Turkey - Bodrum holidays

Things to do

Explore your destination

Here’s a little taste of what’s on offer: for more excursion ideas, speak to your Rep.

Ephesus
Walk in the footsteps of the Romans at the beautifully preserved city of Ephesus. Explore fascinating ruins including the Celsus Library and the Temple of Artemis and see where St Paul preached at the Great Theatre.

Waterpark
A splashing day out for the whole family, at the Dedeman Aquapark there’s superb slides including the thrilling Black Hole, a wave pool and a lazy river. Kids and grown-ups will love this adventure!

Turgetreis Market
Join the locals in a shopping experience you won’t forget. At Turgetreis’s popular market, you can browse for all your souvenirs and have a go at haggling for the best price. Polish up your bargaining skills!

Steam & Clean Turkish Bath
Enjoy a relaxing bath, Turkish style. In a traditional scrub-down and massage, you’ll feel your stresses melt away while your skin is prepared for a golden tan. Don’t leave Turkey without one!

Highlights

• Stepping back in time among the marble ruins at Ephesus, one of the Roman Empire’s most important cities, where St Paul spoke at the great amphitheatre
• Sailing along Turkey’s beautiful coastline in a traditional gulet boat, you’ll instantly be in holiday mode; having a skipper take you to pretty ports or even chartering your own gulet
• Exploring Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, with landmarks like Topkapi Palace, home of the Ottoman Sultans and Aya Sofya, one of Istanbul’s stunning mosques
• Wandering in the steps of crusaders at Bodrum’s Castle of St Peter, now the Museum of Underwater Archaeology, with incredible shipwrecks and fantastic views
• Enjoying lunch in a traditional caravanserai, where ancient travellers once stayed, in Kuadasi’s old quarter
• Taking boat trips to the Greek island of Kos or to bays along the coast
• Spending a day in Gümüslük, enjoying a leisurely lunch in its waterside restaurants and snorkelling around tiny Rabbit Island
• Relaxing in a traditional Turkish bath, unwinding in different steam rooms, before bathing in cold water, enjoying a massage and taking time to cool down
• Cruising along Istanbul’s Bosphorus, the world’s narrowest strait, which connects the Black Sea and Sea of Marmaras and where Europe ends and Asia begins

Food and drink

There are fabulous flavours to discover along Turkey’s Aegean Coast, from Gumbet's lively fast food joints, serving all your British favourites, to the chic harbour eateries of Bodrum and the superb fish restaurants and charming lokantas found in Turkey's villages.

In Kuadasi and Altinkum, you’ll find plenty of international and traditional Turkish restaurants to choose from, with seafood a regular on the menus.

When on holiday in Turkey, try Lokma, traditional Aegean fritters made from deep-fried dough dipped in syrup and sold in a paper cone.

Other treats to dine out on include fresh salads, delicious seafood, flat pizza-style Pide, topped with mince or cheese, and Meze appetisers like pickled vegetables, cheeses and meat-filled pastries.

For a really special dining experience, the seafood restaurants along Istanbul’s Bosphorus are unforgettable, with stunning views across the water to its two bridges.

Evening Flavour

As dusk falls, the Aegean Coast’s restaurants and bars awaken for unforgettable holiday evenings.

On the Bodrum Peninsula, head to Bodrum's famous open-air nightclub, Halikarnas, enjoy the vibrant scene in the dance bars of Gumbet's Bar Street or relax in the seafront restaurants of Bitez, Ortakent and Turgutreis.

If you’re looking for good-value bars and restaurants, head to Kuadasi’s lively seafront promenade or enjoy a quieter night out in Altinkum’s waterfront bars..

Shopping

You’ll find plenty of special holiday mementos in the Aegean Coast’s boutiques, gift shops and markets.

Browse the lanes of Bodrum's Kale Caddesi, the old quarter of Kaleiçi in Kuadasi or Turgutreis's famous Saturday market for beachwear, sunglasses, carpets and lucky boncuk; blue glass beads.

Adventurous travellers can find antiques, jewellery and dried figs and raisins at zmir’s Kemeralti Market and head inland to Kütahya, a city famous for making coloured tiles and pottery with intricate designs since the 14th century.

Dates for the Diary

19 May: Youth & Sports Day, celebrating Kemal Atatürk’s (Father of the Turks) birthday, Turkey’s national hero who rallied the people to start the War of Independence to make Turkey a republic, with events across the country.

For the Family

• Chariots, gods and literary greats. There’s loads to learn about in the ruins of temples, the library and the amphitheatre at Ephesus.
• See why good things come in small packages at Miniaturk in Istanbul. Here you can spot more than a hundred mini-models of the country’s famous landmarks.
• Dream of knights in shining armour on a visit to St Peter’s Castle or just build a sand castle of your own on Bodrum’s relaxed beaches.

Local weather

Information

Language: Turkish. Currency: Lira. Standard GMT: +2hrs. Turkish Tourist Office: First Floor, 170-173 Piccadilly, London W1Y 9DD. Telephone: 020 7839 7778. www.gototurkey.co.uk

Travel money

Turkish Lira

You can get commission-free foreign exchange on currency notes and travellers cheques at most First Choice Travel Shops and Holiday Hypermarkets.

Travel foundation

Turtle training in Turkey

When you book a holiday with us we’ll ask you to make a small donation to the World Care Fund. Through these donations we’re raising awareness about turtle nesting on the beautiful beaches in our holiday spots, which has increased the number of hatchlings on the beaches.



Our World Care Fund project partner, The Travel Foundation, is an independent sustainable tourism charity that works in close partnership with the UK travel industry to fund these projects.



It doesn’t stop there – we’re also helping to build two new wind farms that will help provide a supply of clean renewable energy with our carbon offsetting project partners ClimateCare.