Here is the map of Ephesus: twenty monuments numbered in the order you meet them walking downhill from the upper gate to the lower gate, both entrances marked, and the route we walk on almost every private tour. Download it as a printable PDF, open the zoomable version on your phone, or read the numbered list below — it is the same plan our guides carry in their heads.
Download the printable PDF map Open the zoomable map
Ephesus map: the 20 numbered stops
| No. | Monument | What it is | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Gate and ticket office | The Magnesian Gate entrance at the top of the city — where most visits start | 10 |
| 2 | State Agora and Basilica Stoa | The political square of Roman Ephesus and its long colonnaded hall | 10 |
| 3 | Odeon | The small covered theater where the city council met; about 1,500 seats | 10 |
| 4 | Prytaneion | The town hall with the sacred flame, where the Artemis statues were found | 5 |
| 5 | Domitian Square and Temple | The imperial temple terrace and the recent excavations | 10 |
| 6 | Memmius Monument | A family monument of the Sulla era at the top of the slope | 5 |
| 7 | Hercules Gate | The narrow gate that turns Curetes Street into a pedestrian street | 5 |
| 8 | Fountain of Trajan | A two-story fountain house with the emperor's foot still in place | 5 |
| 9 | Temple of Hadrian | The most photographed facade on Curetes Street, dedicated about AD 138 | 10 |
| 10 | Baths of Scholastica and latrines | The public baths and the famous communal toilets | 10 |
| 11 | Terrace Houses (separate ticket) | The frescoed homes of the rich, under a protective roof — €15 extra, worth every cent | 45 |
| 12 | Library of Celsus | The icon of Ephesus, re-erected in the 1970s | 15 |
| 13 | Gate of Mazaeus and Mithridates | The triple gate between the library and the Commercial Agora | 5 |
| 14 | Commercial Agora | The great trading square of the port city | 10 |
| 15 | Marble Street | The processional street with the famous carved footprint in its paving | 10 |
| 16 | Great Theater | About 24,000–25,000 seats; the riot of Acts 19 and the concerts of today | 20 |
| 17 | Harbor Street (Arcadiane) | The colonnaded avenue that once ran to the ships | 10 |
| 18 | Church of Mary | The council church of AD 431, near the harbor baths | 10 |
| 19 | Stadium and Vedius Gymnasium | The sports quarter by the lower gate, seen in passing | 5 |
| 20 | Lower Gate (exit) | The harbor gate, where your vehicle waits | — |
Add the minutes and you have a walk of about two and three-quarter hours without the Terrace Houses; the Terrace Houses add 30 to 45 minutes. Our private Ephesus tours walk it at your pace, with time for photographs. Monument pages: Odeon, Temple of Domitian, Hercules Gate, Fountain of Trajan, Temple of Hadrian, Baths of Scholastica, Terrace Houses, Library of Celsus, Marble Street, Commercial Agora, Great Theater, Church of Mary, Curetes Street.
Which entrance gate is best for Ephesus?
The upper gate. Enter at the top, exit at the bottom, and let gravity do the work — the whole city unrolls in front of you and the Library of Celsus appears below you at the end of Curetes Street, which is the view you came for. Independent visitors who park at one gate must walk back the same 1.5 km, uphill, in the sun; on our tours the driver simply meets you at the lower gate. Most guided tours start at the upper gate for the same reason. For a quieter visit, the hour matters more than the gate: be there close to the 08:00 opening.
How much walking is Ephesus?
We measured the main path between the two ticket offices on OpenStreetMap and checked the heights against two terrain models. This is how the walk breaks down, with the stop numbers from the map above:
| Stretch | Distance | Slope | Underfoot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper gate to Domitian Square (stops 1–5) | About 300 m | Level | Open squares and wide paths |
| Domitian Square to the Library of Celsus (stops 6–12) | About 400 m | The one real descent: about 40 m down, roughly 1 in 10 | Polished marble paving and worn steps on Curetes Street |
| Library of Celsus to the Great Theater (stops 13–16) | About 300 m | Level | The big slabs of Marble Street, with gaps between them |
| Great Theater to the lower gate (stops 17–20) | About 300 m | Level | A wide path out to the exit and the car park |
That adds up to about 1.3 km on the main path. The squares, a few rows of the theater and the odd step aside to look at something bring a real visit to 1.5 km or a little more. Two optional extras add their own walking: the detour to the Church of Mary (stop 18), and the Terrace Houses, where steel walkways and stairs climb through the villas on the hillside. Wear shoes that grip, because the marble is polished smooth.
If 1.5 km on uneven marble sounds like too much, there are gentler ways to see Ephesus. Our Ephesus for Seniors tour walks only downhill, with shaded rests, and the vehicle waits at the lower gate, so nobody doubles back. The Ephesus Panoramic Tour needs very little walking at all: it sees the upper city from the road and the Temple of Artemis on level ground, and every entrance fee is included in its price.
Ephesus on the map of Turkey
Ephesus lies in Selcuk district, Izmir Province, on Turkey's Aegean coast — about 3 km from Selcuk town center, 18–20 km from Kusadasi cruise port and 80 km south of Izmir. The sea that once lapped its harbor is now roughly 5–6 km west, at Pamucak beach.
| From | Distance | Time by road |
|---|---|---|
| Selcuk town center | 3 km | 6–10 minutes (30 minutes on foot) |
| Kusadasi cruise port | 18–20 km | 20–30 minutes; up to 45 in peak season |
| Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport | About 60 km | 40 to 50 minutes |
| Izmir city center | About 80 km | About 1¼ hours |
| Sirince village | About 8 km | About 15 minutes |
| Bodrum | About 160 km | About 2½ hours |
| Pamukkale | Roughly 200 km | About 3–3½ hours |
| Istanbul | By air to Izmir | 1-hour flight plus 40 to 50 minutes |
Ephesus in the Bible map
On a map of Paul's journeys, Ephesus is the hub of the province of Asia: he sailed here from Corinth, stayed about three years (Acts 19), and the letter to the Ephesians was addressed to the church he founded. It is also the first of the seven churches of Revelation, with Smyrna (Izmir) 80 km north and Pergamon beyond. Our articles on Paul in Ephesus and the seven churches place the sites on the ground; the Great Theater (stop 16) and the Church of Mary (stop 18) are on this map.
How to walk Ephesus in 2–3 hours
- Be at the upper gate at opening — 08:00 in every season — while the marble is cool and the square in front of the library is empty.
- Walk stops 1 to 7 across the upper terrace: agora, Odeon, Prytaneion, Domitian Square, then through the Hercules Gate.
- Take Curetes Street slowly (stops 8 to 11) — the fountain, the Temple of Hadrian, the baths, and the Terrace Houses if you have the separate ticket.
- Give the Library of Celsus fifteen minutes (stop 12), then the triple gate and the agora (13–14).
- Turn north along Marble Street to the Great Theater (15–16) and climb a few rows for the view down Harbor Street.
- Finish along Harbor Street to the lower gate (17–20), where the exit, the car park and — on our tours — your vehicle are waiting.
Sources & further reading
- UNESCO World Heritage Center: Ephesus — official documentation of the property
- Austrian Archaeological Institute — Ephesos — the Austrian archaeologists who have excavated Ephesus since 1895
- Ephesus Archaeological Site — official page (muze.gov.tr) — gates, hours and ticket offices
- OpenStreetMap — the footpaths between the two gates, which we measured for the walking distance; heights checked against the SRTM and Copernicus terrain models
Keep reading
See more on planning your visitSkip the Line at Ephesus: What Priority Entry Really Covers
What skip-the-line entry at Ephesus really skips, what it does not, what the tickets cost and how the minutes of a private day add up.
Ephesus Entrance Fee 2026: Ticket Prices for Every Site
Ephesus €40, Terrace Houses €15, Virgin Mary, museum and St John prices, hours and child rules — verified September 2026.