Best Things to Do in Bodrum

Bodrum shines brightest when you alternate mornings among its 2,400-year-old Halicarnassus monuments and shipwreck halls with afternoons swimming off wooden gulet schooners and evenings in whitewashed coastal villages. Here are the ten experiences that define a visit.

1. Explore Bodrum Castle and the Museum of Underwater Archaeology. Built by the Knights Hospitaller in 1402 using green volcanic stone and marble from the collapsed Mausoleum, the castle houses the world's greatest collection of ancient Mediterranean shipwrecks, including the 14th-century BC Uluburun royal cargo.
2. Sail on a Wooden Gulet to Orak Island or Aquarium Bay. Spend a day swimming in electric-turquoise water over white sand seabeds aboard a handcrafted Bodrum schooner.
3. Stand at the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the Ancient Theatre. Visit the foundation terrace and marble friezes of the 350 BC tomb that gave every language the word "mausoleum", then climb to the 4th-century BC hillside theatre for the classic view over town.
4. Wade to Rabbit Island and dine by the water in Gümüşlük. Walk ankle-deep across the submerged ancient harbour wall of Myndos and watch sunset under painted gourd lanterns at the water's edge.
5. Wander the bougainvillea alleys of Old Bodrum, Kumbahçe and the Marina. Explore the car-free whitewashed stone lanes behind the Castle, Zeki Müren's house museum and the traditional boatyards of İçmeler.
6. Climb to the Haremtan Windmills and visit Yalıkavak. Stand beside the seven whitewashed 1850s stone windmills on the ridge between Bodrum and Gümbet, or watch sunset above Yalıkavak bay.
7. Swim in the calm, citrus-backed waters of Bitez and Camel Beach. Relax on sandy beaches twenty minutes from downtown.
8. Visit the stone craft village of Dibeklihan and Etrim Carpets. Browse architecture-led art galleries in Yakaköy or watch cooperative weavers tie natural-dyed carpets in the pine hills.
9. Taste çökertme kebabı, stuffed courgette flowers and tangerine ice cream. Experience Bodrum's distinct Aegean kitchen.
10. Take the 20-minute ferry to Kos Island in Greece (or drive to Stratonikeia). Add a Greek Dodecanese island or a marble gladiators' city to your itinerary.