Azamara in Kusadasi: Ephesus by Day, the Old Town After Dark

Azamara plans its voyages around longer, later days in port, and Kusadasi shows it: three of its four calls in the coming year run from 08:00 to 22:00. Fourteen hours ashore turns the usual question around, from what you can squeeze in to what you would like to linger over.

How do you spend 14 hours in Kusadasi?

Give the ancient city the daylight and the town the evening. On an 08:00 to 22:00 call, an unhurried version of the day runs like this:

1. From about 08:00. Off the gangway, along the pier and out through the terminal: your guide stands at the exit, holding a sign with your name. The drive to Ephesus takes 20–30 minutes, or up to 45 on the busiest port days.
2. The morning at Ephesus. From the Upper Gate the main walk runs about 1.5 km, mostly downhill, to the lower gate: two to three hours, plus about 45 minutes if you add the Terrace Houses.
3. The afternoon around Selcuk. Lunch, then the House of the Virgin Mary, the Temple of Artemis and Isa Bey Mosque. Together with the morning, that is our Full Day Ephesus tour, 7–8 hours in all.
4. A pause on board. Back at the pier by late afternoon, with time to rest and change before the evening.
5. The evening, on your own. The old town starts outside the terminal exit: the stone walls and gate of the Ottoman caravanserai (seen from outside), the lanes of Kaleici, the fishing harbor and the seafront promenade looking across to Pigeon Island and its small fortress. The whole day is planned backward from the all-aboard time printed in the ship’s daily program, so you know when to head back aboard.

Is Ephesus open in the evening?

Only on summer Night Museum evenings: in 2026 the lower gate reopens from 19:00 to 23:00, Wednesday to Saturday, from 1 June to 1 October, with tickets sold from 18:45 to 22:00. Azamara’s October and April late stays fall outside that window, so keep the ancient city for the daytime. The site opens at 08:00 every day. In summer, roughly April to September, the lower gate stays open until about 19:00 and sells tickets until about 18:45, while the upper-gate ticket office closes at 18:00. In winter the hours are 08:00 to 18:00, with the last ticket at 17:30. The switch dates move from year to year, so the October and April calls could fall on either timetable. Our guide on when to visit Ephesus covers the seasons in more detail.

Which Azamara sailings call at Kusadasi?

Source: cruisetimetables.com and CruiseMapper, checked 28 September 2026; the 14 October call appears on CruiseMapper only, without a voyage name. Three of the four calls belong to Greece Intensive voyages, part of Azamara’s Country Intensive range, which still make room for a day at Ephesus. Itineraries do change, so the date on your own booking is the one we plan around.

Which of our tours fits each Azamara call?

What each one covers: the Full Day Ephesus tour adds the Terrace Houses, the House of the Virgin Mary, the Temple of Artemis and Isa Bey Mosque to the ancient city, and Best of Ephesus pairs the ancient city with the House of the Virgin Mary and the Temple of Artemis. The Gangway Gourmet is a walk through Kusadasi with six included tastings, from lentil soup to baklava and Turkish delight, timed to the morning or the afternoon of your call. The Selcuk Old Town tour is half indoors, with St. John’s Basilica from its viewpoint, Isa Bey Mosque, the Ephesus Museum, the Temple of Artemis and lunch, every ticket included. It does not enter the ancient city, so it suits guests who have walked Ephesus before, and it is the day our guides suggest in the July heat.

On the other tours, entrance tickets are extra: EUR 40 per adult in 2026, EUR 15 more for the Terrace Houses, and free for children aged 7 and under. We buy them in advance at the Ministry’s gate price with no mark-up, and you pay for them separately.

What are AzAmazing Evenings, and will one fall in Kusadasi?

AzAmazing Evenings are Azamara’s complimentary cultural events, “immersive cultural experiences exclusively created for Azamara guests” in the line’s words. Most take place ashore, often at striking venues while the ship stays late. Guests on cruises of seven nights or longer receive one, except on transoceanic crossings and charters; Azamara says seven- and eight-night cruises hold theirs on board, while longer ones usually go ashore. Where yours happens is set for each sailing (Azamara’s AzAmazing Evenings page). If it falls in Kusadasi, tell us, and we end your day in good time to rest before it.

Azamara calls its approach Destination Immersion, and in 2025 it said that 51% of its time in port is spent on late nights or overnights (Azamara’s announcement). The line sells its own shore excursions too, each graded Mild, Moderate or Strenuous, with a request process for accessible tours (Azamara’s shore excursions overview). Booking ashore through the ship has a real advantage: when one of its own excursions runs late, the ship waits for it. If that certainty matters most to you, book with Azamara.

Choose a private day if you want the long call shaped around you: a car and a licensed guide for your party alone, the ancient city at your pace, and an afternoon kept light for the evening ahead. Your guide can lead the day in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Italian or German.

Where do Azamara ships dock in Kusadasi?

At Ege Port, Camikebir Mahallesi, Mahmut Esat Bozkurt Caddesi No. 20, on the seafront of the old town. Azamara Onward and Azamara Quest are sister ships of 181 m, well under the shortest berth limit at the port (253 m, at berths 3–4; the others take up to 300, 331 and 387 m), so either ship can use any berth the port assigns that day. From every berth you walk the pier to one terminal exit, and on a late stay that short walk is also your way back after an evening in town.