You can easily spend two, three or four nights in this area, staying overnight in the beautiful hill town of Şirince, the town of Selçuk or the Aegean resort of Kuşadası, visiting the ancient cities of Priene, Miletus and Didyma on a day excursion, or Aphrodisias on an overnight excursion to the hot mineral water spa of Pamukkale, shopping in the large weekly market at Tire, going windsurfing or just relaxing in charming Alaçatı, taking a day-trip or overnight excursion via Euromos to Bodrum, and even getting in some beach time at Pamucak or Altınkum.
Selçuk, the town 3 km (2 miles) east of the Ephesus archeological site, lies at the foot of Ayasoluk Hill, topped by a Byzantine-Ottoman fortress. On the slope are the St John Basilica and İsa Bey Mosque, both worth a visit.
Just off Selçuk's main boulevard is the good Ephesus Museum, and on the hill behind the museum are plenty of good small pensions, innsand small hotels. Plenty of restaurants and transport services here too.
Library of Celsus, Ephesus.
You can walk from Selçuk to the Ephesus archeological site along tree-shaded Dr Sabri Yayla Bulvarı in about 25 or 30 minutes, but you may want to stop along the way and see the scant ruins of the famous Temple of Artemis (Artemision), one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Beyond the archeological site, 4 km (2.5 miles) to the west is Pamucak Beach and, 17 km (11 miles) to the southwest, the port town and resort of Kuşadası.
Here's transport information, for the Ephesus region, my Izmir Region Transport Map, and distances and travel times to/from other Turkish towns and cities. Here's how to drive between Izmir's Adnan Menderes Airport and Selçuk, Şirince, Ephesus and Kuşadası.
You can drive from Istanbul to Ephesus, seeing the Dardanelles (Hellespont), Gallipoli battlefields, ancient Troy and Pergamum (Pergamon, Bergama) and other sights along the way. Argeus Tourism & Travel can set you up with a 6-day self-drive tour covering Troy, the Gallipoli battlefields, Pergamum and Ephesus.
If you want to visit a place where you can really get a feel for what life was like 2000 years ago during the glory-days of Greece and Rome, Ephesus is the place. In terms of ruins, it's better than Rome itself.
St Paul's New Testament Letter to the Ephesians was written to the citizens of Ephesus. St John is believed to have written his Gospel here, and to have been buried in the St John Basilica.
The Virgin Mary is believed to have spent her last days on earth here, and you can visit the reconstructed House of the Virgin Mary (Meryemana) on a mountaintop to the south of the Ephesus archeological site.
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