MSC Divina at Kusadasi: Monday Private Taxi to Ephesus & Şirince

MSC Divina comes into Kusadasi ten times in the next twelve months, and every call is on a Monday. The four October 2026 Mondays have announced times of 09:00 to 18:00, which is nine hours alongside and enough for a private taxi to the House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus, the Temple of Artemis and Şirince. The six summer and early-autumn Mondays in 2027 have no times yet, and five of them are days with at least two other ships in port.

Good to know: our standard cruise port taxi is the round trip to Ephesus. The House of the Virgin Mary, the Temple of Artemis and Şirince are not part of the Ephesus transfer; they can be added as extra stops for an additional charge. Tell us which ones you want when you book.

Nine hours: the full loop, with about an hour to spare

Working from the 09:00-18:00 window (our planning estimate; traffic and queues vary):

Step	Approximate time
Off the ship, meet the driver	about 30 min, so around 09:30
Port to House of the Virgin Mary	30-35 min drive
House of the Virgin Mary	45-60 min
On to the Ephesus upper gate	about 10 min
Walk down to the lower gate	about 2 hours
Lower gate to Temple of Artemis	5-10 min, then 15-20 min there
Temple of Artemis to Şirince	15-20 min, then 60-90 min there
Şirince back to the port	30-35 min

That adds up to about six and a half hours of touring. With our rule of being back at the port at least 60 minutes before departure (or before MSC's all-aboard time if that is earlier), you need to be back by 17:00 at the latest, so a 09:30 start leaves roughly an hour of slack. Spend it on one extra, not two: either the Terrace Houses at Ephesus (separate ticket, 30-45 minutes) or a longer stay in Şirince.

Order for an MSC Divina Monday

Keep the standard sequence: the House of the Virgin Mary first, up on Bülbüldağı; then the driver drops you at the upper gate of Ephesus and waits at the lower gate; the Temple of Artemis on the way out of Selçuk; Şirince last. If you run late at Ephesus, Şirince is the stop to shorten, because the drive back from the village is the one leg you cannot trim.

A few practical points. The House of the Virgin Mary is a small chapel, and visitors are asked to cover shoulders and knees. At Şirince the car stops at the village entrance and the lanes climb steeply on cobbles, which is hard work with a pushchair. The Temple of Artemis today is a single re-erected column in a field that is often marshy, so it is a short stop.

October 2026 and summer 2027 compared

October 2026 (5, 12, 19, 26 October). Times are fixed and the weather is usually kinder for walking than in high summer. On 19 October MSC Divina is the only ship listed. On 12 October Arcadia and Wind Star are in port too, so that is the Monday to start promptly and book early.

June to September 2027 (28 June; 26 July; 2 and 23 August; 6 and 20 September). No times yet. If the window turns out shorter than nine hours, use this:

• 8 hours or more: all four stops.
• About 6.5 hours: House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis.
• About 5 hours: Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis only.
• Under 4.5 hours: a round trip to Ephesus is not safe.

On the July and August Mondays, Ephesus is hot and has little shade; going there straight from the port and visiting the House of the Virgin Mary afterwards gets the walk done earlier. Five of these six Mondays are three-ship days: Azura and Scarlet Lady on 26 July, Sun Princess and Rhapsody Of The Seas on 2 August, Emerald Raiya and Rhapsody Of The Seas on 23 August, Carnival Sunshine and Norwegian Viva on 6 September, and Emerald Raiya and Celebrity Xcel on 20 September. Leave the port early on those days. On 28 June only MSC Splendida is listed alongside.

MSC Divina call list

Date	Day	Arrives	Departs	Also in port that day
5 Oct 2026	Mon	09:00	18:00	Wind Star
12 Oct 2026	Mon	09:00	18:00	Arcadia, Wind Star
19 Oct 2026	Mon	09:00	18:00	none listed
26 Oct 2026	Mon	09:00	18:00	Marella Voyager
28 Jun 2027	Mon	not announced	not announced	MSC Splendida
26 Jul 2027	Mon	not announced	not announced	Azura, Scarlet Lady
2 Aug 2027	Mon	not announced	not announced	Sun Princess, Rhapsody Of The Seas
23 Aug 2027	Mon	not announced	not announced	Emerald Raiya, Rhapsody Of The Seas
6 Sep 2027	Mon	not announced	not announced	Carnival Sunshine, Norwegian Viva
20 Sep 2027	Mon	not announced	not announced	Emerald Raiya, Celebrity Xcel

Source: public port schedule data, checked 4 October 2026. Cruise lines change schedules; check your own cruise documents.

How our MSC Divina Kusadasi taxi works

• Look for your name on a sign at the cruise port exit; that is your driver.
• A private vehicle for your group only, up to 8 passengers. Families and friends travelling together share one car; bigger groups get a second.
• Child seats at no charge if you tell us the ages.
• Ticket desks at each site are yours to deal with: entrance fees are not included, and the driver is not a guide.
• Payment is cash to the driver on the day, in EUR, USD or TL, with no prepayment.

We are a D2-licensed transfer company in Kusadasi. Seasonal hours and ticket rules for Ephesus are published on muze.gov.tr; check there before you sail.

What if the 2027 times come out shorter than nine hours? Tell us when they are published. The driver works to the times you give us at booking, and we will cut the plan back using the list above, usually by dropping Şirince first.

Book through the cruise port taxi form with the Monday you are in port, the times (or "not announced yet"), passenger numbers and children's ages. Related pages: MSC Divina at Kusadasi, Kusadasi port to Ephesus transfer and our plan for MSC Splendida.