Marble, Mosaics and Artemis: All of Ephesus, Terrace Houses Included

Terrace Houses tour: who it suits, and who should choose another

This is our tour for guests who want the whole city plus the part many visitors never go inside. At about 5.5-6.5 hours door to door it needs a call of 8 hours or more, and it rewards people who like to stop, read an inscription and ask what a room was used for.

Some groups are better served by another tour:

• A call of 5 to 7 hours. Just Ephesus walks the same Upper Gate to Lower Gate route in 3-3.5 hours, with one ticket instead of two.
• Stairs or long walks are hard. The Open-Air Circle needs almost no walking and no tickets at all.
• You are coming for Paul and John. The Road of Paul and John trades the Terrace Houses for the House of the Virgin Mary and the Basilica of St. John.

What you see in Ephesus, stop by stop

We enter at the Upper Gate and walk downhill the whole way, so no one has to climb back up in the heat. The first stretch is the civic center of the Roman city: the State Agora, the small Odeon where the council sat, and the open square in front of the Temple of Domitian. There is almost no shade up here, so this is where the hats come out.

Curetes Street is the marble spine of Ephesus. It drops toward Celsus past the Gate of Hercules, the Fountain of Trajan and the carved arch of the Temple of Hadrian, with the public latrines, a long row of marble seats, just off the street. On multi-ship mornings this is the stretch that fills first, and your guide will pick the quieter moments for photos.

After the Terrace Houses you step straight into the square in front of the Library of Celsus. Its facade faces east, so it looks its best in morning light. From there the Mazeus-Mithridates Gate leads to Marble Street and the Great Theater. Harbor Street runs west from the theater toward a harbor that silted up long ago, and the Lower Gate is a short walk beyond.

Inside the Terrace Houses: frescoes, mosaics and marble

The visitor route through the Terrace Houses is Terrace House 2: seven residential units where some of Ephesus's wealthiest Roman families lived, built in steps up the slope opposite the Temple of Hadrian and kept today under a protective roof.

Steel stairs and walkways carry you up through the levels, looking down into rooms much as those families knew them. Look for the painted frescoes on the walls, the mosaic floors in the courtyards and the marble panels lining the grander rooms. Plan on about 45 minutes inside.

The houses open at 09:00, an hour after the main gates, and close at 18:00. The ticket is separate: €15 on top of the €40 Ephesus ticket, and no Museum Pass covers it, though a combined Ephesus and Terrace Houses ticket is sometimes sold at the booth. Our Terrace Houses guide has more on what is inside if you want to read ahead.

The Temple of Artemis, and why one column is enough

The temple stood on the flat ground below Ayasuluk Hill and was counted among the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Today a single column, rebuilt from fragments, stands in a marshy field. We will be straight with you: it is a place to understand, not a place to admire.

We still stop, because it explains the city you have just walked through. Ephesus was known across the Roman world as the city of Artemis, and in Acts 19 the silversmith Demetrius stirs up a riot because Paul's preaching threatens the trade in her silver shrines. From the field you look up at the Basilica of St. John on the hill and the fourteenth-century Isa Bey Mosque at its foot: three faiths in one view. The entrance is included, and our Temple of Artemis page tells the longer story.

Walking, stairs and heat: what the day asks of you

The Ephesus walk is downhill on ancient marble, worn smooth and slippery in places, so wear shoes with grip. Shade is scarce between the two gates. From June to September a morning start, a hat and a full water bottle matter more than anything else you pack; the roof over the Terrace Houses at least keeps the direct sun off for that part of the day.

The Terrace Houses are the hard part for anyone with limited mobility. The route is stairs and steel walkways only, with no ramp or elevator, and it is not wheelchair accessible. A wheelchair user can enter Ephesus at the Lower Gate and return to the Lower Gate, seeing the lower part of the city. In a mixed group, tell us who will skip the houses and we will plan what they see instead. Our wheelchair access guide covers the Lower Gate route in full.

If your ship is late or the call gets shorter

We plan the day backward from your ship's all-aboard time and watch the clock all day, so a late arrival changes what we fit in, not the return time we plan to. On this tour the order is clear. The Temple of Artemis goes first, because it is quick to see and easy to lose; then lunch; then some of the time in the upper city. The Terrace Houses stay unless you tell us otherwise, because they are the reason you booked.

If new ship times leave too little room for the houses, we will say so as soon as we see the change, and the day takes the shape of All-Aboard Ephesus: the ancient city first, then only what the clock allows.

Lunch is never included and always optional. It fits best after the Temple of Artemis, in Selcuk, on the way back to the port, and vegetarian, vegan and halal meals are easy to arrange. Tell us about it, along with your ship, date and all-aboard time, through our inquiry form.