Guided group tours in Aydın: the coastal triangle and the inland day

Aydın has two working areas for a guide. On the lower Meander plain, Priene, Miletus with its museum, and Didyma lie within 42 km of each other by road. Inland, Aphrodisias lies near Karacasu, 162 km by road from Priene, and Nysa is at Sultanhisar, 68 km from Aphrodisias. Magnesia, near the İzmir border, is on the road from Selçuk to Priene. The coast and the interior are separate days.

At the Aydın station of the State Meteorological Service (MGM) the average daily maximum is 36.4 °C in July and 35.9 °C in August, against 22.8 °C in April and 26.4 °C in October; November to March bring 8.26 to 12.93 rainy days a month (MGM, 1940-2025). Miletus is flat and almost without shade, the vaulted galleries under its theatre being the only cover, so in summer the coastal day starts at opening time.

Winter has its own problem: part of Miletus can stand under water in winter and early spring, and the walkable line moves from year to year. Check before you promise the İlyas Bey Mosque at the far end.

The Ministry's opening hours on 6 October 2026, every site listed open daily:

The Ministry or the governorship sets these hours and publishes changes on muze.gov.tr (directive, article 7); check again in the week of the tour.

Road figures are OSRM car estimates between the coordinates of our destination records, computed on 6 October 2026 without traffic or stops; agree coach times with your driver.

The Miletus Museum is about 600 m from the excavation in a straight line. Magnesia costs no extra driving between Selçuk and Priene: 27.0 km plus 32.4 km equals the 59.4 km of the direct route.

Visit times are those on our destination pages; hours are the Ministry's on 6 October 2026.

The coastal triangle. Start at Priene at 08:30, while the group is fresh for the climb from the eastern gate: about two hours. Drive 25 minutes to Miletus for two hours, then give the Miletus Museum 40 minutes at midday; it holds finds from all three sites of the day. Didyma comes last, 22 minutes on, for about 75 minutes. Many itineraries keep it for the late light, but its last tickets are sold at 17:00, so the group has to be at the gate by then. That is six hours of visits and under an hour of driving; from Selçuk, add 57 minutes in the morning and 1 h 28 min back.

Aphrodisias and Nysa. Aphrodisias needs two and a half hours with the stadium or 90 minutes without, plus 45 minutes for the museum at the entrance. Nysa is 59 minutes away: under an hour for the theatre and library on the west side of its stream bed, an hour and a half for the full loop. Aphrodisias is open ground with very little shade, which argues for the morning there.

Foreign visitors' prices in the Ministry's February 2026 directive: Priene €4, Miletus museum and site €6 on one tariff line, Didyma €6, Magnesia €3, Nysa €3, and Aphrodisias museum and site €12, also on one line. The coastal triangle comes to €16 a head and the inland day to €15, against €95 for Museum Pass Ege, which covers more than 40 museums and sites in İzmir, Aydın, Muğla and Denizli for seven days from the first entry (product page, 6 October 2026).

For Turkish citizens the directive reads “enter with MüzeKart” at all six sites. Our MüzeKart page and Museum Pass page cover mixed groups.

Group rules in the same directive:

• Miletus. Past the theatre nothing reflects a voice and nothing blocks the wind off the plain. In the theatre, line the group along one tier and speak from the tier below.
• Priene. The Athena terrace is the most exposed point and faces open plain. Keep the long explanation for the bouleuterion, a small room with seating on three sides.
• Didyma. The sea wind is steady rather than gusting, and the town's road and café noise sits just outside the fence. Turn the group ninety degrees out of the wind and use the temple steps as seating.
• Aphrodisias. The Sebasteion is a single-file corridor and the stadium a ten-minute walk each way from the centre. Explain the reliefs before entering; decide about the stadium before setting off.
• Magnesia. The İzmir-Söke road passes about 50 m from the centre of the Temple of Artemis. Talk on the agora side, backs to the traffic.
• Nysa. A stream bed splits the site. Say at the car park whether the group is crossing.

Our headset rules page lists one rule in Türkiye, the National Palaces' headset requirement for guided groups of more than eight; none of the places here is a National Palace. With Your Next Tours the guide's phone broadcasts over a portable WiFi router and the group listens on its own phones and earphones, with no internet needed during the tour (how it works).