عطلة كوشاداسي 2027 مع إسطنبول: تقسيم الأسبوع بين المدينة والساحل

A Kusadasi holiday in 2027 works best as a twin-centre trip: two or three nights in Istanbul, a one-hour domestic flight to Izmir, then five to seven nights on the Aegean with Ephesus 20 minutes from your hotel. Our Kusadasi tours start from $300 per person for a private Ephesus day, and the 8-day Istanbul and Ephesus package runs from $1,880 per person with hotels and the domestic flight. The best months are June and September; the week to avoid is Kurban Bayramı and Whitsun, 16–19 May 2027.

We have run private tours in Istanbul and on the Aegean since 2010, and Kusadasi is where many of our German guests end their trip. This page is about combining Istanbul with a beach holiday: the route between the two, the 2027 calendar, which part of the coast to stay in and what a week costs with us. Facts were checked on 25 October 2026; airlines are still loading their summer 2027 schedules, so the routes below follow the 2026 pattern.

What is Kusadasi like for a holiday?

Kusadasi is a busy working resort on the Aegean, about 90 km south of Izmir, built around a marina, a cruise port and Pigeon Island, the small fortress joined to the shore by a causeway. It is not a quiet fishing village. Apartment blocks climb the hills, the bazaar lanes behind the harbour sell leather and carpets to cruise passengers, and in August the town beaches are packed.

What it does better than almost any other Turkish resort is history on the doorstep. Ephesus is 20 minutes away, the House of the Virgin Mary a little further up the mountain, and Selçuk, with the Basilica of St John and the İsa Bey Mosque, sits on the way. Within a day you can reach Pamukkale, Priene, Miletus and Didyma. If you get restless after two days on a sunbed, that matters more than the sand.

On beaches: Ladies Beach (Kadınlar Denizi), about 3 km south of the centre, is the best known and the fullest; Long Beach (Uzunplaj) is lined with large resort hotels. For clear water and pine forest, go to the Dilek Peninsula national park, around 30 km south, with pebble coves and hardly any building. Our Kusadasi tours are built for exactly this mix: one or two history days, the rest left free for the sea.

How do you get from Istanbul to Kusadasi?

Fly to Izmir. Kusadasi has no airport of its own; the nearest is Izmir Adnan Menderes (ADB). Turkish Airlines flies there from Istanbul Airport (IST), and AJet and Pegasus from Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) on the Asian side, with many departures a day in summer. The flight takes about one hour. Allow for the drive to the airport: from Sultanahmet, IST is 50–70 minutes by car and SAW about an hour, longer on Friday afternoons.

From Izmir Airport it is 75–80 km to Kusadasi, an hour to an hour and a quarter. A private car is easiest with luggage and can stop at Ephesus on the way; the Havaş bus runs to Kusadasi timed to arriving flights, and the İZBAN train to Selçuk plus a minibus is the cheapest and slowest. Our guide to the Izmir Airport to Kusadasi transfer compares all three.

Driving the whole way is around 570 km, six to seven hours via the Osmangazi Bridge and the Istanbul–Izmir motorway. We only suggest it when the drive is the point: with a night in Çanakkale, a morning at Troy and an afternoon at Pergamon, it becomes a three-day touring route rather than a transfer. Overnight buses exist, but after a few days of walking Istanbul most people would rather fly.

Coming from Germany: flights, ID card and euros

Entry is simple for Germans. According to the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), German citizens need no visa for stays of up to 90 days within 180 days, and the Personalausweis (national ID card) is accepted as well as a passport; children can travel on a Kinderreisepass. The Foreign Office advises against entering on a temporary ID card because it has caused problems. Check the page again shortly before you fly, as rules can change.

Flights: In the 2026 timetables, SunExpress and Pegasus fly nonstop to Izmir from Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne/Bonn and Stuttgart, with about three hours in the air. Istanbul has direct flights from even more German airports with Turkish Airlines and Pegasus. The most practical ticket is an open-jaw: into Istanbul, home from Izmir. You then need only one domestic flight, and the trip ends at the beach rather than in an airport queue.

Money: The currency is the Turkish lira. In the Kusadasi bazaar and in many tourist restaurants prices are also shown in euros and euro notes are taken, but the rate at the till is usually poor. Paying by card in lira is cheaper; choose lira when the card terminal asks. In mid-October 2026 one euro bought around 55 to 56 lira, according to currency converters. Museum tickets such as Ephesus are priced in euros but charged in lira at the central bank rate.

When to go in 2027: Bayram, Whitsun and the summer holidays

June and September are the months we recommend most. In June the sea has warmed up, the hotels are open and Istanbul is still pleasant for walking. In September the water is at its warmest, Turkish families have gone home for the start of school, and Ephesus is less hot in the morning.

May 2027 has a clash that German travellers should know about. Kurban Bayramı runs from 16 to 19 May, 19 May is also a national holiday, and Whit Sunday falls on 16 May. Whitsun school holidays in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg start on 18 May, according to the state holiday calendars. Turkish families take the whole week off, coastal hotels fill up and domestic flights rise in price. Early May and the last days of the month are good value, though the sea is still cool.

July and August are peak season. NRW school holidays run from 19 July to 31 August 2027 and Bavaria's start on 1 August, so flights from Germany cost the most then. Ladies Beach is full by late morning, and Ephesus at midday is often above 35°C. Go at opening time or in the late afternoon.

April and October suit a trip where Ephesus matters more than swimming. Ramazan Bayramı falls on 9–11 March 2027, before the season. From November to March most resort hotels close, but the town, its restaurants and Ephesus stay open.

Where to stay in Kusadasi

Pick the area first, then the hotel. The town centre around the marina and the old bazaar lanes is right if you want to walk to restaurants and the harbour. It is loud at night in summer, and there is no real beach at the door.

Ladies Beach has most of the mid-priced hotels, on a sandy bay with a promenade and bars. Long Beach has larger resort hotels, many all-inclusive, which suit families who do not want to move around much. Selçuk, 20 km inland, has small family-run guesthouses next to Ephesus and the Basilica of St John; it is quiet in the evening and better for history lovers than for beach lovers.

In our 8-day package the coast nights are in mid-class hotels in Kusadasi or Selçuk, with sea-view rooms for a supplement. Our overview of Kusadasi hotels for Ephesus explains which area suits which kind of trip. Hotels on the hills above town have the views but need a taxi every evening.

Ephesus from Kusadasi: how to plan the day

Ephesus is the reason many people choose Kusadasi over a bigger resort. You walk downhill from the upper gate by the State Agora to the lower gate by the Great Theatre: Curetes Street, the Temple of Hadrian, the Library of Celsus and the theatre that held around 24,000 people. Allow two and a half to three hours on foot, more with the Terrace Houses, the roofed Roman homes with mosaics and wall paintings.

According to the 2026 tariff on muze.gov.tr, entry costs €40, and the Terrace Houses €15 more; children up to 8 go free. From April to October ships call at Kusadasi almost every day, and by 10:00 the street below the Library is crowded. Our guides start at the upper gate at opening time, 08:00, and reach the lower gate before the coach groups arrive.

The private Ephesus tour costs from $300 per person with guide, car and skip-the-line entry, and adds the House of the Virgin Mary and Selçuk. All our Ephesus tours from Kusadasi pick you up at the hotel; the evening version with hotel transfers is from $250.

Day trips: Pamukkale, Şirince and the coast

Pamukkale is the big one. The white travertine terraces and the Roman city of Hierapolis above them are about three hours' drive inland, so it is a long day of 10–11 hours. Our Pamukkale tours include a private day from Kusadasi, Pamukkale and Hierapolis from Kusadasi, from $600 per person. You walk the terraces barefoot; shoes are not allowed on the travertine.

Şirince, a hill village of stone houses 8 km above Selçuk, is known for fruit wines and lunch on terraces. It fits after Ephesus in the afternoon, which is exactly how our private Ephesus and Sirince tour runs, from $300. Our wine-tasting day from Kusadasi costs from $300 with lunch. Priene, Miletus and Didyma to the south make a quieter history day; the columns of the Temple of Apollo at Didyma alone are worth the drive.

Two more options: the Dilek Peninsula national park for a beach day with almost no buildings, and the ferry to the Greek island of Samos, which leaves Kusadasi harbour in season. Samos is in the Schengen area, so for Germans with a passport or ID card it is an ordinary day out. If you want Pamukkale with an overnight stay or from Istanbul, that is also among our Pamukkale tours.

Sample plan: 10 days in Istanbul and Kusadasi

This is the plan we send most often to couples and families from Germany who ask for an Istanbul and Kusadasi tour. For a week, cut one day in each place.

With an open-jaw ticket, day 10 is a direct flight from Izmir to Germany. If you fly home from Istanbul, take a morning Izmir–Istanbul flight and leave at least three hours for the connection. The same plan can be booked in one go through our multi-city packages.

What does a Kusadasi and Istanbul holiday cost?

The simplest way to book the whole trip at once is through our multi-city tour packages. The Istanbul and Ephesus package has 5 nights in Istanbul and 2 on the coast, with the domestic flight to Izmir, guided days and breakfast, from $1,880 per person. For a beach holiday we turn it around: fewer nights in Istanbul, more in Kusadasi.

Prices vary by season, hotel and what is included, so ask us for today's price. Flights from Germany are not included; we book the domestic flight, the transfers and the guided days for you. For more ideas see all our Turkey multi-city tours or, if you only need day trips, the tours from Kusadasi.

We are a licensed agency, TÜRSAB A-group no. 15751, and have organised private trips since 2010. Send us your dates, the number of travellers and the kind of hotel you like through our contact page, or message us on WhatsApp. You get a day-by-day plan and a written price. Book now, pay later.

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