Bodrum, Turkey
The gorgeous view from Restaurant Kafedaki in Bodrum.
The Bodrum Peninsula, located on the southwest coast of Turkey along both the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, is a hugely popular vacation destination known for its mediterranean climate, warm seas, natural beauty, beaches and modern nightlife. It is made up of a number of towns with differing personalities that wrap all the way around the peninsula with accommodations ranging from small B&B’s to exclusive top-end luxury waterfront resorts.
We chose to stay in Bodrum Town, which is the largest town on the peninsula and located on its southeastern corner, at The Aegean Gate Hotel (a small B&B/Hotel hybrid that was walking distance to the town). The Aegean Sea was visible from everywhere and Bodrum is considered the yacht capital of Turkey (though that could be said of the entire peninsula). The town had a couple of worthwhile sights including the 15th century Bodrum Castle, still basically in its original condition. Aside from the mixed weather on our first day and a half — which makes Bodrum much less enjoyable — the visit was perfectly lovely and pleasant.
That said, if we were to return to this region, I would definitely choose to stay at one of the high-end resorts (listed below) which are scattered along the coast on the other side of the peninsula. Smaller, more charming seaside villages and a fancy martini in a chi-chi restaurant at the end of the day seems like a better recipe for the gimlet traveler in retrospect.
Having come from spectacular stops with dazzling sights in Istanbul, Cappadocia, The Ruins of Ephesus, and even the little village of Sirince, I think we expected more from Bodrum, or at least a stunning, sunny mediterranean escape. And Bodrum, while pretty enough, didn’t turn out that way for us. Maybe it was the less-than-ideal weather or maybe it was the areas we visited, but Bodrum, while perfectly fine, just felt a little…touristy.
*This was part of a 14-night trip to Turkey. To see our complete Turkey trip itinerary click here.
The Gimlet Traveler Rundown:
All ratings are based on our experience and are on a 5-star rating system (see Site Info for more details). For mapped locations and links to the places listed here (and more) visit Google Map at bottom of page.
Gimlets: **
The only gimlets we had in Bodrum were at Kafedaki restaurant. We’re not sure what ingredients they ended up using, but they turned out a strange yellow-gold color (see photo gallery below) — of course we drank them anyway! Caveat: we chose not to explore other parts of the Bodrum peninsula (outside of Bodrum town and its immediate vicinity); certainly, the luxury resorts on the other side of the BP would no doubt have some luxe-y cocktails available.Restaurants: ***
Kafedaki, perched high on a hill above Bodrum has beautiful views out over the Aegean Sea. Good food, good service, outdoor seating with great views, and a full bar available (though you might want to keep the cocktailing simple). There were plenty of other fine restaurants (mostly seafood-focused), but we decided to keep it casual on our other couple of nights; one night at Sunger Pizza, an informal pizza restaurant with a rooftop dining space overlooking the marina in the center of town; and the other just some tasty shawarma from a booth in the covered central market. If you were in the mood to drive 15-30 minutes to (or if you were staying on) the other side of the peninsula, there would be many more options to explore, from waterfront beach restaurants in seaside villages, to high-end dining at the resorts.Sights: ***
Bodrum has a cute, narrow beach in the center of town, adjacent to a vast Marina and Yacht Club (boats of all types and sizes are moored in the sizable harbor). The scenic 15th century Bodrum Castle with its wandering peacocks and many outlooks over the sea is also worth a visit. The castle also houses the small Museum of Underwater Archeology.Shopping: ***
We found some beautiful evil eye glass pendants and ornaments being made in the night market on the waterfront in the town center. While evil eyes are found in virtually every trinket and souvenir shop in Turkey, these were more unique. They were more modern-looking and the craftsman made them to order while we watched. Fascinating to watch — and made for great souvenirs. The covered shopping market in the center of town was not thrilling — either tourist-geared or very much western-style items we could find back home. And if we can’t find anything to buy, well then…‘nuff said! Again, we did not venture to the northwest coast of the peninsula where the high-end hotels are, but I believe that those are free-standing and near to small, more charming beach and fishing towns that may hold more local charm.
Review of Aegean Gate Hotel Rating: ****
We gravitated towards the small Aegean Gate Hotel, because it was rated Number 1 on TripAdvisor (in user reviews) for Bodrum and we thought we would prefer to stay in the town rather than the more remote side of the peninsula, where there are more luxury hotels, but less walkable sights/shopping/eating. We also believe that the hotel is gay-owned by two Irish guys (If this is true, it is kept on the down-low on their website and was something we discerned from reading the reviews which mentioned their names and praised them as excellent hosts, rather than from first-hand knowledge!). The hosts were great, and the room was spacious (if simply furnished), with a sitting area and small balcony that overlooked their pool just below and the expansive Aegean Sea in the distance. We appreciated the hot breakfasts and tasty lunches served on the deck, and when the sun finally came out on our second day, the chaise lounges at the edge of the property directly facing the sea. Aegean Gate is walkable to the town center, though taxis were readily available for the ride back uphill to the hotel.
Two things to mention: the owners are part of a cat adoption program in the local community (here as elsewhere in Turkey, there are thousands of stray cats and to a lesser degree dogs — thankfully most are friendly), so there were quite a few cute cats that called the Aegean Gate property home. They are very affectionate — one even kept showing up outside the sliding door on our balcony wanting to come in. So if you’re allergic, this may be an issue. We love cats, so we were fine. The other item to note is that you can’t flush toilet paper due to the less modern plumbing in smaller cities and more residential neighborhoods like where this hotel is located. This is not that unusual, but puts us a little outside our comfort zone. If either of these things are an issue, you should perhaps stay on the opposite side of the peninsula in one of the many luxury hotels.
Date of stay: September 2011
Other hotel choices in the region (these are fancy, high-end hotels with all the mod-cons and located on other side of peninsula from Bodrum Town):
•The Bodrum Edition
•Macakizi Bodrum
•Mandarin Oriental Bodrum
Below is a map of hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping and sights found during our research. We didn’t have time to visit all of them during our trip, but all were of interest. Click on the icon at top left of the map to view the legend. Or you can click on the full-screen icon at top right to expand, which will also bring up the legend. The map is best viewed on a computer.
