Jump to content

Ephesus, Ancient Ruins, Port of Kusadasi, Turkey (Port day)


Boringchap
 Share

Recommended Posts

Port of Kusadasi, Turkey.

Kusadasi Turkey, is a resort town on Turkey's Aegan coast, on the Asian continent. The nearest major airport is Izmir and the main industry is tourism. Indeed, Kusadasi is a summer tourist town. During winter, the population is under 100,000, with many empty apartments and shops that are closed. Come summer, the population swells to more than 300,000 (some say more than 500,000).
We were the only ship (Norwegian Jade) in port that morning. The port is conveniently located right in the main city.
mtv85x.jpg

 

The port gates are a short walk from the ship. Even before you exit the gates, there are many shops, though not all were opened during winter. In the picture, you can see a number of yellow cabs waiting for passengers. You could hire cabs off the street if you wished, especially in winter, when there were few tourists.

 

zyev13.jpg

 


For us, we pre-booked a private tour and the guide was waiting for us just we got off the ship, holding a placard with our names. It was a very easy process to meet her. The highlight of this port would be the ancient city of Ephesus. See this map for Paul's missionary journeys. Paul lived in Ephesus from AD 52 to 54.

 

bbyvs.gif


However, our first stop of the day wasn't Ephesus, but the House of Virgin Mary. It is not clearly recorded where the Virgin Mary spent her last days. However, it is reasonable to believe that Mary's last days were spent in Ephesus, under the care of apostle John.
The apostle John was believed to have died in Ephesus, around 100AD. John, the beloved discipline, was the only Apostle that did not die a matyr's death. While nailed to the cross, Jesus entrusted his earthly mother to John.
John 19:26-27
"When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
"Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home."
The house that we were visiting has a history. Please refer to this website for the description - http://www.kusadasi.biz/virgin-mary/
In this video, we meet our guide for the day and proceeded to the House of the Virgin Mary as our first stop on this tour. Today, we had a driver and a licensed tour guide. Therefore, there was plenty of useful commentary for us.
At the House of the Virgin Mary, it was not crowded at all. We were told, during summer, the lines would be really long. The actual house is not very big. This was the entrance. No photos and videos were allowed inside but you can find some photos of the interior from the Internet.
2cqmgip.jpg

The Roman Catholic Church has never pronounced on the authenticity of the house of Virgin Mary, presumably because of the lack of scientific evidence. However, several Popes have visited the site, including Pope Paul VI (1967), Pope John Paul II (1979) and Pope Benedict XVI (2006).
This would be the place where they conduct the services or prayer services.
1fe5fs.jpg

We spent about 45 minutes at the Virgin Mary House and surrounding areas. Our next stop would be the highlight of the trip, the ancient city of Ephesus.
Here is the video. In this video, we enter the ancient ruins via the Magnesia gate. We were blessed with good weather (the day before it was pouring). Bear in mind this place is completely unsheltered, other than the Roman Terrace Houses that we will visit in Part 2 of the video. Therefore, it would be wise to bring an umbrella.
Compared to Pompeii, the ruins here are extremely well kept. A real wonder and marvel to behold.

The Magnesia Gates entrance into Ephesus. Entrance fees were 30 Turkish Lira. This does not include the Terrace Houses, which cost an additional 15 Turkish Lira.

 

8vrs75.jpg


The site was beautifully kept. Sense of wonderment as I stepped in.

 

4grfwy.jpg


Look at this sign. We learnt a lot about this sign during our visit. Our guide took pains to explain to us what it meant - "Jesus Christ, the Son of God." However, we subsequently found out that our guide's explanation was most likely to be wrong. This sign was not a Christogram, but more likely an ancient game played by Roman soldiers.

 

5egvoh.jpg


This video explains the sign, as told to us by our guide Remember, the early church was persecuted. Paul, in Ephesus, faced a very hostile city whose inhabitants mostly worshipped pagan Gods, especially the Artemis (or Diana). But upon further research when I came home, I think the guide's story of this sign is wrong. This marking was most likely an ancient game played by Romans.


More pictures of the ancient site. Here, they let you wander around freely and touch all the marble columns, if you so wished.

 

m9swsw.jpg

 

Check out this marble column and the piece of rebar in the middle. This was how the Romans strengthened their columns, using lead rebars. Check out the video where the guide gives a good description.

idhkxk.jpg

 

A tour group passing by. This was winter and at times, there was some congestion. Again, be careful when there are large crowds, especially against petty theft like pickpockets.

25fi0bt.jpg

 

This was nice. The Goddess of Nike. Nike was a goddess that personified victory. She is seen with wings.

ou8t43.jpg

 

With a walkway like this, you can really have a good idea of how grand this place must have been, 2000 years ago.

2a9rygn.jpg

 

Next, we would enter the Roman Terrace Houses. This was where the richest people lived. Getting in to view the terrace houses required a separate ticket, but it was well worth it. Here is the video.


This place was cool. There was a huge shelter protecting the Terrace houses. It looked like excavation work was still going on.

 

30m97v4.jpg

 

Take note that this site is definitely not disabled friendly. Plenty of steep steps to climb. The metal steps are all very new and sturdy. Take it slow and easy. Admire the Terrace houses along the way. Awesome.

2qbah50.jpg

 

They even found some grafitti on the walls. The drawings mainly show gladiators, caricatures and animals. The grafitti included names of persons, poems and even declarations of love. Especially interesting is a list goods and necessities of everyday life, including their prices. E.g. Barley 12 denarii, 1/2 ass; Onions 3 asses, entrance to the thermal bath 12 asses. In the Roman currency system, a denarious was a small silver coin, with the value of 10 asses (1 ass is a bronze, later copper coin)

23s6ucm.jpg

 

Just look at how well preserved the walls and flooring of these Terrace houses were.

4exk0.jpg


Once we exited the Terrace Houses, there were good views of the Ephesus site. Take note that we now had to climb down a long flight of stairs which could be slippery when wet, before we got back to the Ephesus ancient city.
This is the video for the Library of Celsus and the Theatre.

Our next stop would be the library of Celsus. From wiki, I learnt that this library was built in honour of Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, hence the name Library of Celsus. Celsus had been consul in 92AD, governor of Asia in 115D, and a wealthy and popular local ciizen. He was Greek, but honoured as both a Greek and Roman in the library itself. Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth. The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a monumental tomb for Celsus, who was buried beneath the library. It was unusual to be buried within a library or even within city limits, so this was a special honour for Celsus.

 

w1wlrs.jpg

 

This pictures gives you a good sense of how magnificent the library would have been, 2,000 years ago.

2le3yhg.jpg

 

After the library, we went to the famous theater. This photograph (off a signboard) shows how the theatre looked like around 1900, just as the site was being excavated. Hard to imagine at that time that the theatre would have the capacity of 25,000 seats.

so5us8.jpg

 

The Theatre of Ephesus is mentioned in the Bible (Acts 19:23-41), the theatre was the site of the riot of silversmiths who made figures of pagan idols like Artemis (Diana). A silversmith by the name of Demetrius was named to have rallied fellow silversmiths to his cause. They stirred up the people of Ephesus, who were confused, and all rushed to the theatre. Acts 19:34 records the people in the theatre as chanting "Great is the Artemis (Diana) of Ephesus!"

 

This is the theatre today. Pretty grand.

2jdncc8.jpg

 

The Austrians have been heavily involved in the excavation of Ephesus. This is the second of such signs I saw that day. Earlier, the guide told us that the Austrians built the roof over the Terrace Houses too.

15flvn7.jpg

 

Took this picture of a happy cat resting on a broken Roman column.

n4e9va.jpg

 

Overall, it was a very impressive visit to the ancient city of Ephesus. There was a lot to see. We were grateful that the skies held up, though it got cloudy as the morning wore on. We exited Ephesus via the Harbour Gate (recall we entered from the Magnesia Gate) and our next stop would be lunch at a Turkish Restaurant.

Lunch was included in our tour. For lunch, the guide brought us to a restaurant called Agora Restaurant. According to tripadvisor, this restaurant was fairly well reviewed. We didn't have any choices for the lunch. We were served with some starters that included pita bread, side dishes, salads. This was followed by the main which consisted of two types of grilled meats, rice. I noticed many other tourists in the restaurants. Other tour groups (including cab drivers) also brought their passengers here. It looks like the restaurant has tied up with the various tour operators. Overall, I found the food just ok, nothing special.
After lunch, it started to drizzle. As we had seen the most important sight for the day (ancient Ephesus), we were not sure where else to go. The guide asked if we wanted to see some carpet weaving (i.e. carpet shop). Since this was our first time in Turkey, we said ok.

The place we went to was called Bartok Authentic Looms.

 

33jr2mg.jpg


On hindsight, while the visit was quite interesting, we were pretty much like captives during the time there. The objective of the place was to sell you carpets, expensive ones at that. I think a visit to a carpet factory was included even in the Ship's Tours, as stated in the excursion forms.
Here was a video I took of the carpet factory visit.
To cut the long story short, after the elaborate sales pitch which literally included the sales staff throwing carpets at us. We ended up buying 2 small carpets at US$50 each.
By the time we were done with the carpet store, it was really raining. We went to the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (one of the seven ancient wonders of the world), but due to the rain, the family did not get off the bus. I got down to take a quick look and made a short video before getting back to the mini-bus.
We arrived back in port in good time. We walked around the port area as well as the beachfront. While it was drizzling slightly, it was still fun to explore the place. There were shops selling "Genuine Fake Watches". Oxymoron.
Yes, Genuine Fakes!

6xu5oi.jpg


That was our day in Kusadasi, Turkey, for the ancient city of Ephesus.

It was a real privilege to see the ancient ruins of Ephesus up close and personal. It certainly brought to life many of the verses that we had read in the Bible.

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited by Boringchap
↡ Advertisement
  • Praise 13
Link to post
Share on other sites

Genuine Fake ... FTW ... muahahaha

 

Indeed, pretty much in-your-face. Another picture. I didn't take a closer look though, to see how genuine their fakes were.

 

15qrom9.jpg

  • Praise 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

There is a house there with a head of a women with snakes for hair.

 

I think people called her mad dusa.

 

I refused to look at it cos you will be turned into stone.

 

I wonder which of the columns there were people who looked at her.

 

:D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice sharing bro boringchap!

 

Do enjoy your holiday.

 

Did you manage to visit the theatre at the Ephesus ruins? The acoustics of the place is amazing. No need for mics.

Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Indeed, pretty much in-your-face. Another picture. I didn't take a closer look though, to see how genuine their fakes were.

 

15qrom9.jpg

You misunderstood the sign

 

These are genuine watches but fake brands

 

😃

Link to post
Share on other sites

Internal Moderator

Port of Kusadasi, Turkey.

Kusadasi Turkey, is a resort town on Turkey's Aegan coast, on the Asian continent. The nearest major airport is Izmir and the main industry is tourism. Indeed, Kusadasi is a summer tourist town. During winter, the population is under 100,000, with many empty apartments and shops that are closed. Come summer, the population swells to more than 300,000 (some say more than 500,000).
We were the only ship (Norwegian Jade) in port that morning. The port is conveniently located right in the main city.
mtv85x.jpg

 

The port gates are a short walk from the ship. Even before you exit the gates, there are many shops, though not all were opened during winter. In the picture, you can see a number of yellow cabs waiting for passengers. You could hire cabs off the street if you wished, especially in winter, when there were few tourists.

 

zyev13.jpg

 

For us, we pre-booked a private tour and the guide was waiting for us just we got off the ship, holding a placard with our names. It was a very easy process to meet her. The highlight of this port would be the ancient city of Ephesus. See this map for Paul's missionary journeys. Paul lived in Ephesus from AD 52 to 54.

 

bbyvs.gif

However, our first stop of the day wasn't Ephesus, but the House of Virgin Mary. It is not clearly recorded where the Virgin Mary spent her last days. However, it is reasonable to believe that Mary's last days were spent in Ephesus, under the care of apostle John.
The apostle John was believed to have died in Ephesus, around 100AD. John, the beloved discipline, was the only Apostle that did not die a matyr's death. While nailed to the cross, Jesus entrusted his earthly mother to John.
John 19:26-27
"When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
"Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home."
The house that we were visiting has a history. Please refer to this website for the description - http://www.kusadasi.biz/virgin-mary/
In this video, we meet our guide for the day and proceeded to the House of the Virgin Mary as our first stop on this tour. Today, we had a driver and a licensed tour guide. Therefore, there was plenty of useful commentary for us.
At the House of the Virgin Mary, it was not crowded at all. We were told, during summer, the lines would be really long. The actual house is not very big. This was the entrance. No photos and videos were allowed inside but you can find some photos of the interior from the Internet.
2cqmgip.jpg

The Roman Catholic Church has never pronounced on the authenticity of the house of Virgin Mary, presumably because of the lack of scientific evidence. However, several Popes have visited the site, including Pope Paul VI (1967), Pope John Paul II (1979) and Pope Benedict XVI (2006).
This would be the place where they conduct the services or prayer services.
1fe5fs.jpg

We spent about 45 minutes at the Virgin Mary House and surrounding areas. Our next stop would be the highlight of the trip, the ancient city of Ephesus.
Here is the video. In this video, we enter the ancient ruins via the Magnesia gate. We were blessed with good weather (the day before it was pouring). Bear in mind this place is completely unsheltered, other than the Roman Terrace Houses that we will visit in Part 2 of the video. Therefore, it would be wise to bring an umbrella.
Compared to Pompeii, the ruins here are extremely well kept. A real wonder and marvel to behold.

The Magnesia Gates entrance into Ephesus. Entrance fees were 30 Turkish Lira. This does not include the Terrace Houses, which cost an additional 15 Turkish Lira.

 

8vrs75.jpg

The site was beautifully kept. Sense of wonderment as I stepped in.

 

4grfwy.jpg

Look at this sign. We learnt a lot about this sign during our visit. Our guide took pains to explain to us what it meant - "Jesus Christ, the Son of God." However, we subsequently found out that our guide's explanation was most likely to be wrong. This sign was not a Christogram, but more likely an ancient game played by Roman soldiers.

 

5egvoh.jpg

This video explains the sign, as told to us by our guide Remember, the early church was persecuted. Paul, in Ephesus, faced a very hostile city whose inhabitants mostly worshipped pagan Gods, especially the Artemis (or Diana). But upon further research when I came home, I think the guide's story of this sign is wrong. This marking was most likely an ancient game played by Romans.

More pictures of the ancient site. Here, they let you wander around freely and touch all the marble columns, if you so wished.

 

m9swsw.jpg

 

Check out this marble column and the piece of rebar in the middle. This was how the Romans strengthened their columns, using lead rebars. Check out the video where the guide gives a good description.

idhkxk.jpg

 

A tour group passing by. This was winter and at times, there was some congestion. Again, be careful when there are large crowds, especially against petty theft like pickpockets.

25fi0bt.jpg

 

This was nice. The Goddess of Nike. Nike was a goddess that personified victory. She is seen with wings.

ou8t43.jpg

 

With a walkway like this, you can really have a good idea of how grand this place must have been, 2000 years ago.

2a9rygn.jpg

 

Next, we would enter the Roman Terrace Houses. This was where the richest people lived. Getting in to view the terrace houses required a separate ticket, but it was well worth it. Here is the video.

This place was cool. There was a huge shelter protecting the Terrace houses. It looked like excavation work was still going on.

 

30m97v4.jpg

 

Take note that this site is definitely not disabled friendly. Plenty of steep steps to climb. The metal steps are all very new and sturdy. Take it slow and easy. Admire the Terrace houses along the way. Awesome.

2qbah50.jpg

 

They even found some grafitti on the walls. The drawings mainly show gladiators, caricatures and animals. The grafitti included names of persons, poems and even declarations of love. Especially interesting is a list goods and necessities of everyday life, including their prices. E.g. Barley 12 denarii, 1/2 ass; Onions 3 asses, entrance to the thermal bath 12 asses. In the Roman currency system, a denarious was a small silver coin, with the value of 10 asses (1 ass is a bronze, later copper coin)

23s6ucm.jpg

 

Just look at how well preserved the walls and flooring of these Terrace houses were.

4exk0.jpg

Once we exited the Terrace Houses, there were good views of the Ephesus site. Take note that we now had to climb down a long flight of stairs which could be slippery when wet, before we got back to the Ephesus ancient city.
This is the video for the Library of Celsus and the Theatre.

Our next stop would be the library of Celsus. From wiki, I learnt that this library was built in honour of Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, hence the name Library of Celsus. Celsus had been consul in 92AD, governor of Asia in 115D, and a wealthy and popular local ciizen. He was Greek, but honoured as both a Greek and Roman in the library itself. Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth. The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a monumental tomb for Celsus, who was buried beneath the library. It was unusual to be buried within a library or even within city limits, so this was a special honour for Celsus.

 

w1wlrs.jpg

 

This pictures gives you a good sense of how magnificent the library would have been, 2,000 years ago.

2le3yhg.jpg

 

After the library, we went to the famous theater. This photograph (off a signboard) shows how the theatre looked like around 1900, just as the site was being excavated. Hard to imagine at that time that the theatre would have the capacity of 25,000 seats.

so5us8.jpg

 

The Theatre of Ephesus is mentioned in the Bible (Acts 19:23-41), the theatre was the site of the riot of silversmiths who made figures of pagan idols like Artemis (Diana). A silversmith by the name of Demetrius was named to have rallied fellow silversmiths to his cause. They stirred up the people of Ephesus, who were confused, and all rushed to the theatre. Acts 19:34 records the people in the theatre as chanting "Great is the Artemis (Diana) of Ephesus!"

 

This is the theatre today. Pretty grand.

2jdncc8.jpg

 

The Austrians have been heavily involved in the excavation of Ephesus. This is the second of such signs I saw that day. Earlier, the guide told us that the Austrians built the roof over the Terrace Houses too.

15flvn7.jpg

 

Took this picture of a happy cat resting on a broken Roman column.

n4e9va.jpg

 

Overall, it was a very impressive visit to the ancient city of Ephesus. There was a lot to see. We were grateful that the skies held up, though it got cloudy as the morning wore on. We exited Ephesus via the Harbour Gate (recall we entered from the Magnesia Gate) and our next stop would be lunch at a Turkish Restaurant.

Lunch was included in our tour. For lunch, the guide brought us to a restaurant called Agora Restaurant. According to tripadvisor, this restaurant was fairly well reviewed. We didn't have any choices for the lunch. We were served with some starters that included pita bread, side dishes, salads. This was followed by the main which consisted of two types of grilled meats, rice. I noticed many other tourists in the restaurants. Other tour groups (including cab drivers) also brought their passengers here. It looks like the restaurant has tied up with the various tour operators. Overall, I found the food just ok, nothing special.
After lunch, it started to drizzle. As we had seen the most important sight for the day (ancient Ephesus), we were not sure where else to go. The guide asked if we wanted to see some carpet weaving (i.e. carpet shop). Since this was our first time in Turkey, we said ok.

The place we went to was called Bartok Authentic Looms.

 

33jr2mg.jpg

On hindsight, while the visit was quite interesting, we were pretty much like captives during the time there. The objective of the place was to sell you carpets, expensive ones at that. I think a visit to a carpet factory was included even in the Ship's Tours, as stated in the excursion forms.
Here was a video I took of the carpet factory visit.
To cut the long story short, after the elaborate sales pitch which literally included the sales staff throwing carpets at us. We ended up buying 2 small carpets at US$50 each.
By the time we were done with the carpet store, it was really raining. We went to the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (one of the seven ancient wonders of the world), but due to the rain, the family did not get off the bus. I got down to take a quick look and made a short video before getting back to the mini-bus.
We arrived back in port in good time. We walked around the port area as well as the beachfront. While it was drizzling slightly, it was still fun to explore the place. There were shops selling "Genuine Fake Watches". Oxymoron.
Yes, Genuine Fakes!

6xu5oi.jpg

That was our day in Kusadasi, Turkey, for the ancient city of Ephesus.

It was a real privilege to see the ancient ruins of Ephesus up close and personal. It certainly brought to life many of the verses that we had read in the Bible.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to more pictures of your trip. Realized that Turkey is becoming quite a popular travel destination of late. Been seeing my instagram filled with pictures of Turkey. Beautiful country.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hypersonic

 

Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to more pictures of your trip. Realized that Turkey is becoming quite a popular travel destination of late. Been seeing my instagram filled with pictures of Turkey. Beautiful country.

 

Hello mod, you don't have to quote his whole post [laugh] [laugh]

Link to post
Share on other sites

Very beautiful and thank you for sharing.

 

I am hoping and trying to arrange for a cruise as well this year. Can I ask how you usually arrange these shore excursions as I see that you don't seem to be following the cruise organised tours?

 

Do you do your own research and just arrange for a car to be sent to you or the port or do you call local tour agencies to pick you up and you follow their itinerary?

Link to post
Share on other sites

The problem with joining tour group is they bring you to places where you buy things you don't really need and you eat stuff that are not fantastic.

 

Besides waking up super early.

 

Prefer free and easy tour where I dictate my own timing and itinerary.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for taking the effort to narrate and upload the pictures of your trip. I found it quite interesting!

 

Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I found the place fascinating.

Nice sharing bro boringchap!

 

Do enjoy your holiday.

 

Did you manage to visit the theatre at the Ephesus ruins? The acoustics of the place is amazing. No need for mics.

 

Yes, we were at the theater, see one of my videos. Didn't have the time otherwise I would have climbed up right to the top to see the view. Yes, I read that they organize concerts there too.

  • Praise 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

 

Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to more pictures of your trip. Realized that Turkey is becoming quite a popular travel destination of late. Been seeing my instagram filled with pictures of Turkey. Beautiful country.

 

Yes, Turkey is becoming popular. Take note, however, the political situation does not seem to be that stable. A lot of internet chatter now, so monitor the situation.

Very beautiful and thank you for sharing.

 

I am hoping and trying to arrange for a cruise as well this year. Can I ask how you usually arrange these shore excursions as I see that you don't seem to be following the cruise organised tours?

 

Do you do your own research and just arrange for a car to be sent to you or the port or do you call local tour agencies to pick you up and you follow their itinerary?

 

Thanks for your kinds words. Yes, we do not use the ship's excursions unless we have absolutely no choice. This is because the ship's tours are expensive. See this video of the prices for my cruise.

 

 

I write more later.

Link to post
Share on other sites

(edited)

Very beautiful and thank you for sharing.

 

I am hoping and trying to arrange for a cruise as well this year. Can I ask how you usually arrange these shore excursions as I see that you don't seem to be following the cruise organised tours?

 

Do you do your own research and just arrange for a car to be sent to you or the port or do you call local tour agencies to pick you up and you follow their itinerary?

 

Be very aware that even though ship's tours are expensive, they are the only tours that give you peace of mind because the ship will wait for your tour coach to return, in the event of any delay. It is a promise made by the cruise line.

 

Passengers that are not on ship's tours will have to ensure that they get back to the ship by the all aboard time, otherwise the ship will leave without you. It is not an empty threat. Ships do leave without late passengers.

 

For the above reason, ship's tours continue to be popular. It is a common sight to see many tour coaches (40 pax) waiting for ship's tours.

 

With that out of the way, this is what we do. We research each port, to figure out what we should see. The most useful resource is cruisecritic forums, where you can search by ports. Alternatively, just google by the country and port name, to see what other people have done. There is a lot of information out there.

 

We look for private tour operators, usually from cruise critic and tripadvisor. Then we go to their websites and email them in advance to find out their prices and the tours that they offer. Usually, we will choose a tour operator that has very good reviews on cruise critic and/or trip advisor.

 

We do not join their large tour groups. We will ask for a mini-van for the 6 of us, or just a car if there are only 4 of us. In recent sailings, our party has always been 6, i.e. 2 kids, 2 adults, 2 seniors (either my parents or in-laws). Cruising is a great way to do a multi-generational holiday.

 

In our experience, the local company would already have a proposed itinerary. Because the driver and vehicle is yours for the duration of your port stay, you can always customize the itinerary to suit your liking. It is very flexible and easy. We like the fact that we can spend as little or as much time as we want at certain places, and the van is ready to go as and when we want.

 

Fortunately for us, so far all our private tour experiences have been positive. I think this is because we choose reputable companies.

 

Bear in mind that the ship will leave without you if you are late, so we never cut it thin. We are always early back to the ship. Even then, we would have been able to see all that we want to see. Why? Because it is much faster on a small van than to join the ship's tour (coach with 40 pax). Give you an example. When we were in Katakolon, for Olympia, we reached the ancient city of Olympia 1 hour before the ship's tours arrived!

 

Anyway, on a private tour, much sure you give yourself enough buffer time to get back to the ship. The reputable companies know this and they will always plan their tour in such a way to get you back to the ship on time, even taking into account traffic.

 

For some ports, say Istanbul (Turkey), there is no need to do a private tour. There is a tram very near the port gates which you can take into the main city, In fact, when we were there, we walked into the city and back!

Edited by Boringchap
↡ Advertisement
  • Praise 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...