Ephesus and Istanbul Small Group Tours for Cruise Guests

Your guide meets you at Kusadasi Cruise Terminal with a name sign and drives you to the House of Virgin Mary on Mount Koressos, where tradition holds that St. John brought Mary after the crucifixion. The site carries significance for both Christian and Muslim pilgrims.

The Ephesus walking tour proceeds along the ancient marble streets, passing the State Agora, Odeon, Memmius Monument, Temple of Domitian, Trajan Fountain, Baths of Scholastica, Hadrian Temple, Latrina, Celsus Library, and the Commercial Agora. The Grand Theatre, constructed in the third century BC and expanded by Rome to accommodate 24,000 people, closes this section of the walk.

The day concludes at the Temple of Artemis site, where a single standing column marks one of antiquity's Seven Wonders. The group then drives back through Gazibegendi Park to Kusadasi port.

Your Istanbul guide meets you at Galata Port Terminal and walks with the group 200 metres to Tophane Tram Station. After a 20-minute tram ride, the tour begins at the Hippodrome Square, the former civic and sporting heart of Byzantine Constantinople, before moving to the 17th-century Blue Mosque with its six minarets and celebrated Iznik tile interior.

The group visits Topkapi Palace, built by Sultan Mehmed II between 1460 and 1478, touring the weapons section among other courtyards. Hagia Sophia follows immediately — the Byzantine church converted to a mosque is one of the largest surviving examples of late antique architecture in the world.

The final stop is the Grand Bazaar, operating since 1461 and home to more than 1,200 shops across 58 covered streets. The group returns on foot to Sultanahmet Tram Station and rides back to Tophane, then walks 200 metres to the port.