Izmir itinerary

A Day Trip to Ephesus from Izmir, Türkiye: Tips & Tricks

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This post discusses a day trip that I took to Ephesus from Izmir last summer on our vacation to Türkiye. I have seen a lot of Roman ruins in the past, so Ephesus was never big on my “must see” list until two totally separate people on separate trips told me that the Ephesus ruins were the “best Roman ruins they had ever seen”!  I made a day trip to Ephesus a priority when visiting Izmir.

Ephesus, Türkiye.

Was that description accurate after visiting? Is Ephesus the best Roman ruins? Maaaaybe, maybe not. Certainly, Ephesus is an extremely well preserved historical site that is interesting to visit. I think whether it is “the best” may depend on your personal interests and the quality of your visit. In brief, I would absolutely set aside a half-day to visit Ephesus if in the area, but I would not suggest a big bus tour or any “add ons” that many companies offer (like lunch, product demonstrations, etc.).

EPHESUS, TÜRKIYE – A BIT OF BACKGROUND

As a [very, very, very] brief background, Ephesus was an historical city in Ancient Greece that was quite advanced for its time. Located about an hour inland from present-day city Izmir, Türkiye, Ephesus was famous for many things, including the Temple of Artemis, a Wonder of the Ancient World, the Library of Celsus, a very cool site to see, and an open air theatre that could hold 24,000 people! Ephesus also important in the Christian religion, being mentioned in the Book of Revelation and entertaining rumors that the Gospel of John (from the Bible) was written in Ephesus. It’s also located very close to the House of the Virgin Mary a/k/a the alleged home with the Virgin Mary (i.e. Jesus’s mom) lived out her days…

Ancient Ephesus.

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An Aegean Cruise From Çesme, Turkey!

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When we visited Turkey last summer (July 2023), I really wanted to visit the proper Turkish Riviera. We seriously looked at the towns Bodrum, Kos, Alaçati, Çesme, and Izmir, and choose  Izmir, even though its not the real Turkish Riviera, due to its proximity to the airport and Ephesus historical site and reasonable price. We also needed Marriott nights, and Izmir has a lovely Marriott. I was fine with our decision but wanted to experience the Turkish Rivera, at least for a day. Enter a boat tour from Çesme and an afternoon strolling the town. This article details our experience. In brief, Çesme is a cute tourist town and the boat showed us gorgeous coast, but I am not sure I would squeeze a Çesme day into an Izmir itinerary again – it deserves its own couple days!

Çesme. This reminded me a lot of Rhodes, Greece (which is quite close by).

ÇESME, TURKEY

Çesme, apparently meaning “fountain”, is a small Turkish town on the Aegean sea at the tip of the Çesme peninsula. The name Çesme also refers to the greater Çesme area and includes the popular destination town of Alaçati.  Çesme is a favored holiday destination with Turks, is slowly becoming more well-known with the international crowd, and can get quite crowded in the summer. Numerous tourist lodging options crowd the area, with a modern highway connecting the town of Çesme to Izmir, the closest big city and international airport.  In terms of a destination, Çesme is a very cute little town and enjoys gorgeous views of the Aegean. One could easily waste away a few days enjoying the sun and sea.

A ship statue in Çesme. Everything seems to have a nautical theme here.

For tourist purposes, Çesme is most famous for its Ottoman old town and its ruined castle, of which the walls are fairly well preserved. Tourists can visit both on foot in a couple hours. The real point of Çesme is to relax and enjoy the day.

Welcome to Çesme!

We got to Çesme by taking an Uber (yes, the American app) from our hotel in Izmir. The ride took about 45 minutes. We took a taxi coming back, as we could not find an Uber. Alternatively, a bus runs regularly between Çesme and Izmir (we probably should have taken this but were lazy).

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Hotel Review: Izmir Marriott Hotel

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Dan and I stayed at the Izmir, Turkey Marriott hotel for four nights in July 2023. We choose the Izmir Marriott over some other properties because the hotel looked nice online, was reasonably priced, and offered a rooftop pool and lounge, plus our trip was concentrated more on sightseeing than beach/pooling so the beaches surrounding Izmir did not appeal to us on this trip. This post reviews our stay in the Izmir Marriott, which we really enjoyed!

View from the Izmir Marriott’s Executive Lounge patio, which is just above the hotel’s main entrance.

THE IZMIR MARRIOTT & ITS LOCALE

Opened in 2021, the Izmir Marriott is a modern property located on the waterfront in central Izmir. Hotel guests can walk to numerous restaurants, shops and sites of interest, including the Kemeraltı Bazaar (that we toured) and Konak pier, from the hotel. The Marriott in Izmir is comprised of 8 floors, in addition to a usable rooftop and basement Turkish bath and spa.  During our stay, the clientele was mostly foreigners, including many Americans. The majority of the staff spoke good English, and we received a very warm welcome on arrival.

View of the surrounding area from the Marriott entrance.

The first floor and entrance of the Izmir Marriott is smartly decorated and holds the checkin area, as well as a coffee bar and the waterfront Lima restaurant, where a large breakfast is served daily, in addition to lunch and dinner. Guest rooms largely comprise the remaining seven floors. The Marriott’s fabulous spa is located in the basement level, and the main hotel pool and a late night bar and restaurant occupy the rooftop.

OUR ROOM AT THE IZMIR MARRIOTT

We booked a standard King room with a City View with cash at the Izmir Marriott, which only cost about $145 USD in July 2023. We also requested a  Suite Night Award (“SNA”) upgrade for all four nights that we had available due to our Marriott Platinum status, which we actually received (yay!).  In light of the SNA upgrade, we stayed in a Corner King City View suite, which offered both city and (partial) sea views.  As you can see in the below pictures, our the room is located on front left corner of the hotel and opened into a small hallway, with the bathroom on the left and a closet area on the right. At the end of the small hallway, the room expanded to include a very comfortable, and American style, King size bed, a  work desk, a small kitchenette area, including a fully stocked mini bar (for pay) and a coffee and tea maker, safe, hairdryer, a very chic chair overlooking the partial sea view, and a couch and small table on the opposite side of the room. The main selling point of this suite were the curved floor to ceiling windows on each corner, which was really very cool. We loved opening the curtains and watching the city go about its day, especially in the early morning and at sunset.

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Four July Days In Izmir, Turkey!

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We began our Turkish summer vacation in Izmir, spending four nights and day tripping to the coast and Ephesus. We opted for Izmir over the more popular Bodrum area due to flight schedule and cost (Izmir was much less expensive) after going back and forth regarding whether to stay in Izmir city, Alacati (an hour away on the coast) or further south (around Bodrum). We ended up thrilled with our decision and really enjoyed Izmir. We have already decided that we need to come back and spend a few weeks in Izmir during early retirement!

The flowers in Izmir are beautiful.

THE TURKISH CITY OF IZMIR

Contrary to what we thought prior to this trip, Izmir is a large historic city (the third largest in Turkey!) in Western Turkey on the Aegean cost. Izmir is about an hour flight from Istanbul or a few hours’ drive, which drive seemed quite popular with locals. Izmir is also only one hour from the beach and one hour from historical Ephesus (both on modern highways).

Sunset in Izmir.

Aside from having a good location, Izmir is not super touristy and feels very much like a real Turkish city. Locals abound and you will be hard pressed to find too many foreign tourists out and about on a normal evening. The locals were also nice and seemed to really be enjoying their life on the sea. In fact, we met more than one person who left their busy life in Istanbul and moved to Izmir for a better quality of life. And I think that’s part of what we liked about Izmir, it was chill, there was no pressure to do anything, Izmir is safe and not expensive, and we felt like we were really in Turkey (not dropped into a foreign country with 100s of other Americans).

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