We are very lucky to have Ellif as our guide. We had so many questions regarding the history of The House of Virgin Mary and ancient city of Ephesus. An addition to planned sightseeing she showed us Turkish handcrafting cultures which was real art. Very thankful that we booked this trip via Viator

I have been here several times. I bought friends this time and found out religion is a expensive business. Entrance fee is shameful compared to other historical sites and the costs to get there.

Been on many tours, it's always the chemistry with the tour guide that makes or breaks the day. We were fortunate enough to have Elif handle our family. Courteous, knowledgeable, fun and knew when to leave us be and then pick up the pace again. showed and taught us many items and pointed out things we never would have seen. Top notch tour guide

Elif was absolutely amazing from start to finish. She became more of a friend than a tour guide. A wonderful, and extremely knowledgeable tour guide who was there to assist in any way possible. This is a must do tour!

We did 3 tours with Neon while we were in Istanbul. However, I am only reviewing this particular one as it was just wonderful. Our tour guide just had my husband and I and everything was catered to us and needs. I wish I could remember the guide's name as I give him top marks for knowledge, experience, communication, and enthusiasm. I made sure I made a wish in Mary's house... The location where we lunched was a private place where people learn to make rugs. We ate outside and enjoyed the scrumptious chicken. They grow their own olives, make marinated olives, oil and wine. We are still talking about this lunch and the atmosphere. We spent the night at the Ramada which was a decadent experience, then travelled by to Instanbul the next day. Top marks for this tour!!

This your was everything I had hoped for. As a Christian I have wanted to see Ephesus and understand the more. I got the perfect guide, Harman. Everything worked like clockwork from the time the picked me up at the hotel at 4am (I was a tad late as I had read the reviews:-() They keep time! The only nightmare for me was the air ticket. I called several days and even on the penultimate day, I had not received my ticket. However they made me forgive everything with the professionalism and time keeping. That you very much Neon tours! Than you, Harman, you're the best guide!!!

We were picked up at our hotel at 4am and returned about 8:30pm. Throughout the entire 16 1/2 hour day, we only spent about 1 hour at Ephesus and were given no free time at all inside the city. We were taken to a rug shop so that they could show us how rugs are made but then they tried to sell you. The icing on the cake was next being brought to a leather shop to ensure a lights out fashion show with again more sales efforts to get us to buy their leather products. We signed up for a tour of Ephesus not a sales trip. Finally, the tour guide was terrible. Extremely strong accent, hard to understand and she didn’t have her facts correct about history but she passed along her superstitions and her opinions. Although the one hour in Ephesus was amazing, largely the day was a waste.

Our trip to Istanbul was amazing, but we really wanted to see Ephesus while in Turkey. Viator made this possible. They arranged an early morning picked up from our Istanbul hotel and put us on a Turkish Airline flight to Izmir (Turkey’s 3rd largest city). Our guide and driver met us at the Izmir airport and drove us the short distance to Ephesus. Our tour included four major stops. The first stop was the Ephesus House of Virgin Mary and Saint John (Jesus put his mother in John’s care while dying on the cross). The second stop was the ancient city of Ephesus. The ruins of this Greek city included: the Odeon (Senate), Hadrian’s Temple, Mosaic sidewalk, Library of Celsus, and the Theater. The theater has held several modern concerts including: Pavarotti, Sting, Elton John, and Ray Charles. The third stop was lunch and a short carpet making demonstration at Turkmen Carpet. The last stop was the Basilica of Saint John. Throughout our visit we were kept informed and entertained by our very knowledgeable and awesome guide Ceyla Ergon. She was great! At the end of the day, we were put on a return flight and taken back to our hotel. Everything was super professional and we highly recommend it.

I spent a few days in Istanbul and due to logistical reasons could not stay in Izmir for a day or two. This one day alternative allowed me the opportunity to also visit the ancient city of Ephesus. It is a long day because I had to leave my room at 4:15 for the 6:30 flight and was only back at 22:30. Efesus did not disappoint. I am so glad I could do this. The Neon company can improve on their communication skills. I had a few anxious moments when I did not know where to wait for my driver and was milling around for abt 15 mins.

Good place to visit. We can see so many historical of this place. In ephesus we can see the library of celcus the most famous place in ephesus where the first advertisement is come from here. We can see the grand theater before we exit. And there is also house of virgin Mary. Is very suitable for Catholic person. You can see the pool for baptism. You can see and get in to the house of Virgin Mary. You can pray inside. And take a candle in here. And after that you can write down your wishes in tissue or paper on the wall. Before that, you can take water from waterfall. They believe the water is very good for anything. Because located house of Virgin Mary.

It was a pleasure to tour the House of Virgin Mary (where She is believed to have spent her last days), Ephesus (with it great Roman era ruins), the burial site of St. John, and we (me and my classmate Kaustubh Kamat i.e. KK) had the good fortune to have a wonderful tour guide Ms. Tijen Oral to help us understand the rich and great historical importance of this beautiful region of Turkey. There is a lot of walking involved and many things worth seeing and photographing. Ms. Tijen Oral is an experienced and knowledgeable guide. She is well versed in English and has a very pleasant personality. She gave up her career in banking and returned to becoming a tour guide as she enjoys her present job the most. She knows all the details of these sites and one young guide (a Mr. Daniel; pseudonym) pointed out to her and said to me - She is the best guide to have in this area. Getting such a compliment from another colleague reinforced our opinion of Ms. Tijen Oral's talents as a tour guide. She also took us to a wonderful Government owned carpet shop where we could see how carpets are woven. I highly recommend Ms. Tijen Oral as a tour guide and wish her all the best for the future.

This tour was great. Everything worked out exactly as planned and our guide was excellent very knowledgeable and good with people. The tour started with an early pick up at our hotel and a Flight to Izmir. There a person from Neon tours was waiting for us and our guide met us at the airport. After about a 45 minute drive we arrived and visited first The House of Virgin Mary, an incredible and peaceful place, with stories that will leave you wondering how is this possible. After about one hour we went on to visit Epheseus, a majestic Roman City, with great ruins that let you imagine what the city was really like. Our guide as I said was great giving us great insight about the city. After Ephesus, we were taken to lunch which was good, and then to see hand made carpet weaving and pottery. Finally we went to St John's church before returning to the airport and head back. The person who was waiting for us was very kind and helped us resolve an issue we had with a Tour for the next day.

I booked this tour via Viator and was already excited the day prior to take this trip. The supplier sent me my plane tickets the day before (29 November 2018) and was advised that I will be picked up at 4 am at my hotel (Swissotel Bhophorous). I planned for take-out breakfast and an early wakeup call to make sure I won't miss it. I was waiting at the hotel lobby at 330 in the morning. Nobody came until 6 am, the time I gave up waiting as it was no longer possible for me to take my plane to Ephesus as the flight time was around 650. While waiting, i emailed and called the supplier but did not get any reply. I also emailed via the Viator communication channel but did not also get a reply. To cut the long story short, they said they had operational issues. But they could have informed me the night before, so I will not get through that hassle of waking up early and looking like a fool at the front desk lounge, sticking my neck out every time a car arrives in the driveway. Also, no one called me up and emailed and apologized until I did. At 930 am, i called the office and was told that I need to cancel via Viator so they can initiate a refund. I was reluctant at first because the tour can not be cancelled on the day, but there was an option there that shows "supplier asked to cancel" and so I did. Again, no email or anything to apologize until I contacted Viator via chat that I need the refund processed and that was the only time that I heard anything from Viator. Still nothing from Neon Tours. But glad that the refund has been processed and hopeful that indeed it will show in my bank account in the next seven days.

I honestly wondered why we needed to to take the 630 flight from Istanbul, because the flight is 50 mins and about 45 min drive to Ephesus, 1st and foremost those interested in seeing Ephesus and the Virgin Mary church and interested in biblical things , this is a must day trip , but the reality is visiting Virgin Mary Church and a 2 hour trip to Ephesus, we were done by 12 pm noon , the rest of the day was honestly a waste to me , visiting a olive oil manufacture , leather wholesaler and local wine tasting that was completely unnecessary that pulled the tour to close the 4 pm , and the lunch was one of the worst meals that I have had in Istanbul, and for some reason this agency booked my on the 840 flight , and when I asked them to change the flight to an earlier flight they would not , This to me was very unprofessional in my opinion The guide was good and fun but overall this could b planned your self and much cheaper But still do recommend using a guide to Ephesus Was unhappy with the services at this price but Ephesus was awesome so must visit for those traveling to instanbul

I was so excited to see Ephesus and have booked tours through Viator for years with absolutely no problems whatsoever. My transfer to the airport in Istanbul arrived timely and was very pleasant. The itinerary I received said simply that upon my arrival in Ephesus, my tour guide would be waiting for me with a Neon Tours sign with my name on it. When I arrived, there was no guide, no sign, and no further directions. I contacted the office and was advised that the office was not open so I used the emergency contact and there was no answer. After walking from inside to outside the airport and clearing security several times, there was still no guide, no return call, and no further directions. I contacted Viator also to no avail. Finally after about twenty (20) minutes and thinking that perhaps I had been left or the tour cancelled, our guide arrived. He did not apologize and attempted to blame the airline, the tour company, and finally the other guests on the tour. He further told me that I should not have panicked. I tried to brush it off but during the tour, the guide, Merut, was arrogant, rude, made off color jokes about women, and I elected to leave the tour due to his behavior. He refused to tell me the place or the address where I could be picked up and simple said, “you will see it on the side of the building.” When we arrived at our next stop I politely asked if I could call a cab to which he responded, “I will handle it after lunch.” When he finally allowed me to leave, he made me write and sign a “statement” and then berated me to others at the venue who later told me what he had said. When my taxi arrived, Merut followed me to my cab and again tried to justify his poor planning and bad time management by blaming the other guests and multiple hotel pickups. None of which, even if true, justifies leaving a guest at the airport for 20 minutes for a tour that costs several hundred dollars. In my opinion, this disrespectful and derogatory treatment is part of the reason why Americans and women in particular are scared to go to Turkey. I would not recommend this tour to my worst enemy. However, as a silver lining, I met friends and was allowed to complete my tour of Ephesus with Discover Ephesus Travel with Fatimah as my guide. She was as accommodating and kind as Merut was rude. She was knowledgeable and did her best to heal my soured experience of Ephesus. She succeeded and made me fall in love with the city and with her! Long story short, skip this tour and book Discover Ephesus Travel with Fatimah as your guide.

Ephesus is one of the iconic structures recognized as the UNESCO World Heritage. According to the history, Lysimachos, one of the twelve generals of Alexander the Great, founded the new city of Ephesus in 4th century BCE, and also as a significant proof of spread of Christianity in the region. Significant remains include the Basilica of St. John on Ayasuluk Hill and the Church of Mary,Celsus Library, Hadrian’s Temple, the Serapeion and Terrace House 2. A place not to be missed!

Instead of taking a tour, I rented a car from Izmir airport Cizgi rent a car for 170USD for 4 days and stayed one day at Nicea Hotel in Selcuk. In one day I covered following nearby places: Temple of Artmis, Ephesus Archaeological Museum, Basilica Of Saint John, Selcuk Castle, İsa Bey Mosque, Cave of the Seven Sleepers, Ephesus City and House of Virgin Mary. After that I visited Sirince a hill station which is famous for its wine. Even though I dont drink wine but that hill station was very beautiful. From there I left for Pamukkale. When you visit Ephesus City then park you car at the lower gate of Ephesus, take a horse cart ride to the upper gate for 50-60 liras for whole cart. On the way he will stop at cave of seven sleepers for 15 mins and will then drop you at the upper gate of Ephesus City. The reason of starting your trip from upper gate is that throughout your visit you will be coming down the hill so it will not be tiring for you and you will exit from the lower gate where your car was parked. An important piece of advice, if you plan to visit a lot of museums then do buy All Turkey Pass worth 210 turkish liras per person which will save you not only money but will also save you from standing in long queues. Children under 6 years are free.

What a phenomenal trip. We were picked up at our hotel in Istanbul and taken to the airport. Once in Izmir our driver met us and took us to Ephesus where our guide joined us. He was fantastic guide, he told us so much about the Virgin Mary house, Ephesus and the church of John. He answered all our questions and was very pleasant.

Excellent trip well recommended as a way to see the highlights of Turkey. Small group in a well equipped mini bus with driver and tour guide.

this was truly a small group tour the guide was great and very informative. I could not have asked for anything better.