About Octavius – Private Ephesus Tour Guide

The tour with licensed tour guide, Oktay (aka Octavius the Great 😉 was very enlightening and entertaining… He was very caring and patient, explaining with great details the sites we visited such as Pamukkale and Aphrodisias, and also Pergamum.  The sights were amazing, especially at Pamukkale (Cotton Castle).  As it can get quite sunny and hot during the day, a bottle of water or two is a must.  Oktay helped us to take really great shots of Aphrodisias too, offering vivid descriptions of the background and history of the attractions and relics we visited.  (He even recommended a great local restaurant at Selcuk, which we really enjoyed).  He spoke excellent English and we even chatted in German.  All in all it was a fantastic experience with Oktay and I’m sure everyone would enjoy the informative explanations on top of the jovial company. Cheers Oktay!

We spent 4 days discovering the 7 Churches of Revelation with Oktay Karabiyik (aka Octavius the Great) … Octavius knew every single site we went to incredibly well, throwing out enough facts and figures to make any history buff salivate with excitement.  What I most liked, however, was how personal he made our trip feel, especially since it was just my husband and me.  He made sure the route wasn’t too arduous for us and delighted in sharing some GREAT cultural experiences when we had some extra down time plus did a quick drive-by of the Temple of Artemis (not on the original tour itinerary) because we’d mentioned wanting to see it and it was on the way.  We felt like we were being shown around by a native Turkish friend instead of being on a tour.  Great sense of humor with a dash of mischievousness thrown in.  I would highly recommend Octavius, especially if you’re on the younger side (or young-at-heart) like us.

Octavius was very knowledgeable.  In my husband’s words he is a ‘top tour guide, a top photographer, very professional and extremely enthusiastic’

Our guide Oktay (aka Octavius) was amazing – he didn’t rush us and he really had a gift for bringing alive for us what life must have been like for people living in Ephesus.  We could see that other groups were being pushed through Ephesus much faster than we were and we were so grateful to be in our tour group and not theirs.