Kucukbuc (Little bay)

Drive: 5mins
Walking: 10mins

This is a small bay with a number of simple Turkish beach restaurants. The area is very popular with local and visiting Turks, but has not been discovered by other tourists yet. Swimming from the beach is safe and easy. It is a delightfully peaceful place to enjoy the local food or just a cool beer while the children play at the playground.

The nearest town is Gundogan ten minutes away by car (twenty minutes on foot)

Gundogan (the Sunrise)

Drive: 10mins
Walking: 30mins

This is the nearest town. It has many, restaurants and cafes built on jetties which circle the Bay offering traditional Turkish cuisine. There is a small harbour with fishing boats, yachts, gullets and a sailing school offering dinghy sailing, windsurfing, jet skis and waterskiing. Boat trips leave from here to secluded Bays along the coast.

There are number of well stocked supermarkets such as Migros and Carrefour. There is a Market on every Wednesday with a spectacular display of fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices and nuts. Clothes, towels, linen and souvenirs are also on sale.

Doctor, Dentist and Pharmacy and other basic amenities are available.

Bodrum Castle

Drive: 20 Mins away

This is a great family trip, the kids love it and you may even lose them in the dungeons.

Bodrum Castle was built by the Knights of Rhodes in honour of St.Peter between 1415-1437. The stones and marbles of the Mausoleum, which is one of the seven wonders of ancient world and destroyed by an earthquake in 14th century, were used for the construction of the castle. There are five main towers, reflecting the architectural styles of the nations by whom they were constructed, called English Tower, French Tower, Spanish Tower, Italien Tower and German Tower. The Knights built thin walls facing the sea , and fortified the walls facing the land, as they had expected attacks from the land.

Bodrum was taken by the Turks in 1523. After 1895, the castle was used as a prison. It was converted into a museum, and now holds underwater archaeology, Mycenean, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantium artefacts.

Located on the west side of Bodrum is the Myndos Gate. It was an important part of the town wall and was where the soldiers of Alexander the Great had a hard time to enter the town of Halikarnassos in 333 B.C. It was one of two entrances to the ancient city of Halikarnassos. Alexander destroyed the city leaving only the Mausoleum standing.

Around the Castle are many shops and sea front restaurants

You can also catch the ferry from here for a day trip to the Greek Island Kos

Ephesus

Drive: approx 2 Hours

Two thousand years ago Ephesus was one of the world's biggest and most important cities. The ruins have been excavated and are sufficiently preserved to give you an impression of what it was like in a large Roman city.

There are a number of amazing sights such as the Library of Celsus, Curetes Street, with the Temple of Hadrian and houses that seem almost intact and give a wonderful insight into roman life. The Great Amphitheatre, still standing, could seat 25,000 spectators.

Ephesus was ruled by the Greeks, Persians, Romans, Byzantines, and Ottomans. During Roman times, the city was second only to Rome and had hundreds of thousands of residents, a booming trade-based economy, and widespread influence. All this came to an end when the thriving harbour was permanently silted up by the meander river and mosquitoes brought malaria.

Pammukkale and the City of Hierapolis

Drive: approx 3 hours

A Unesco World Heritage site

Deriving from springs in a cliff almost 200 m high overlooking the plain, calcite-laden waters have created at Pamukkale (Cotton Palace) an unreal landscape, made up of mineral forests, petrified waterfalls and a series of terraced basins. At the end of the 2nd century B.C. the dynasty of the Attalids, the kings of Pergamon, established the thermal spa of Hierapolis. The ruins of the baths, temples and other Greek monuments can be seen at the site.