Getting to Ephesus from Selçuk

Selçuk is the town that grew up on the hill Ephesus retreated to, and it is the cheapest and least complicated base for the site.

Dolmuş

Minibuses leave the otogar — the bus station in the middle of town, opposite the museum — roughly every half hour through the day, more often in season. Ask for Efes. The fare is small, cash, and paid to the driver. The stop is on the main road at the Lower Gate turning, a few minutes' walk from the entrance.

Coming back, wave one down from the same place. They stop running in the early evening.

Taxi

There is a rank by the otogar and another near the mosque. Ten minutes, and a fare that is small by the standards of anything else you will pay that day.

The useful version costs a little more: ask to be taken round to the Upper Gate so you can walk the site downhill, and arrange collection at the Lower Gate — or simply walk the 3 km back into town from the bottom, which is flat.

On foot

It is about 3 km from the centre to the Lower Gate, and the route is level. Out along the Efes road, past the Temple of Artemis — one column standing in a field, and worth the five minutes — and then a straight run to the site.

There is a footpath for part of it and a road shoulder for the rest. In April or October it is a pleasant thirty-five minutes. In August, in the middle of the day, it is not.

Where to leave your things

Selçuk otogar has a small left-luggage office, which is useful if you are passing through on a train or bus and want to see Ephesus between connections. There is nowhere to leave a bag at the site itself.

Making a day of it

Selçuk holds the Ephesus Archaeological Museum, the Basilica of St John under the fortress, the Artemision, and the İsa Bey Mosque — all within walking distance of each other. Ephesus in the morning and the town in the afternoon is a good day and a very cheap one.