In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, makes his way to Kusadasi - Gateway to Ephesus. If you are interested in dates and prices for this trip please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey.

In the last two posts, we visited the Roman acropolis of Pergamon and the Asclepeion where Galen learned his trade. These were both first time visits for Alison and me and definitely will be remembered as two of the highlights of this trip to Western Turkey with Adventures Abroad. Now it's time to get back on the bus and make our way to the coastal city of Kusadasi which will serve as our base to explore the many wonders around the ancient site of Ephesus. It's a drive of just over two hours providing we don't get stuck in traffic as we pass the outskirts of Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city. This is the route we will take marked in blue.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, takes a close look at Ephesus - Visiting Turkey's Most Impressive Ruins. If you are interested in dates and prices for this trip please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey.

Chances are if you've never been to Turkey you will have three major tourist sites on your agenda – Hagia Sophia, which we've already visited, Cappadocia which is coming up and Ephesus which we are visiting today. These are far and away the most visited places by foreign tourists and this Western Turkey Tour by Adventures Abroad is no exception. Before Covid Ephesus received almost 2 million visitors a year or roughly 10,000 a day. It was a veritable zoo with most of the people coming off cruise ships and not having a clue what they were looking at. The Library of Celsus would have so many people crawling over it that from a distance it looked like an anthill.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, delves further into Selcuk visiting the Basilica of Saint John, Selcuk, Turkey. If you are interested in dates and prices for this trip please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey.

In this post, we continue our exploration of Western Turkey with Adventures Abroad in the Ephesus area by visiting sites sacred to both the Christian and Islamic religions followed by an unscheduled visit to the house of the Virgin Mary. As an added bonus we get to gaze upon another sacred site, this one dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis and once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Please join us as we visit these marvels starting with the Mosque of Isa Bey and then the Basilica of Saint John.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, highlights some of the many artifacts at The Ephesus Museum, Selcuk, Turkey. If you are interested in dates and prices for this trip please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey.

This is a long-awaited day for many on this Adventures Abroad Western Turkey Tour. Our group will visit a number of sites around the ancient city of Ephesus, arguably the most important place to visit in the entire country after Istanbul. Prior to Covid, over 2 million people visited the area which averaged around 10,000 tourists every day. I cannot help but wonder how many others we will share the place with today. Already we have visited the sites of ancient Troy and Pergamon and had them virtually to ourselves. However, before going to the archaeological site our guide Yasemin Reis is taking us to the Ephesus Museum in the small city of Selçuk to get a better understanding of some of the things we'll see today. Please join us in exploring this very interesting complex.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, next stop is Galen and the Asclepeion of Pergamon. If you are interested in dates and prices for this trip please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey.

In the last post, we continued our Western Turkey Tour with Adventures Abroad by visiting the ancient city of Pergamon, the capital of the Roman province of Asia. There was a lot to see on the acropolis of Pergamon, but our visit to the area is not complete. After we descend from the acropolis by way of the gondola lift we take the bus a short distance away to visit one of the most famous healing sanctuaries in the ancient world, the Asclepeion of Pergamon where the legendary physician Galen once practiced his craft. Won't you join us for yet another amazing adventure in this wondrous country we call Turkey?

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, takes a tour around Pergamon – Visiting Turkey's Roman Stronghold. If you are interested in dates and prices for this trip please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey.

This is the fourth day of the Adventures Abroad, Western Turkey Tour that Alison and I took to Turkey in October 2021. Yesterday we left Istanbul and toured the battlefields of Gallipoli and then visited the almost mythical site of ancient Troy. Today we are headed to Pergamon another ancient city. Unlike Troy which has nine layers spread over thousands of years, Pergamon is a very well preserved Greco-Roman site that sits on a mighty acropolis high above the Anatolian plain. It once housed one of the greatest of the ancient libraries, second only to Alexandria, and was one of the most important cities in the entire Roman Empire. It is a place I have wanted to visit since first reading about it as a boy. Please join our group as we visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Here is a map showing our route in blue from Canakkale where we spent the night to the small city of Bergama above which are the ruins of Pergamon.

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