Bodrum

Bodrum occupies the site of ancient Halicarnassus, one of the most celebrated cities of the ancient world. It was here that Herodotus — the 'Father of History' — was born around 484 BC, and here that the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was built for King Mausolus around 350 BC. So magnificent was this tomb that it became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and gave us the word 'mausoleum'.

The Knights of St John arrived in the 15th century and constructed the Castle of St Peter — today the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology — using stones from the ancient mausoleum. The castle's towers, each built by a different European nation, stand as a remarkable monument to medieval crusader architecture and now house one of the world's finest collections of ancient shipwrecks and amphoras.

Modern Bodrum is the Aegean's most glamorous resort town — a whitewashed hillside town of bougainvillea-draped houses, a vibrant marina filled with gulets and superyachts, and a coastline of turquoise bays. The peninsula's villages — Türkbükü, Yalıkavak, Göltürkbükü — each have their own character, from celebrity-favoured beach clubs to quiet fishing harbours.

Bodrum is the spiritual home of the Turkish gulet — the traditional wooden sailing vessel — and a blue cruise along the Aegean coast remains one of Türkiye's most iconic travel experiences, combining ancient ruins, hidden coves and crystal-clear waters.