Hi friend of mine visited ephusus at the end of last season ,and as far as he can remember ,entrance fee was 10ytl ,house of the virgin mary and terrace houses about the same .st johns basilica temple of atremis ,was free ,not to sure if it will be opened just now ,maybe a wee bit early. its about four years since i was last there and that was in high season.

Bluepeterno1

Yes Ephesus is opened all year round and the entrance cost last year for us was 10 liras per person...the Terrace houses also located inside Ephesus was also an additional 10 liras as well...

Ephesus - Open Air Museum (Ancient Ephesus): 10 YTL
House of Virgin Mary : 6 or 7 Euros
Temple of Artemis : FREE
St. John Basilica : 5 YTL
Terrace Houses : 10 YTL

http://www.flickr.com/photos/canmom/sets

Has anybody travelled to Ephesus from Olu Deniz ? I am desperate to go there and want to know if it's practical. Presumably it involved an overnight stay, has anyone any ideas on cost ?

Thanks to anyone who replies.

Doe.

Also is it manageable in July when temps are high? I hope so as I;d love to see this site. I assume if you're VERY careful and keep well protected it is ok?

From Fethiye to Ephesus (Selçuk): 306 km NW, 4- 4.5 hours...dont know of any tour companies that offer tours from the Olu Deniz area as we drove ourselves....here is a bit from our trip report last Feb...

Our second day was again an early start and now off to the Aydin district to see Priene, Miletus, Didyma. We also stopped at the Temple of Zeus at Eurmos, Baffa Lake which both of these are before Didyma on the main highway. The stop at Euramos however was not as clearly marked on the road and we almost missed it. Didyma was great with the carved faces, temple of Apollo, and sculptures. Miletus has wonderful spread out ruins with a large theater and a great view of the valley from the top of the castle walls. Here we had a great late lunch of turkish gozleme. Priene just off the mainroad was also very good with it's temple and large marble ruins, churches and theater but a bit of a steep walk up to the site and it was cold and windy at the top.

All these areas are wonderful and I my opinion not to be missed with great stops, beautiful views and wonderful history. We drove from Priene towards Selcuk arriving in the early evening and stayed there one night at the AKAY HOTEL.

Our third day was visiting the The church of St. John the Baptist, Virgin Mary's house ( which my camera decided to take a break and get re-charged at the main gates ) then of to Ephesus. Again nothing can describe the mystical and regious awe of these places. We were also greeted by a small snow shower at the Virgin Mary's house making it a remarkable visit. You have to see them for your self. We did however miss out the Temple of Artemis. Don't know how but we failed to see it just outside the Selcuk area. Well there is always a next time. We also decided to skip the graves of the 7 sleepers and continue our day's drive towards Bergama ( Pergamon ) We left the Selcuk area at about 1 pm.

Try renting a car and travelling there independently....

As for the summer's heat...If you start at the top entrance and then work your way down it would be easier..also advisable to get there early in the morning as it opens plus the mornings will be cooler than the heat of the day...we were there in Feb. so heat was not a problem..and it was great because it was not busy...I have seen many photos of a sea of people in Ephesus..during peak season...take lots of water with you and and the usual protective items for the sun and heat...

Thanks Caretta,
I'm interested in the fact you drove yourselves. What's the driving & roads like in Turkey? We frequently hire a car on holiday and might consider it.

Thanks Caretta,
A really informative post. I'm very grateful.
Doe

Hi again,

Other than that driving inside Istanbul or inside any large city might pose a few problems when it comes to traffic. The turkish coast it'self is vary vast with many wonderful places to visit. You will not have any problems in driving the major highways in Turkey...the roads have all been improved over the past few years..wided as well...

Really I do not think that you have to worry about the roads especially along the coastline as they are well travelled and for the most part double lane highways. The government in the past few years have really improved the highways making travel very easy. You can however so all this by bus but like I said before you will have better mobility by driving a car and the buses along the coastline will also take longer to travel from one destination to another.

Driving would give you so much more freedom than going by bus - it will be more expensive because the price of petrol is a lot more than in other countries. The following is a very brief summary about driving in Turkey;

1. The fuel price is the most expensive in the world. Over 3 YTL per litre

2. The rules are not followed strictly all the time. So drive very carefully. If the driver is not an experienced driver, think twice before hiring a car. Do not make assumptions about rules because while you may be right, it does not do any good being right after getting into an accident.

3. Definitely avoid driving after the sunset, in the dark. Be very carefull with big trucks, motorcyles, tractors and cars with animals in the countryside. Driving after sunset might be dangereous because of trucks, road conditions, and also other small vehicles (motorcycles, tractors, vehicles with animals sometimes!) that dont have proper lights etc. There is a very high risk of being in an accident. And if you have any trouble, say your car is broken, it would be much more difficult to fix the situation.

4. Sometimes there are constructions going on, on the roads, there are pebbles as part of the pavement, and the roads can get pretty slippery, lots of accidents happen that way, be very carefull.

5. Also beware that the danger may come from behind too. Always check your rear mirrors.

6. Try to have a mobile phone working in Turkey in case of emergency, and have with you telephone numbers of any locals you know, in case of language and other problems.

You won't have much trouble in the countryside if you are an attentive/perceptive driver. Intercity roads are improving like crazy. More than half of your route is on multilane roads.

One important info: In Turkey, flashing the headlights during the day means "I am coming through no matter what". I am telling this because in some countries it is the opposite meaning (giving the right of way to the other),

At night it means the same, but is also used for

- reminding a driver that he forgot to turn on the headlights,
- reminding a driver that he has the longlights, should switch to short,
- helping drivers coming from the opposite direction stay awake.

Thanks caretta for that detailed post,
I think that's made my decision for me...........we'll not bother!

Hi toastedmallow..

no don't do that..I was giving you the worst possible scenario and just some general guidelines...what other countries have you driven in ??? I dont think that is it any worse than I have heard about Greece or Italy ( or so I have been told )...besides maybe people rent cars here and drive all around the coast..I think that you will be missing out a lot if you do not go..

We're going to Ovacik in July and we asked our transfer driver about the time to drive to Ephasus last week when we were there. He said it would take 4 hours maximum and 3 hours was doable if the traffic wasn't too bad. I imagine he was referring to Turkish standards of driving however and not our own!

Caretta,
We've hired cars throughout the Med & Canaries and often driven to France, but your description only confirms other stories I've heard. I'd be happy to let a local experienced coach driver ferry us about. At least my poor husband could relax & enjoy the scenery for a change!
Thx for your information!

I think everyone that loves Turkey should visit Ephesus at least once in their life-time...

To me it was an experience NOT to be missed!!!

If you have a good guide that holds your attention (we had ours for the two day trip) it makes it even more enjoyable.

I find T shirts and shorts or pants far too hot there is NO SHADE in parts...........

A long sleeved cotton shirt and long cotton skirt plus hat protects you from the heat of the mid-day sun and keeps you so much cooler.

toastedmallow...glad that you have decided to still go... even if someone else drives I was worried that you had decided totally against going ...have a super time..enjoy

i'm going to try and go as well. I have been told you can go on organised trips to Ephesus from Olu Deniz, but it requires an overnight stay.

Will probably have to got with Thomson or Thomas Cook though as I cant see the other three members of my party wanting to go so I will have to go as billy no mates and would rather go with my TO as I will be on my own. Hope some of the others on the trip talk to me.

I went on a two day trip on my own once to Ephesus and Pamukale and I was fine, I didn't book with the tour operator as it was much more expensive and they all do the same thing anyway. I was a bit worried about going on my own but I found plenty of people to chat to and had a great time so I'm sure you will too.