Biblical Ephesus SKIP-THE-LINE Full-Day Private Shore Excursion

Ulas was a fantastic guide. He is knowledgeable, professional, and downright fun. We had a great tour personalized just as we wanted it.

Ulas was awesome! He was so knowledgeable and perfect for a bible tour. He has a clear love for Turkey and passion for the parts of the bible that took place there. The lunch at the collective was awesome! He even helped us book our Turkish bath and made sure we had transport back to our cruise ship. Thank you Ulas! We can’t wait to visit again someday!

My wife and I booked Ulas for the Biblical Ephesus tour and we could not be happier with our choice. Since this was our first visit to Turkey, as well as our first cruise, we had no idea what to expect and what the process would be. Right from the very first phone contact we had with Ulas, he laid out every detail in advance before I even had to ask about it – completely putting us at ease before we even started. From the moment he met us at the ship terminal, he made it clear that he was there to make the most of the tour for us. He knew exactly the process for our return to the ship and emphasized we needn’t worry about time. Our driver was excellent (apologies to her as I forget her name), and as we drove Ulas gave us great overviews of where we were headed and what our options would be. He is an excellent and knowledgeable guide – he truly made the Ephesus tour come alive with recitations of speeches that were given, as well as pointing out very specific events that took place along the walkway (and he did pretty well as our personal photographer also!). Both he and the driver were very flexible in spending more or less time in areas of our interest, and made it clear that the only time limit was just getting back to the ship – I think we went well over the amount of time that is suggested on the tour and never felt rushed in any way. Others have mentioned the wonderful lunch, followed by the overview of rug and pottery making. We thought these were great inclusions and can’t say enough about the nice people we met in those visits – however, they are also, to some extent, sales stops. While we certainly recommend that you don’t skip those, they aren’t obvious stops within the description of the tour. If you aren’t interested, Ulas will no doubt tailor things to spend more time elsewhere as you see fit (but honestly, they were worth seeing even if you don’t buy anything – there was zero sales pressure and very interesting). We’ve used ToursByLocals several times now, and based on our experience you likely will be pleased with whoever you pick, but for us Ulas (and our driver) brought the experience to a whole new level and we couldn’t make a higher recommendation! If we get a chance to visit again we will go out of our way to get Ulas as a guide.

Ulas is a great guide, His english is perfect and his pace is properly tailored. He is incredibly knowledgeable and communicatable. We will never forget him and contact him when we return. John & Debbie

Ulas is amazing! We had such a great time touring Ephesus and surrounding areas with him. He is a wealth of knowledge and really knows the biblical story of the area. He shared several biblical stories about Ephesus while were actually in the location where they happened. That was awesome! Ulas also took us to several nearby UNESCO World Heritage sites including Artemis's temple (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) and an impressive historic Persian pottery location where the artisans still practice the ancient crafts today. We then toured a Persian rug facility where we had a farm to table meal and got to add a few of our own knots to a valuable Persian rug being crafted. The vehicle was spotless and new. The driver was excellent. It was a great day! I highly recommend Ulas.

Ulas is an Amazing tour guide who's passion for the sites and the stories that he brings to life during his tour, seems to be truly unmatched! We chose Ulas based on his itinerary and biblical background communicated in his tour synopsis. We had several tour guides along our trip, but Ulas was by far our favorite! We learned so much, certainly got a taste of Turkey (from the ones with tags of course) , and can only hope that when the time comes to nourish that taste in the future, Ulas is still providing tours because we would certainly book with him again! Ulas connected very well with our three kids (18, 16, & 12) and had plenty of jokes to keep our mind off the heat in between our locational stops. Ulas, Thank you for all the laughs, sharing your knowledge and time with us, and Congratulations again to you and your wife! ~ The Russells, Nebraska