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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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Eating Our Way Through Izmir, Türkiye!

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As many of you know, Dan and I love a food tour, so we gladly joined a day long one in Izmir, Türkiye last July. This tour ended up being wildly long (6+ hours!) but super interesting as we learned loads about Izmir, Turkish culture, and food, in addition to trying so many local dishes that we never would have found on our own. Whether you take this tour or not, definitely visit Izmir and try some of these foods!

Izmir, Türkiye early in the morning. Yes, fishing and seafood are huge here, but, as you will see – keep reading, there is plenty of other things to eat in this seaside town!

Our food tour began around 10:00 AM, and luckily we only drank coffee pre-tour at our hotel (the Izmir Marriott).  We met our tour guide and the participants, another couple from the NYC area, near the train station. We then walked through a clam, picturesque Izmir neighborhood to pick up bread for later (more on that below) and eventually stopped at the bottom of a rickety staircase, which we carefully climbed to find a man hand frying doughnuts! Great start to the tour.

These flowers are all over Izmir. I love them. This tour really showed us some quiet streets that we would not have seen otherwise.

FOOD STOP 1: STICKY ROSEWATER DOUGHNUTS

The man hand frying donuts was an employee of Öztat Kardesler, a well known bakery in Izmir that has been operating since 1930. When had unknowingly walked by the storefront before climbing those rickety stairs. While Öztat Kardesler makes a host of treats, we were here for the doughnuts, or lokma in Turkish. The doughnut kitchen was tiny (and felt even tinier with our group inside it,) and hot, as it lacked any air conditioning. Despite these circumstances, the expert doughnut chef was not bothered.  He made batch after batch of doughnuts, which were then slathered in a rosewater-sugar glaze and packaged in sets of three. Two other men were also working in this tiny kitchen, ensuring that each doughnut received a proper amount of glaze and were perfectly packaged. We left with a pack of three rosewater doughnuts to eat later. We had ours the following morning, and they were fabulous. I understand you can find these around Izmir if you are not taking this tour.

Öztat Kardesler from the front. The donut kitchen is located under that blue umbrella atop the storefront.

The doughnut chef! This gentleman definitely knows how to make a doughnut.

Well on their way.

Our rosewater doughnuts.  The cover photo shows all of them out for delivery.

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A Tasting Through Kadiköy – The Asian Side of Istanbul

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Dan and I spent a very fast two nights in Istanbul on our July trip to Türkiye last summer, only staying in Istanbul because we needed to fly out of the Istanbul airport. We have been to Istanbul previously, but we didn’t explore the Asian Side of Istanbul, so we stayed in a hotel on the Asian Side and also booked a food tour in a local, and adorable, neighborhood of Kadıköy. This article reviews our delicious food tour, which would be relatively easy to recreate on your own!

STOP ONE: BREAKFSAT AT CAY TARLASI & CAFE

The first stop of the tour was for breakfast, at a small spot that our guide frequents with her friends after a big night out, LOL. Cay Tarlasi & Cafe is a family-owned restaurant that is open all day, every day, from 8 AM to midnight. We squeezed into a table on the second floor and were immediately served Turkish tea, which is basically black tea in a curved glass. Turkish Tea is common alll over Türkiye, and locals drink this tea all day in all weather (including the hot summers!). Turkish Tea is a bit bitter but not difficult to drink, especially if you add sugar.  For breakfast, two large pans quickly graced the table. The first was filled with menemen – one of my favorites! Menemen is a traditional Turkish breakfast of eggs, peppers, and tomatoes mixed together with some spices (I had a great one at our hotel in Cappadocia). Think a mix between scrambled eggs with toppings and an omelette. In any case, menemen is great, and this version was particularly good, especially paired with the local bread. The second pan contained muhlama, which is another local dish consisting of cheese, butter, cornmeal, and water mixed together and cooked. The muhlama was also very tasty and reminded me a lot of our at-home Raclette machine, yet also of Southern grits. I preferred the menemen between the two dishes, but suggest trying both in Türkiye. We left Cay Tarlasi & Cafe stopping ourselves from eating more.

Menemen. This dish is easy to find in Turkey.

Muhlama. The consistency was like grits.

My plate with the black Turkish tea.

Storefront for those interested in visiting. The owners were welcoming and spoke English. Visitors may need to wait for a table.

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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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