Bodrum Travel Guide: History, Culture, Food & the Birthplace of the Blue Cruise

Few places on the Mediterranean combine history, natural beauty and modern glamour as effortlessly as Bodrum. Whitewashed houses spill down to a harbour guarded by a medieval castle, wooden gulets line the quay, and in the evening the bays of the peninsula fill with yachts, music and the smell of grilled fish. Yet behind the beach clubs and marinas lies a story that stretches back more than two and a half thousand years.

Ancient Halicarnassus

In antiquity Bodrum was Halicarnassus, a prosperous city of the region of Caria. It was the birthplace of Herodotus, the 5th-century BC writer often called the “father of history”. In the 4th century BC King Mausolus made Halicarnassus his capital, and after his death his tomb – the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus – became so famous that it was counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and gave us the word “mausoleum”.

Today only foundations and fragments remain on site, but walking through the old town you can still find the ancient theatre above the harbour and traces of the city walls, including the Myndos Gate.

The Castle of St Peter

In the early 15th century the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes built the Castle of St Peter on the rocky point between Bodrum’s two bays, reusing stones from the ruined Mausoleum. After the Ottoman conquest of Rhodes in 1522 the knights left, and the castle slowly became part of the town’s everyday life.

Today it houses the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology, one of the most important of its kind in the world, with shipwrecks, amphorae and treasures recovered from the seabed of the Aegean.

From Fishing Village to the Birthplace of the Blue Cruise

For centuries Bodrum was a quiet town of sponge divers, fishermen and boat builders. Its shipyards became famous for the gulet – a broad, wooden sailing boat originally used for fishing and trade along the coast.

In the 20th century the writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, known as the “Fisherman of Halicarnassus”, was exiled to Bodrum and fell in love with its people and its coastline. His writings, and the boat trips he and his friends made along the coast, inspired the idea of the Mavi Yolculuk – the Blue Voyage. What began as journeys of writers and artists on simple wooden boats grew into today’s world-famous gulet holidays.

Tourism Today

From the 1980s onwards Bodrum developed rapidly into one of Turkey’s leading holiday destinations. Small fishing villages around the peninsula – Gümüşlük, Yalıkavak, Türkbükü, Gündoğan, Turgutreis and Bitez – each found their own character, from sleepy fish restaurants to chic beach clubs and luxury hotels. Modern marinas in Bodrum town, Turgutreis and Yalıkavak now welcome superyachts from around the world, while the harbour below the castle remains the heart of the gulet fleet.

Food and Restaurants

Bodrum’s cuisine is Aegean at heart: olive oil, wild herbs, fresh vegetables and the catch of the day. Do not miss Bodrum mandarins in winter, fresh mezes such as sea beans, stuffed courgette flowers and smoked aubergine, and simply grilled fish by the sea.

• ✓Gümüşlük – famous for fish restaurants with tables right on the water and spectacular sunsets.
• ✓Yalıkavak Marina – international fine dining, steakhouses and cocktail bars by the superyachts.
• ✓Türkbükü and Gündoğan – stylish beach clubs and long lunches on wooden jetties.
• ✓Bodrum town – lively bars, meyhanes and late-night music along the harbour.

The People of Bodrum

Bodrum has always attracted free spirits – writers, painters and musicians who came for a summer and stayed for a lifetime. Alongside them live families who have fished, built boats and grown citrus fruit here for generations. The result is a relaxed, open-minded town where a fisherman, a boat builder and an artist may share the same tea house in the morning. Many of the captains and crews on Bodrum gulets come from these local families and grew up on the water.

Discover Bodrum by Gulet

The best way to understand Bodrum is from the sea. From the harbour below the castle, gulets head into the pine-fringed coves of the Gulf of Gökova, around the Datça peninsula to ancient Knidos, or across to the Greek islands of Kos and Kalymnos. See our guide to gulet charter in Bodrum and our Greek-island routes.

Frequently Asked Questions

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