Private Village Traditions
Private Village Traditions
Already seen Ephesus? There's still a lot of Turkey left, as you'll see in this private Turkish village life tour.
After meeting your professionally trained guide, you will board your transportation and drive to the Menderes River Valley, where you will see the ruins of Ephesus in the distance. Although you will not be visiting the ancient city on this tour, your guide will share a brief outline of the city and its history.
You will continue to the hillside village of Sirince, Turkey. The first inhabitants named the village Cirkince (ugly) in an attempt to keep foreigners from visiting. However, word of the village's beauty reached the outside world, people did visit, and eventually, the name was changed to Sirince (charming). The town is best known for its houses and a variety of wines. The wines are made from fruits including the apple, apricot, banana, blackberry, mandarin orange, melon, orange, peach, strawberry, and occasionally, wine grapes. As you approach the village, the road passes through vineyards, orchards and olive groves, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the Tuscany of Turkey.
The village is a synthesis of Turkish-Greek culture; it was inhabited by many Greeks until the 1920s. After the Independence War, the Greek descendants returned to Greece and were replaced with Turks, many who had been living in Greece. Although the exteriors of the houses still reflect the typical Greek architecture, the interiors have a distinctly Turkish flavor. Several of the houses have been beautifully restored and are open to visitors. In the courtyard of one of them is a nicely restored Orthodox church. As you stroll up and down the narrow cobblestone lanes between buildings of stone, wood, and plaster, with the scent of burning wood or the local orchards in bloom, have your cameras ready for village scenes of women weaving, men carving, a fruit market under a tree, or the local merchants tempting passersby with their fruit wines, hand-pressed olive oil, or local produce. During your walk, you will stop for an included taste of the homemade local wine and local pastry.
After your visit to the village, you will drive to a nearby restaurant for a typical Turkish lunch. After lunch, guests will have the opportunity to see a Turkish carpet demonstration.
About Shore Excursions Group
About Us
Shore Excursions Group is the market leading and world's largest shore excursion company. Since 2008, we've provided cruise passengers with higher-quality, lower-priced, and smaller group shore excursions from a portfolio of nearly 4,000 tours in over 300 ports. Over the last 16 years, we've delivered more than 4.6M excursions with a 4.7 out of 5 star rating from more than 47k reviews.
Exceptional travel experiences are created by exceptional people. Our incredible team of cruise and travel experts has more than 100 years of combined industry experience, and we work in close collaboration with a network of exceptional tour operator partners dedicated to providing personalized and immersive excursions to cruise passengers in the ports they visit around the world.
Our excursions are higher quality, lower priced, and travel in smaller groups averaging just 12 guests per departure, allowing our guests to truly connect with the local culture and enjoy a more enriching travel experience. Our website provides a personalized shopping experience highlighting the top-rated and most popular excursions in each port of call with authentic photos, videos, and reviews from other guests.
Our proprietary itinerary search technology makes booking easy by displaying the excursions guaranteed to work for your ship's scheduled arrival and departure into each port of call. We also feature hand-curated multi-port packages with the top-rated excursion for each port bundled together at an additional discount.
Our Unique Approach
While the cruise lines and other companies also offer excursions, we are the experts and our experience and approach set us apart. Our exceptional excursions travel in smaller groups and visit more interesting and authentic locations, using more personalized tour guides.
Our team uses a comprehensive approach to select the leading guides and best tour providers around the world. Every excursion is carefully curated and closely monitored through quality control and customer feedback.
In today's fast paced world, vacations are an important way to relax, reconnect with family and friends, and discover new and interesting places - and our portfolio of the highest quality tours was created to provide authentic and rewarding travel experiences on your next trip.
High quality service is very important to travelers and leads to better experiences with higher satisfaction. We encourage you to call us, so our experts can answer your questions and help you select the best excursions for your cruise.
Our Exceptional Tours
Our priority is providing cruise guests with exciting and enriching tours with personalized service and smaller groups.
Our small group tours range from 2-12 people - far less than other tour companies with larger tours up to 50 people. We also offer outstanding private excursions - exclusive experiences for only you and your group with options to fully customize your tour.
Our "Scenic" tours provide up close and personal access to some of the most spectacular natural environments on Earth from majestic glaciers in Alaska to spectacular reefs in the Caribbean.
Our "Cultural" tours allow customers to experience local customs, entertainment and culinary delights ranging from tribal dances in Alaska to an outstanding local meal in Santorini, Greece.
Our "Active" tours offer a multitude of exciting and adventurous ways to experience our destinations. Kayak the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, hike to a spectacular waterfall in Hawaii, or bicycle through quaint villages in France.
Our "City" tours allow travelers to see the highlights of great cities around the world with unique insights provided by our expert tour guides.
Our Guarantee
We stand by our excursions, and we're committed to meeting your expectations. Our team and our guides are dedicated to delivering exceptional experiences, which we've achieved consistently over many years and millions of tours. To the extent you are in any way dissatisfied with the experience we deliver, we will work to resolve your concerns - up to and including a full refund of your tour price. For more information visit the Shore Excursions Group website.
About Shore Excursions Group
About Us
Shore Excursions Group is the market leading and world's largest shore excursion company. Since 2008, we've provided cruise passengers with higher-quality, lower-priced, and smaller group shore excursions from a portfolio of nearly 4,000 tours in over 300 ports. Over the last 16 years, we've delivered more than 4.6M excursions with a 4.7 out of 5 star rating from more than 47k reviews.
Exceptional travel experiences are created by exceptional people. Our incredible team of cruise and travel experts has more than 100 years of combined industry experience, and we work in close collaboration with a network of exceptional tour operator partners dedicated to providing personalized and immersive excursions to cruise passengers in the ports they visit around the world.
Our excursions are higher quality, lower priced, and travel in smaller groups averaging just 12 guests per departure, allowing our guests to truly connect with the local culture and enjoy a more enriching travel experience. Our website provides a personalized shopping experience highlighting the top-rated and most popular excursions in each port of call with authentic photos, videos, and reviews from other guests.
Our proprietary itinerary search technology makes booking easy by displaying the excursions guaranteed to work for your ship's scheduled arrival and departure into each port of call. We also feature hand-curated multi-port packages with the top-rated excursion for each port bundled together at an additional discount.
Our Unique Approach
While the cruise lines and other companies also offer excursions, we are the experts and our experience and approach set us apart. Our exceptional excursions travel in smaller groups and visit more interesting and authentic locations, using more personalized tour guides.
Our team uses a comprehensive approach to select the leading guides and best tour providers around the world. Every excursion is carefully curated and closely monitored through quality control and customer feedback.
In today's fast paced world, vacations are an important way to relax, reconnect with family and friends, and discover new and interesting places - and our portfolio of the highest quality tours was created to provide authentic and rewarding travel experiences on your next trip.
High quality service is very important to travelers and leads to better experiences with higher satisfaction. We encourage you to call us, so our experts can answer your questions and help you select the best excursions for your cruise.
Our Exceptional Tours
Our priority is providing cruise guests with exciting and enriching tours with personalized service and smaller groups.
Our small group tours range from 2-12 people - far less than other tour companies with larger tours up to 50 people. We also offer outstanding private excursions - exclusive experiences for only you and your group with options to fully customize your tour.
Our "Scenic" tours provide up close and personal access to some of the most spectacular natural environments on Earth from majestic glaciers in Alaska to spectacular reefs in the Caribbean.
Our "Cultural" tours allow customers to experience local customs, entertainment and culinary delights ranging from tribal dances in Alaska to an outstanding local meal in Santorini, Greece.
Our "Active" tours offer a multitude of exciting and adventurous ways to experience our destinations. Kayak the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, hike to a spectacular waterfall in Hawaii, or bicycle through quaint villages in France.
Our "City" tours allow travelers to see the highlights of great cities around the world with unique insights provided by our expert tour guides.
Our Guarantee
We stand by our excursions, and we're committed to meeting your expectations. Our team and our guides are dedicated to delivering exceptional experiences, which we've achieved consistently over many years and millions of tours. To the extent you are in any way dissatisfied with the experience we deliver, we will work to resolve your concerns - up to and including a full refund of your tour price. For more information visit the Shore Excursions Group website.
