Daily Ephesus & Sirince Village Tour from Aydin – Temple of Artemis

Ephesus Ancient City and Sirince Village Day Tour from Aydin

Our daily Ephesus and Sirince tour from Aydin combines the most complete Roman city in the eastern Mediterranean with a hillside village famous for its fruit wines. Collected from your hotel in Aydin, you spend the morning walking the marble streets of Ephesus with an English-speaking guide, then continue to the Temple of Artemis and finish among the stone houses of Sirince.

• A two-hour guided walk through the ancient city of Ephesus
• The Library of Celsus, the Great Theatre and Curetes Street
• The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
• Free time and wine tasting in Sirince village
• Visits to a traditional carpet weaving centre and a regional leather workshop
• Lunch included

Ephesus reflects three great eras at once: Hellenistic, Roman Imperial and early Christian. It was home to one of the Seven Churches of Revelation, and the Apostle Paul is believed to have lived here for around two and a half years during his third missionary journey. On this day tour you enter the upper city by the Odeon and the State Agora, pass the Prytaneion, the Memmius Monument, the Temple of Domitian and the Gate of Hercules, then descend Curetes Street past the Temple of Hadrian and the public latrines to the magnificent facade of the Library of Celsus. The walk continues along the Marble Road to the Commercial Agora, the Great Theatre and the Arcadian Way, the colonnaded street that once led to the harbour.

Little remains of the Temple of Artemis today beyond a single re-erected column, yet the site evokes a sanctuary that was among the largest buildings of antiquity. Sirince, 7 km from Ephesus in the hills above Selcuk, was once a Greek village; after the population exchange that followed the Turkish War of Independence it was settled by Turkish families. Its whitewashed houses, cobbled lanes and the churches of St John the Baptist and St Dimitrios make it a delightful stop, and local fruit wines can be sampled during free time.

Practical notes: entry to the Terrace Houses in Ephesus is not included. This Ephesus day trip is a relaxed daily excursion with plenty of walking on uneven marble, so wear comfortable shoes and bring a hat.