Private Tour : Ephesus Port Tour for Cruisers

Today was our first day in Turkey. We had a private tour scheduled with HAKAN from EPHESUS PORT TOURS and we loved it. From the first email exchange to the final scheduling their response was always fast and very nice and acommodating. We booked the private 'Best of Ephesus Tour' for 2 people.  Everything was great: on time pick up at our hotel in Kusadasi, safe driving - the driver was so nice and attentive -, and the guide - Hakan - was awesome, very knowledgeable and even funny. He went above and beyond to fulfill our requests: "You are the boss!" Regular tours skip some places because you have to pay separate entrance fees but on the private tour we went to places that were really worthwhile to see. Even better: Hakan knew all the best spots to take pictures at all the sites. The lunch was optional and not included in the tour price. The recommended lunch spot was peaceful with excellent service, delicious food at €5 per person. Prior to the our scheduled tour we were offered an option for a shopping tour. Hakan left us very comfortable to choose if we wanted to see this part or not. He explained that we were not forced to buy anything and it was to learn about the culture. And so it was, no pressure. We watched how silk carpet is made and visited a leather factory. In the end we were glad we went and we didn't buy anything, although the products are beautiful and of exceptional quality. We had an unforgettable experience and truly enjoyed it.  I highly recommend the tour and Hakan is the best guide.

The companies mini-bus was very clean and comfortable for the tours which, as a group of eight of us, found it so nice to be able to talk with our tour guide,Zeynep, freely and who seems to know her stuff throughtout the trip. We all agreed the tour was well worth it and they even drop us off for lunch at a nice seafood restaurant in town and came back few hours later to picked us all up and took us all back to our hotel. Excellent service and cannot be faulty.

We loved our day with Hakan. From the start he was there waiting for us as promised when he got off our cruise ship. He then took us to our van which was super comfortable (and had a child seat already installed for my almost 2 year old). He was very knowledgeable about the sites we visited (Ephesus, the house of the Virgin Mary, and the temple of Artemis) and his English is great. My favorite part (as a big lover of cats) was that he brought a large canister of cat food to feed the local cats throughout the ruins. (apparently the cats are good for the site because they eat the rats and mice and keep out snakes). He then took us to have a delicious meal of traditional Turkish food and tour an authentic Turkish rug factory. He was very accommodating and understanding of our needs, traveling with a temperamental toddler. Overall, would definitely recommend him as a tour guide.