PRIVATE KUSADASI SHORE EXCURSION
Ephesus & Sirince: Private Culture Tour from Kusadasi Port
Nine hours that put a Roman metropolis and a living hill village in the same day: Ephesus in the morning light, then the terraced lanes, timber houses and orchards of Sirince above the Selcuk plain.
- Licensed private operator
- TÜRSAB 17017
- Back-to-Ship Guarantee
- Start & finishKusadasi Cruise Port
- DurationAbout 9 hours
- Tour typePrivate, your group only
- Maximum14 guests
- Main focusEphesus & Sirince village
- Ship returnBack-to-Ship Guarantee
The ancient city and the village that outlived it
Sirince is not a theme park version of rural Turkey; it is a working village with a complicated history. Its surviving houses and churches belong to an Orthodox Greek community that lived here until the population exchange of 1923, after which families from Greece settled the same streets.
Pairing it with Ephesus gives the day a shape: monumental antiquity in the morning, continuity and change in the afternoon, with a hill road between them that shows how quickly the coastal plain turns into orchards and olive terraces.
TOUR CHARACTER
What makes this tour different
- Private, your party only, maximum 14
- Ancient city and living village in one day
- Starts and ends at Kusadasi Cruise Port
- Back-to-Ship Guarantee
Check availability & your group price
Enter your date, cruise ship and group size. Live options and your private group price are confirmed on the next step.
Your private culture-day sequence
Meet at Kusadasi Cruise Port
Pier meeting; ship and all-aboard time recorded.
Ephesus
The main archaeological sequence: Harbour Street, theatre, Marble Street, library, Curetes Street and the upper city.
Through Selcuk
A short passage through the modern town below Ayasuluk hill, with the Artemision field and the basilica in view.
The hill road
The climb east into the hills, through olive terraces, peach and fig orchards.
Sirince village
Free walking time in the lanes: timber-framed houses, the old church buildings, small workshops and viewpoints over the valley.
Fruit-wine tasting, if you want it
The village is known for fruit wines. Tasting is entirely optional, never included by default, and never a condition of the visit.
Optional · schedule-dependent
Return to Kusadasi Cruise Port
With the required return buffer.
Sirince time is yours to spend as you like. Your guide will suggest what is worth seeing and then leave you to it, meeting you at an agreed point.
What is included, optional and excluded
Included in the private tour
- Licensed local guide for your party only.
- Private air-conditioned vehicle.
- Kusadasi Cruise Port meeting and return.
- Planning around your confirmed ship schedule.
- Back-to-Ship Guarantee.
Optional, priced only when selected
- Ephesus archaeological-site entrance ticket.
- Terrace Houses entrance ticket.
- Local lunch in Sirince or Selcuk, when requested.
- Carpet-weaving heritage visit, on request only.
None of these is preselected. Each is priced by our reservation system only when you choose it, and each is confirmed against your ship schedule before it is added.
Not included
- Entrance tickets, unless you select them as an option.
- Meals and drinks, unless a lunch option is selected and confirmed.
- Personal expenses and gratuities.
Practical information
- Village surfaces
- Sirince's lanes are steep, cobbled and uneven. Comfortable shoes matter as much here as at the archaeological site.
- Nothing you must buy
- Sirince has many small shops. Browsing and tasting are entirely your choice; no purchase is ever expected or arranged on your behalf.
- Cash and cards
- Smaller village businesses may prefer cash. Your guide can advise, but does not handle your payments.
Two settlements, one continuous landscape
The countryside around Ephesus is not a backdrop to the ruins; it is the reason the city existed. Terraces, water and a fertile plain supported an urban population, and when the harbour silted the population moved rather than vanished — first to the hill at Selcuk, later into villages like Sirince.
The village's twentieth-century history is documented and painful: the 1923 exchange of populations moved communities in both directions across the Aegean. We tell that plainly, without romanticising either the Greek past or the Turkish present.
Between city and village
The road to Sirince climbs past Selcuk, where the Isa Bey Mosque and the basilica hill mark the medieval town that replaced ancient Ephesus.
Morning at the library
Starting at Ephesus means reaching the main façades before the hottest part of the day, and before the site fills.
A hill village, and still an on-time return
The Sirince road is narrow and can be slow at busy times, so the drive is costed into the plan rather than hoped for. The return buffer to Kusadasi Cruise Port is set before the day is arranged. The Back-to-Ship Guarantee applies to the confirmed cruise itinerary and the arrangement made with us.
- Licensed private operator
- TÜRSAB 17017
- Back-to-Ship Guarantee
Frequently asked questions
Yes. It runs for your booking party alone, up to 14 guests. No other travellers are added to your vehicle or your guide.
No. Sirince has shops because it is a village, not because we take you to them. Nothing is arranged, expected or commission-based.
Not at all. It is optional, unpriced by us, and simply one of the things the village is known for.
No. Entrance tickets are an opt-in extra that is excluded by default; when you select them, the confirmed amount is returned by our reservation system with your quote.
Enough to walk the main lanes without rushing. The exact time depends on your all-aboard time and the day's traffic.
Ephesus has uneven ancient paving, slopes, steps and very little shade. Tell us about mobility needs before booking so the plan is realistic rather than optimistic.
Is this the right Ephesus tour for you?
This tour is a good fit if
- Best when you want landscape and living culture as well as ruins.
- Best for photographers and for slower, unhurried travellers.
- Best on a long call where a second, gentler stop is welcome.
Choose another tour if
- Choose the Archaeological or Brilliant format if you would rather spend the extra hours on excavation and museum collections.
Continue exploring Ephesus
Compare private Ephesus tours
- Ephesus Brilliant: Private Full-Day Tour from Kusadasi PortAbout 10 hours · Widest coverage of the whole Ephesus region
- Ephesus Exclusive: Private Tour from Kusadasi PortAbout 7 hours · Deep single-site day including the Terrace Houses
- Ephesus Archaeological: Private Full-Day Tour from Kusadasi PortAbout 8 hours · Most technical archaeological reading of the site
Operated by Karaefe Tours · TÜRSAB 17017
Guest feedback
Reviews for this tour
Feedback submitted by travellers and published only after review by the Mr Ephesus team.
No approved reviews for this tour yet.
Submitted reviews appear here only after moderation.
Share your experience
Tell future travellers what stood out on your tour.