What there is to do in Selçuk: the major sights, local experiences and the practical detail you need to plan around them.
Things to do
What deserves your time in Selçuk
Major attractions matter, but so do timing, price, accessibility and whether an experience actually deserves part of your trip.
01
Archaeological site
Ephesus ancient city (Efes Örenyeri)
A Ministry of Culture and Tourism archaeological site. The Ministry describes Ephesus as the capital of the Roman province of Asia, with a theatre, the Library of Celsus, an odeon, bathhouses and the commercial agora among its remains. UNESCO inscribed 'Ephesus' in 2015 as a serial property of four components, of which the ancient city is one; the ticketed site visited from Selçuk is that component only.
Booking: The Ministry's page (read 22 September 2026) gives separate ticket-office hours for the lower and upper gates. A section from the Library of Celsus down Marble Road was listed as closed for restoration.
Accessibility: The Ministry's page does not describe step-free routes, toilets or shade. An academic study of wheelchair access at Ephesus published in December 2025 recommends that ramps be built and broken areas repaired.
02
Archaeological museum
Ephesus Museum
A Ministry museum in Selçuk town holding finds from Ephesus and nearby sites. The Ministry's page names halls for the Fountain and Terrace Houses finds, coins, the Cybele cult, the Temple of Artemis and Imperial Cult finds, and singles out the Resting Warrior, a statue of Marcus Aurelius, a Head of Eros and the Ephesian Artemis.
Booking: The Ministry's page shows daily hours and no closed day (read 22 September 2026); its own downloadable leaflet gives different, seasonal hours, so confirm before you go.
03
Roman houses within the Ephesus site
Terrace Houses (Yamaçevler)
According to the Ministry, seven ancient Roman houses on the slopes of Mount Koressos where prominent people of Ephesus lived, built in the 1st century AD, with mosaics, marble wall linings, frescoes and underfloor heating. The Ministry lists them as their own unit with their own hours.
Booking: The Ministry's fee directive, read 22 September 2026, lists the Terrace Houses separately from the general Museum Card entry.
04
Interpretive museum
Ephesus Experience Museum (Efes Deneyim Müzesi)
A Ministry unit opposite the ancient theatre, described by the Ministry as an immersive presentation of daily life, trade, art and architecture in Ephesus. The Ministry's Ephesus site page says the site ticket includes it.
05
Byzantine basilica and hill fortress
Basilica of St John and Ayasuluk Hill
Ayasuluk Hill is one of the four components of the UNESCO property, together with the Artemision and the medieval settlement, and the Ministry describes the basilica on the tomb of St John and the castle on the hill. The Ministry publishes two separate pages, one for the Basilica of St John and one for the Ayasuluk archaeological site, whose hours and notes differ from each other and from its printed leaflet.
Booking: Confirm the current hours with the Ministry (Efes Museum Directorate, 0232 892 60 10) before planning around this stop; the pages read on 22 September 2026 do not agree.
06
Christian pilgrimage place
House of the Virgin Mary
UNESCO lists the House of the Virgin Mary, a domed cruciform chapel about seven kilometres from Ephesus, as one of the four components of the Ephesus property. The Ministry's Terrace Houses page describes it as a pilgrimage site on Mount Koressos and says a ceremony has been held there every year on 15 August since Pope Paul VI's visit in 1967. Its visiting arrangements are published by its own association, not the Ministry, and were not confirmed here.
