Viking Star Kusadasi Calls: Private Taxi to Ephesus, Nov-Dec 2026
Viking Star visits Kusadasi 5 times between 5 Nov and 17 Dec 2026, three times as the only ship in port. Times not announced: how to plan a private taxi.
All five Viking Star calls at Kusadasi in the next 12 months come in a six-week run: four in November 2026 and one on Thu 17 Dec 2026. None of them has published arrival or departure times yet, even though the first is only a month away. The good news for a taxi day is the company in port - on three of the five dates Viking Star is the only cruise ship listed, and no date has more than one other ship.
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.
The five dates at a glance
| Date | Day | Arrives | Departs | Also in port that day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Nov 2026 | Thu | not announced | not announced | - |
| 11 Nov 2026 | Wed | not announced | not announced | - |
| 17 Nov 2026 | Tue | not announced | not announced | Celestyal Discovery |
| 23 Nov 2026 | Mon | not announced | not announced | Seven Seas Voyager |
| 17 Dec 2026 | Thu | not announced | not announced | - |
Source: public port schedule data, checked 4 October 2026. Cruise lines change schedules; check your own cruise documents.
Each call is on a different weekday except the two Thursdays, so there is no weekend pattern to plan around. More about the ship's visits: Viking Star at Kusadasi.
Matching the stops to the hours you get
Once your Viking Star times are in your cruise documents, count the hours between arrival and departure and pick from this list. It is our planning estimate; traffic and queues vary, and it already allows about 30 minutes to get ashore plus a return to the port 60 minutes before departure (or before the all-aboard time, if that is earlier).
- 8 hours or more: House of the Virgin Mary, Ephesus, Temple of Artemis, Şirince.
- Around 6.5 hours: the same without Şirince.
- Around 5 hours: Ephesus and the Temple of Artemis.
- Less than about 4.5 hours: an Ephesus round trip is not safe.
Send us the times when you book; the driver's plan is set from them.
November and December: keep it short and flexible
Late autumn days are shorter, and rain is possible. That shapes the order more than anything else:
- Start with Ephesus if the call is around 5-6 hours. The driver takes you 20-25 minutes to the upper gate, you walk about 2 hours downhill past the Library of Celsus and the Great Theatre, and the car is waiting at the lower gate. The Temple of Artemis is 5-10 minutes from there and takes only 15-20 minutes.
- On a longer call, go to the House of the Virgin Mary first (30-35 minutes up Bülbüldağı, 45-60 minutes at the chapel), then about 10 minutes down to the Ephesus upper gate.
- Leave Şirince for the end and only on a long, dry day. The car stops at the village entrance and the lanes are steep and cobbled - not much fun in the rain. Allow 60-90 minutes there and 30-35 minutes back to the port.
With few other ships around on most of these dates, you can decide the last stop on the spot with the driver.
What to expect from us
- Driver at the cruise port exit with a name sign - see the meeting point on the map.
- A private vehicle just for your group, up to 8 passengers. Couples, families and small groups of friends fit in one car; larger groups take two.
- The driver waits wherever you stop.
- Entrance tickets are your own purchase at each gate; we are a transport service, not tour guides.
- Pay in cash to the driver on the day - EUR, USD or TL. No prepayment.
- D2-licensed and based in Kusadasi.
Check muze.gov.tr, the official Turkish museums site, for current Ephesus opening hours and ticket rules; both change with the season.
Booking your Viking Star taxi
Send the ship name, the call date, the times or "not announced yet", the number of passengers and children's ages if any: book a cruise port taxi. Planning just the archaeological site? Our Kusadasi port to Ephesus transfer page covers it. Viking Vesta follows on with winter calls into 2027 - see the Viking Vesta taxi plan.
Viking Star's first call is in early November and there are no times yet - can we still book? Yes. Book with "not announced yet" and send the times as soon as they are in your documents.