Ephesus & Virgin Mary: Day Trip from Izmir with Lunch

4.92

(169 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

Ever wondered what it feels like to actually walk where Romans once hurried through their day? That’s what hit me as we stepped onto the marble streets of Ephesus after leaving Izmir early that morning. The drive blurred by—olive groves, sleepy villages, a bit of road chatter with our guide, Emre (who somehow made 8am history talk fun). I remember the first real stop: the House of the Virgin Mary. It was quiet there, even with a few other visitors. There’s this faint scent of candle wax and wild thyme in the air. People left little notes on a wall outside—hopes or prayers maybe. I tried to write one but got shy and just watched an old woman tie hers up instead.

Then came Ephesus itself. Honestly, I didn’t expect to feel so small walking past those columns and arches. Emre pointed out grooves in the stone where carts used to run; you could almost hear them if you stood still long enough (or maybe that was just my imagination). We wandered past the Library of Celsus—he told us it was once the third biggest library in Roman times—and I tried to picture scholars there, but mostly I just noticed how the sun bounced off the pale stone and made everything look golden for a minute. Lunch in Selçuk after all that walking tasted better than it probably should have—a simple plate of köfte, bread still warm from somewhere nearby.

The last stop was the Temple of Artemis. Not much left now except some scattered stones and storks nesting on top of a lone column, but Emre spun stories about gods and fires and Alexander the Great being born on the night it burned down. I liked that—history feeling messy and alive instead of neat facts on a signboard. By late afternoon we were back in Izmir, tired in that good way when your head is full and your feet ache a little. Still think about those marble streets sometimes—you know?