Some of the top things to do and to see around Bodrum
Bodrum is one of the most popular destinations in the Turkish Aegean riviera, and of the whole Mediterranean basin. So, there is no shortage of information out there.
Therefore, what I will try to do here is to share my personal experience visiting some spots in the area which I think can be of interest, particulatly if you are looking for something more than just tanning by the beach (for the record, I did spend a considerable amount of time at the beach or poolside too!).
Before moving ahead, let me clarify that I have used the word “Bodrum” here to refer to the whole peninsula where this city is located. I think this is in line with how most people use this place name, since the points of interest and the related tourist infrastructure is spread out over a rather large area.
Another important point: if you wish to move around the area is best to rent a car. Roads can vary in quality, some are pretty good, like the one to and from the airport, but secondary ones can be a bit more tricky and signage is often lacking. It is overall manageable, though, best to carry a phone with interenet connection to be able to navigate the place.
Staying in Gültürkbükü
As mentioned, the concept “Bodrum” is generally applied to a whole peninsula, which is roughly 15km long and 5km wide. The central part of the peninsula is rather mountainous and, while there are some roads, most movement is along the coastlines, which can take considerable time. Saying all this, because, even if you have a car rental (much recommended, btw), it is important to choose your base well.
In this regard, my choice is clear: Gültürkbükü is a town on the north side of the peninsula, which is large enough to have pretty much all services (including a rather picturesque once-weekly outdoor market) while not being crowded or overbuilt.
A great place to stay in Bodrum
Lavinya Hotel, Gültürkbükü
This is a really nice nice boutique hotel located right on the beach, and when I say right on the beach I mean that no more than a couple of meters of sand separate some of the ground floor rooms from the crystalline, warm water of Gültürkbükü Bay.
The whole property is built in Mediterranean style, with open areas like the bar, blending in with the beach (which is actually public). There are also this type of sea platforms (all seafront hotels and restaurants in Gültürkbükü have them), which act as “forward” terraces, allowing people to get more or less “onto” the water without actually getting wet. At night they become restaurants, as we shall soon see.
There is a summery, laid-back vibe that pervades the whole place. You can see how there are also plenty of flowers interspersed among the whitewashed walls.
As per the rooms, since Lavinya Hotel is not a chain hotel, they are not entirely standardised. They all share a common style and tone, though.
Next (below) you can get a glimpse of one of the “villas” on the ground floor. These are the rooms that located right on the beach, with direct access to it.
Let’s move one floor up next, to have a view of one of the rooms upstairs:
And, last but not least, you can see one of the “standard rooms”. These are located a bit further from the beach (but still less than 1min walk from it!) on an adjacent building.
Lavinya Hotel has also quite a nice open sea-facing common area, where breakfast is served in the morning. There is a bar and also some spots, sheltered from the sun but open to the breeze, that are great if, for whatever reason you have to do some remote work during your Turkish holiday.
I also recommend trying the hotel breakfast at least once. This is no buffet brekfast, but you can order sets like this one below. Pretty well balanced!
Gültürkbükü-la-nuit
Gültürkbükü is a relatively calm and family-oriented spot (compared to bigger and more glitzy towns like Yalikavak - more on this soon), it does have quite a lot going for it in the evenings, though.
The beachfront is lined with restaurants, which use the same platforms that during the day serve as tanning stations. From here you can gorge yourself in seafood (beware, though, it is not cheap!) while enjoying the view of the bay. This part of the coast, by the way, has quite a few luxury resorts, including some well known names such as Maxx Royal and Mandarin Orienta. During the season it is also visited by quite a few yachts, which you can be at their moorings.
Where to eat out in Gültürkbükü - Option 1: Lavinya Hotel Restaurant
One of the options to eat out in Gültürkbükü is, again, the Lavinya Hotel, which transforms one of its beach platforms as a venue for outdoor dining. Here below you can find some of the dishes I tried.
Where to eat out in Gültürkbükü - Option 2: Orkide Restaurant
Likewise, just a few meters to the left (facing the sea) of Lavinya is Orkide, which offers also the fish-focused, platform-based dining experience.
You can even see some of the local fish before ordering them.
As mentioned above, it is not cheap, even by standards of some high-price parts of Europe, but it is a nice experience to indulge in at least once if you happen to be holidaying in the area.
Below you can see what a self-curated degustation menu looks like (as is often the case in Turkey, the dessert merits a full two pictures and a mention on its very own!).
Visiting the city of Bodrum
So, let’s say you have got enough of sun and sea and wish to see what’s around. Let’s head to downtown Bodrum for a glimpse of the southern side of the peninsula and a bit of Ancient history!
Bodrum is quite a sprawling city. There is not much flat space between the sea and the mountains and the modern city is spread over quite a long stretch of land. The most interesting part, though, unless you are going to one of its large shopping malls (complete with IKEA, Decathlon and all the big retail names), the part of interest is downtown.
This is quite a buzzing area in the summer, with hordes of tourists roaming the streets and hundreds of shops and other businesses catering to them.
There is a large port and marina along the waterfront, which hosts also the main landmark: Bodrum Castle and its museum collections.
Bodrum Castle is actually what gives its name to the modern Turkish city of Bodrum. The name being a derivation of “Petronium”, or “Castle of St. Peter”.
It was built by the Knights Hospitalier, one of the famous Christian military religious orders that were active in this part of the Eastern Mediterranean in the late middle ages. The castle is located on a narrow isthmus, which made it a very strong defensive position back in its time, and it seems that much of the material that was used to build it comes from the ruins of the nearby Ancient city of Halicarnassus (more on this soon).
Besides offering great views of the city littoral facade, the marina and its surroundings, Bodrum Castle is also a museum hosting several interesting collections.
There are a number of items that are straight out of Antiquity, gathered from the many archaeological sites found in the Bodrum area. This part of the Aegean was at one located right on one of the main trade routes of the Ancient World and there is a significant heritage dating back to thousands of years ago, from the bronze age to the Turkish conquest, pretty much every civilization has left its mark on this area.
One of the most interesting collection you can visit at Bodrum Castle is that of the Museum of Subaquatic Archaeology. Here you can see what has been recovered of several shipwrecks found in shallow waters around Bodrum. As mentioned earlier, this rocky coast was one of the main avenues of trade in early Antiquity, so a number of ships went down with their cargoes in this area. Each of these ships is an absolute trove of material for archaeologists and researchers.
(btw, a bit off topic, but if you are interested in the archaeology old shipwrecks, you should check also my post about Kansas City and its great museum of the Steamboat Arabia!)
Visiting one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: The Maussoleum of Halicarnassus
Can you name the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? Well, one of them and one of only two still (kind of) visible in some form is here, in Bodrum.
(Btw, in case you were wondering, the “7 Wonders of the Ancient World” were: the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the he Mausoleum at Halicarnassus).
How the Mausoleum of Halicarnasus looked like in its heyday
Interestingly for the vestiges of something with such a grand title, the ruins of what was once the Mausoleum of Halicarnasus is located at a rather unassuming spot in the middle of one of Bodrum’s residential areas. In fact, the access is through a rather narrow street and it is not even very well indicated.
Parts of the Ancient city were basically used as an impromptu quarry in the middle ages to source stone and buidling materials for Bodrum Castle, so there is little left today above ground of the Ancient city of Halicarnassus.
This mauseloeum was built in the 4th C BC by Masolus, hence its name, which was a Carian king (well, technically he was a satrap or governor of the Persian Empire). The Carians were the people that inhabited this corner of Western Anatolia at the time. They were close to the Greeks, but were not quite Greek and had, apparently, a distinct Anatolian identity. For example, they spoke their own Indo-European language, which is now extinct.
So, basically, Masolus decided to build his tomb in such magnificence that it soon became famous all over the Ancient world and other rulers and powerful people of that era were soon imitating him. Hence the name “mausoleum” became a common word to designate this type of tombs and it has made its way to many modern languages.
As you can see in the pictures, there is little left standing, although it is quite interesting that you can walk through the stones and even around the base of the monument.
The precinct is demarcated and there is an entrance fee to get in. There is also a small museum that explains the story of the site and how it may have looked like at the time of its construction.
Overall a very interesting site and I definitely recommend visiting, but a lot more could be done on the museum and interpretation side of it!
Interesting things to see around Bodrum: Gümüşlük
Driving west from Bodrum you get to the fisherman’s village of Gümüşlük, almost at the very tip of the peninsula.
This is quite a nice spot and a good option for a fish dinner by the sea. Gümüşlük has a rather pleasant seaside promenade, which is buzzing with visitors and lined by quite a few restaurants, each exhibiting the catch of the day.
But perhaps was I found most interesting of all here is the tiny island that encloses the bay of Gümüşlük bay. This island is the site of the Ancient city of Myndos (“Myndos Antik Kenti” in Turkish), where it is said that two of the assassins of Julius Caesar, Cassius and Brutus, sough refuge temporarily after their deed (unsuccessfully, as it turned out). It later became the site of bishopric, in early Christian times.
Well, this tiny island is linked to the mainland by an Ancient stone pathway that is partly submerged, but just enough, so that you can actually walk to and from the island if you are willing to get your feet wet! (as you can see in this picture below). Apparently
There is no shortage of dining options in Gümüşlük, rather the opposite, there are so many restaurants by the seaside, with the staff on each of them inviting you to stay there, that you can develop a bit of choice anxiety! In the picture below you can get an idea of what the views look like from most of the restaurant terraces.
Places to eat in Gümüşlük
Siesta Restaurant
So, we opted for the Siesta Restaurant, and I think it was a rather good choice (although I think the offering and prices are quite similar across the board).
As you can see, fish and octopus are the stars here, although I would also recommend trying one of the great yogurt-type entrants with the spicy peppers as well.
Yalıkavak Marina
Also on the western tip of the Bodrum peninsula is Yalikavak, a rather larger town which has become known for its rather modern and luxurious marina (built with Azerbaijani capital, apparently).
If Gültürkbükü and Gümüşlük are quite laid back, casual places, at Yalikavak is rather the opposite. Here people come to see, be seen and show off.
It is interesting in some ways, but, in my opinion the whole ensemble lacks a bit of authenticity. Many renowned luxury brands, fashion houses and restaurants have opened branches here, to offer their wares next to the super-yacht moorings. But, at the end of the day, what you find here, you may find also in Dubai, Montecarlo or Marbella and you would be hard pressed to tell which one is which.
Good value places for casual eating in Yalikavak
Nevertheless, if you are looking for a bit of casual dining in Yalikavak, you can find some options as well in the streets just across the marina’s main access road, on the land side.
We ended up at Midye7, a rather unpretentious place which specializes in serving mossels with French fries, Belgian-style. It has an outdoor terrace where you can spend a good time while relishing the freshly steamed mossels.
Bonus tip: best viewpoint in Bodrum
One last tip about Bodrum: if you are with a car, you may want to check the sunset views from a spot on the road that crosses the peninsula from north to south, from Yalikavk to Bodrum downtown, and that is marked in the maps as “Yel Değirmenleri” (which indicates that apparently there are some windmills, but I didn’t see them).
From here you can get some magnificent views of the sun setting over the Mediterranean and you can also see the Greek islands of Kalimnos and Leros, which are really, really close! (the latter was the setting of a WW2 battle between British and Germans, which later inspired the classic war movie, “The guns of Navarone”).
Just beware, because, to be honest, while the views are great, the place is not well prepared to get visitors. There is some space to park the car on the side of the road, but it is difficult and a bit dangerous to cross (it is located just at a turn of the road and the traffic is constant). There is also quite a lot of garbage around (this is one of the main issues in Bodrum, refuse, particularly plastics and cans, accumulates on the sides of many roads and streets, despite there being places to leave them!). Nevertheless, it seems to be quite a popular spot, with many people, both tourists and locals, spending some time here contemplating the sunset and taking pictures.
And this is the end of this Bodrum story, although, this is a destination that I may return to and where there are still many sights I haven’t visited and many stories to be told. Watch this space!