the real history. The on-site tour guides are not always great and charge ridiculous prices

We finally made it to Ephesus, after three visits to Kusadasi over the years.

The best time to visit is during shoulder season before the tourists arrive.

Ephesus is an ancient city dating back to the 10th century BC in Turkey's Central Aegean region, about 15km from Kusadasi, where we are staying.

Ensure you start exploring the site at the top, as you can casually walk down. Be warned; it's very slippery. There is a permanent first aid station at the bottom (and it was well attended on our visit).

Our taxi dropped us at the top and then waited at the bottom for 500 Lira, plus a 10% tip, from Kusadasi, with the obvious gentle nudges to visit a local gift shop (which we politely declined).

Paved streets of marble wind past squares, baths and monumental ruins.

Its excavated remains reflect centuries of history, from classical Greece to the Roman Empire – when it was the Mediterranean's main commercial centre – to the spread of Christianity.

Make sure you pay the small extra charge to visit the excavated houses; the tile work and fresco paintings are simply stunning.

Visited as part of a small roup tour.Arrived very early ,entering at the opposite (bottom) entrance to that which is used by the coach tours from the cruise ships.
Only toilets INSIDE the perimeter of site are at this entrance.
AMAZING site of Greco Roman port city. ,
Could observe archaeologists at work.One can see where there has been reconstruction to support some buildings .
One could spend 4-5 hours there easily but once the cruise groups arrived en masse the narrow streets became quite claustrophobic and one wonders how much more so these would have been in 2nd/3rd centuray AD when these streets were full of merchants,citizens and vistors.
The terrace houses cost 85 extra ,well worth it to see the mosaics and the construction ,which is so different from the vast villas usually associated with the era.

I had high expectations coming here, and I have to say, I wasn't disappointed ancient city full of history, amazing ruins, it's easy to spend half a day heremoreover the weather was perfect (late october) and no crowdsthe entrance fee is a reasonable 120 TL (more if you need the audio guide included)

A large archeological site. There are two access points in the site, one in the north and one in the south. More convenient is the access through the south because you will follow a route in a slight descent, a very important detail when the temperature is 40 degrees Celsius. There are some relatively well-preserved and even impressive sights: the Ancient Theater, the Odeon, the Library of Celsus and the Terrace houses. For the latter, access is paid separately. Please note that if you participate in a guided tour, it does not include Terrace Houses. You will have to separate from the group and visit it on your own. Near the Celsus Library there is a small kiosk where you can rehydrate (only juice or water, no beer), at slightly higher prices than outside the archeological site. At the north entrance there are souvenir shops (more expensive than outside) and toilets.