COUNTIES
COUNTIES
AKYARLAR (Kefaluka)
Akyarlar (Kefaluka) which used to be a Greek village located 22 km away from Bodrum city center lies 1.5 km along sea cost to the east part called “Koca”. Akyarlar is the furthest east edge of Bodrum Peninsula and it is the closest part of Bodrum to Kos Island.
Akyarlar was a small fishing village before, today has an important attraction especially for the wind surfers with the suitable wind and weather conditons. Fish restaurants of Akyarlar still keep alive the atmosphere and traditions of old Fisherman Village.
How to get from Bodrum to Akyarlar?
You can either catch a dolmus from Bodrum city center that operates every 30 minutes or drive with your own car to the direction of Turgutreis and turn the left side from the Akyarlar junction to get Akyarlar.
B?TEZ (A?açl?k Village)
Bitez is one of the holiday place where you can both enjoy the tranquility and nightlife with easy to access bars and clubs.
Mandarine gardens with unforgettable scents surrounding the Bitez district will be waiting for you to smell and walk among the trees. Bitez offers various facilities from windsurfing to water motor sports. Bitez has a lovely and very welcoming beach deserved to have blue flag with it’s clean and crystal sea.
Many restaurants lined up through the shore of Bitez offer a dinner with delicious foods and fantastic sea view.
If you ever get bored from the silence and calmness you can easily reach the very close Gümbet district where many bars and clubs hosted.
GÖL-TÜRKBÜKÜ
Göl-Türkbükü was a site of Lycian civilization today is the holiday meeting point of high society and popular people in Turkey.
Through the sea shore of Göl-Türkbükü many pensions, motels, restaurants and bars are available for the visitors. The coast road of Göl-Türkbükü is closed during the summer owing to crowdness and inconvenience of the roads so before you go Turkbuku you should leave your car in the big car parking lot at the entrance to district.
Today Göl-Türkbükü is the most expensive and most popular holiday place in Turkey like a copy of Saint Tropez from France with the tv stars, celebrities, luxurious yachts and nights.
GÜMBET
Just three kilometers away Gümbet is a resort heaven of Bodrum. Gümbet has a long beach that extends around the bay. At the heighest season of the summer Gümbet nights are live and verypopular with musics, dancers, laser and fire shows. Numerous disco bars pound out every type of over amplified music, each playing to attract passing tourists.
The crowded streets are host to dozens od restaurants each offering every type of international dish from indian curry to mexican re fried beans and chinese chow mien to italian pizzas and even good old british fish and chips from the same kitchen.
A few 5 stars resorts have joined the ranks of hotels and pensions in the area . Among them fuga is an unexpected reprieve from downtown Gümbet’s dizzying array of merchandise on display and vacationers in t-shirts and bikini bottoms.
GÜMÜ?LÜK
Gümü?lük which is one of the charming places of Bodrum Peninsula maybe the most idyllic and tranquil one. It is situated on a shore where an extremely clean sea and untouched natural forests extending. Gümü?lük is a kind of trademark with the fish restaurants that offer the best dishes of peninsula.
The Rabbit Island which takes its name from the rabbits living in the island can be reached by a walk in a quiet shallow water is the most interesting attraction in Gümü?lük. The sun ray’s hitting the sea during the sunset turns the colour of sea into a silver create an amazing atmosphere in which people plunge into feelings for a long time.
How to get to Gümü?lük from Bodrum ?
It is 25 km to Bodrum center and 7 km to Turgutreis can be reached by a dolmus from Bodrum city center after a 50 minutes drive.
If you have your own car drive from Bodrum city center to Turgutreis direction on the way after passing Gümbet, Bitez, Yal?kavak and Akyarlar junctions you will come up with a junction that indicates Gümü?lük way, turn right from there and follow the signs to get Gümü?lük.
GÜNDO?AN (Farilya)
Gündo?an where the popularity currently keep increasing is an old and small fisherman district. The cottage of fishermans with small fisher boats and luxury yachts create a colourfull and pretty view.
Gündo?an name meaning sun rise derived from the district’s old greek name Farilya. Today as the discovery by increasing visitors, investments directly proportionally increased new five star resorts and many houses, villas keep being built here however the village with locals protected their genuineness and soils. If you like the nature and smell the scents of mandarines, bananas, pomegranades and pine trees, you can go to village in Gündo?an and climb up the slope to see hiding rock tombs and watch the wonderous sun to set. You can end the day with in one of the fish restaurants in the village.
Blowing wind every each moment of the year especially in summer time refresh and eases your body heat. Apart from the refreshing features wind around Gündo?an attracts thousands of wind surf lovers to this area of Bodrum.
I also recommend the first time Gündo?an and bodrum visitors to join a daily boat trip to see the untouched natural beauties and bays around Bodrum.
You can also reach the St.Apostle Island just in 15 minutes from Gündo?an and visit the church built during the Byzantium period.
GÜVERC?NL?K
Güvercinlik is the first tourist destination of Bodrum region that located on the way from Milas-Bodrum- Airport to Bodrum Peninsula. There is a bay with very calm sea such as lake surrounded with pine and olive trees.
Güvercinlik is a nice spot for the ones who are looking for a relaxing, peacefull holiday far from the crowd and noise yet it’s close location to Bodrum also make possible to get center anytime you want to go for shopping or a night club. Salih Island located opposite of Güvercinlik can be visited by boats leaving from the dock.
How to get to Güvercinlik?
Regular mini busses which operate in every 15 minutes from Bodrum bus station reach Güvercinlik which located 20 km from city center after a 30 minutes drive. Güvercinlik is on the way between Bodrum and Milas-Bodrum Airport can be easily reached by car before arriving the Bodrum city center.
ORTAKENT (&Yah?i)
Historical wind mills, Ottoman style towerhouses and remnants from the church of priest Episkopy exist in the Ortakent-Yah?i district in Bodrum. Sea shores from Kabakum, Ortakent-Yah?i and Camel Beach take an attention with cleanliness and silence. Due to the geographical position of the land Ortakent-Yah?i is very windy so the watersports such as windsurf, catamaran is easily done in the area. Even in April and November sea temperatures are warm enough for swimming.
Müskebi is the oldest known name of the Ortakent still used in restaurants and resorts. The biggest aquapark of the Bodrum for all ages situated in Ortakent. Aquapark hosts thousands of Turkish and foreign guests during the summer season.
TURGUTRE?S
Turgutreis located in the furthest western point of the Bodrum peninsula has been developing very fast. Turgutreis is one of the luckiest land decorated genorously by the mother nature.
You can not say that you have been to Turgutreis without having a dinner in Gümü?lük, drinking the sweet water of Ba?a, lying on the sand of Karaincir Beach and eating the delicately scented mandarin.
Ba?la Bay located in the western part of Turgutreis is a favourite station of the boat tours. Ba?la, 15 minutes far from the Turgutreis, is a very suitable place for camping so especially in summers many campers come to Ba?la.
Aspat’s name originally derived from aspartos which means the barren soil. Aspat became a shelter for the pirates of genova in history. A castle built to the top of the Aspat mount still can be seen and visited today. According to a saying the taste of water from the Aspat river never changes even if it is placed in a bottle for years.
TORBA
A superbly preserved round structure was built by the Lelegians more than 2500 years ago, it is probably a tomb and crowns a high hill overlooking the village while the ruins of a byzantine monastery stand on the east side of the bay. Due to its proximity to Bodrum, Torba is a popular lunch and swimming spot.
Torba is one of the closest bay to Bodrum city centre with 6km distance. Torba districted surrounded by green pine trees is a lovely and calm settlement. Torba district is not effected by even the strongest winds due to the location of the bay, you might rarely see the sea waved.
If the Summer madness of Bodrum town centre is overwhelming, and you need a quick escape to a local beach, (but have a desire to avoid Gumbet at all costs), head for Torba. It’s close enough for a half-day jaunt, and will feed your adventurous spirit.
Off-season, Torba is a sleepy hamlet, but during the summer months, it transforms into a bustling destination.
If you’re a culture-vulture, Torba will be an interesting destination for you. It has a long history, going back to the Leleg era, and you can still see the remains of an old Lelegian tomb on a hill overlooking the village, as well as the ruins of an old monastery to the eastern end of the bay.
YALIÇ?FTL?K
After 25 minutes drive from Bodrum city center over a sinuos road between dense pine trees Yal?çiftlik district welcomes and embrace its visitor with a green nature and friendly people. Yal?çiftlik which used to be a small village is developing and getting popular with the new hotel investments and tourism facilities that made in recent years.
Before getting the Yal?çiftlik you will pass through an area called "K?z?la?aç" which is a popular area with its barbecue and local food restaurants that situated among the green forests.
When moved up 4km to the inner part of another small village (Çiftlikköy) located far away from seacoast is an excellent off the beaten path for the ones who want to be in nature, interact with local life and eat the most organic local foods.
YALIKAVAK
Formerly beeing the area’s main fishing port, the beautiful village of Yal?kavak maintains a very relaxing atmosphere for charming seaside eating. Before starting to grow in tourism Yal?kavak was a small village especially popular with sponge divers and sponge sellers.
Yal?kavak is positioned in the north-western corner of the Bodrum Peninsula, 18 km from Bodrum city means it is one of the least developed spots in the area with a lot less hotels and self-catering apartments, making it a very enjoyable stay away from the crowds.
You can mostly see the symbol of Bodrum the windmills in Yal?kavak owing to strong winds occuring in district. One of these wind mills is very close to shore gives you a chance to observe it and see how a wind mill is working.
Many lovely bays with wide and long beaches are available in the yalikavak district. It is recommended to go one of these bays especially early in the morning before getting crowded and enjoy the swimming in crsytal water with a peacefull landscape. After swimming excercises breakfast can be taken in one of the restaurants lined up on the dock. The variety of the food served to for breakfast is amazing.
You can visit the luxury harbor called Palmarina Bodrum where you can find the finest restaurants, cafés and all trade mark shops together.
