Visiting Ephesus

UNESCO’s World Heritage property has four parts: the prehistoric mound of Çukuriçi Höyük, the ancient city itself, Ayasuluk Hill with the site of the Artemision and the medieval town, and the House of the Virgin Mary⁸. The criteria under which it was listed single out the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian, the Serapeion and Terrace House 2 for their architecture, and the Church of Mary and the Basilica of St John for the city’s religious history⁹.

Inside the gates, the ancient city unfolds along one route, from the civic buildings of the upper city down to the Library of Celsus, the Great Theatre and the long street to the old harbour. Off that route, and on a separate ticket¹⁰, the Terrace Houses fill the hillside above Curetes Street; Terrace House 2 alone is a block of about 4,000 m²¹¹.

The Upper Gate makes the easier walk, provided someone can collect you at the other end. Curetes Street, which links the upper city to the library, drops from about 30 m above sea level at the Hercules Gate to under 10 m at the Library of Celsus¹², so a visit from the south runs downhill. Starting at the Lower Gate turns that into a climb, which in July is a real consideration.

Today’s upper entrance is not where the ancient road left the city. The Magnesian Gate, the largest of the city gates, lies some 300 m further south¹³.

These run from the tightest to the most complete.

• The ancient city alone. Enter at the Upper Gate, walk down through the upper city, Curetes Street and the library to the theatre, and leave by the Lower Gate. This is the shape that suits a cruise-day visit from Kuşadası, where the port is about 19 km from the Lower Gate¹⁴.
• Adding the Terrace Houses and a shrine or museum. The Terrace Houses open off Curetes Street; the House of the Virgin Mary lies some 5 km up the road from the Upper Gate¹⁵, close enough to visit first and then drive down to the ruins.
• A full day with Selçuk. Finish in town, where the Ephesus Museum holds the Roman Artemis statues from the Prytaneion¹⁶ and the original frieze slabs of the Temple of Hadrian¹⁷, and Ayasuluk Hill carries the Basilica of St John¹⁸. The İsa Bey Mosque, built in 1375, stands below the hill¹⁹.

April, May, September and October are the comfortable months, with average daily highs at the site of about 20 °C, 26 °C, 30 °C and 24 °C respectively²⁰. July and August are the hottest, averaging about 35.6 °C in July, and some 17 to 18 days in each reach 35 °C or more⁴. Almost all the rain falls between October and April⁵, and winter days reach only 12 to 14 °C²⁰.

Crowds follow the ships. In 2025 no museum or archaeological site in Turkey drew more visitors than Ephesus: 2,550,458³ (checked on 14 September 2026). The 2019 total, for comparison: 1,810,791²¹ (checked on 14 September 2026). Cruise passengers made up most of the visitors, according to the museum director in 2022²².

Summer evenings offer a way round both the heat and the ship crowds. The ancient city reopens after dark as a night museum, and the 2026 season runs from 1 June to 1 October⁶.

The ancient-city ticket includes the Ephesus Experience Museum²³, and foreign visitors’ prices include the Ministry’s audio guide wherever there is one²⁴. The Terrace Houses need their own ticket or one of the two 72-hour combined tickets²³, and a new tariff takes effect on 1 April 2027¹⁰.

The road from İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport covers about 62 km⁷. The İZBAN commuter train goes as far as Selçuk, with a change at Tepeköy²⁵, and the station is about 3.5 km on foot from the Lower Gate²⁶. Ship passengers land at Kuşadası, 19 km from the Lower Gate and 23 km from the Upper¹⁴.

Ephesus is a sequence of streets rather than a single monument, so a site plan earns its place before you arrive. Curetes Street follows the valley from the Hercules Gate down to the library²⁷, and beyond the theatre the colonnaded Harbour Street, rebuilt by the emperor Arcadius, heads for the old harbour²⁸, now a small marshy lake²⁹.

A second day’s worth of sites lies within a few kilometres, gathered on places around Ephesus.

• The House of the Virgin Mary. A small chapel high on Bülbüldağ, south of the ruins³⁰, reachable only by car, taxi or on foot¹⁵. Muslim visitors come to pray here as well as Christians³¹.
• The Temple of Artemis. A single column, pieced together from fragments, stands in the field where the temple was³².
• Ayasuluk Hill. The Byzantine fortress and Justinian’s 6th-century Basilica of St John, raised over the traditional tomb of the apostle¹⁸.
• Şirince. A hill village about 8 km east of Selçuk, named one of UN Tourism’s Best Tourism Villages in 2023³³.