Ephesus in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Ephesus covers 18 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Ephesus rewards a detour.

The Ephesus route at a glance

Day 1

Day 1 covers 9 stops over about 1.5 km as the crow flies, from Cave of the Seven Sleepers to Library of Celsus. ≈ 1.5 km between stops, straight line

Morning

1. Cave of the Seven Sleepers: A legend, not history: seven youths who supposedly slept for centuries. The site is really a Byzantine hillside necropolis of hundreds of tombs, honoured by Christians and Muslims. 1 km to the next stop
2. Great Theatre of Ephesus: The largest theatre in Ephesus, a vast semicircle cut into Mount Pion seating an estimated 25,000, remembered in Acts as the scene of a riot against Paul. 0.1 km to the next stop
3. Public Latrines of Ephesus: A first-century communal toilet where Ephesians sat shoulder to shoulder without partitions, chatting over channels of running water that flushed waste straight into the city's sewer system. 0 km to the next stop
4. Terrace Houses: The lavishly decorated hillside homes of wealthy Ephesians, preserved under a large shelter roof with mosaics, frescoes, marble panelling and under-floor heating; visiting them needs a separate ticket. 0 km to the next stop
5. Temple of Hadrian: A small, elaborately carved monument on Curetes Street, famous for the shallow arch over its porch, dedicated to the emperor Hadrian and funded by a local citizen. 0 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Curetes Street: The grand marble processional avenue of Ephesus, lined with columns, shops, fountains and monuments, running downhill from the Hercules Gate to the square before the Library of Celsus. 0.1 km to the next stop
2. Marble Street (Marble Road): A marble-paved stretch of the Sacred Way whose pavement holds a famous carving that popular tradition, though not proof, reads as the world's oldest advertisement for a brothel. 0 km to the next stop
3. Tetragonos (Commercial) Agora and the Gate of Mazeus and Mithridates: The city's great square marketplace, framed by a monumental triple gate that two former imperial slaves, Mazaeus and Mithridates, built and dedicated to the emperor Augustus. 0.1 km to the next stop
4. Library of Celsus: The iconic two-storey marble facade of Ephesus fronts a Roman library that was also a tomb; the elevation standing today is a careful reconstruction from the 1970s.

Day 2

Day 2 covers 9 stops over about 15 km as the crow flies, from Odeon (Bouleuterion) of Ephesus to Şirince. ≈ 15 km between stops, straight line

Morning

1. Odeon (Bouleuterion) of Ephesus: A compact, roofed hall in the upper city that doubled as the city council's debating chamber and a venue for concerts, recitals and lectures, seating an estimated 1,400 people. 2.9 km to the next stop
2. House of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana Evi): A small stone house on Bülbül Mountain that Christian tradition honours as the last home of the Virgin Mary, a pilgrimage place shared by Christians and Muslims. 4.9 km to the next stop
3. Temple of Artemis (Artemision): Once counted among the Seven Wonders, the Artemision is now a marshy, near-empty field marked by a single re-erected column, often topped by a nesting stork. 0.3 km to the next stop
4. İsa Bey Mosque: A 1374 mosque built for the Aydinid beylik from stones scavenged in ancient Ephesus, its twin-domed prayer hall echoing the Great Mosque of Damascus far to the south. 0.2 km to the next stop
5. Ayasuluk Fortress (Selçuk Castle): A walled hilltop citadel of some seventeen towers above the Basilica of St John, its Bronze Age pottery marking the oldest settled ground in the Ephesus area. 0.1 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Basilica of St John: On Ayasuluk Hill, the roofless remains of Justinian's vast sixth-century basilica, raised over the grave that Christian tradition honours as the tomb of the apostle John, high above Selçuk. 0.1 km to the next stop
2. Selcuk Aqueduct (Byzantine Aqueduct): A line of Roman-and-Byzantine aqueduct arches marching through Selcuk town, built partly from recycled ancient marble and famous for the white storks that nest on top each spring. 0.1 km to the next stop
3. Ephesus Museum: Selçuk's archaeological museum, home to two celebrated statues of Artemis of Ephesus, gladiator tombstones and some 64,000 finds gathered from the ancient city just down the hill. 6.6 km to the next stop
4. Şirince: A steep hillside village east of Selçuk, its old Greek stone houses, two churches and home-made fruit wines surviving the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey.

Distances are straight-line between stops; streets add a little.

Updated: September 14, 2026

Full Ephesus guide and all stops →