In the eyes of its lovers, Bodrum, with its low-rise whitewashed houses and subtropical gardens, is the longest-established, most attractive and most versatile Turkish resort.

If you want all waterborne distractions laid on by day, and some of the most sophisticated nighlife in Turkey by night, then Bodrum town and Gumbet in particular will be yur dream destination.

Bodrum, originally known as Halikarnassos, colonized by Dorians from the Peloponnese during the XIth BC, became a peninsula and the location of the medieval castle. Along with Knidos, Kos and the three Rhodian cities of Lindos, Kamiros and Ialyssos, Halicarnassus was a member of the so-called Dorian Hexapolis.

Two monuments which marked the history of Bodrum are :
- The Mausoleum of Halicarnassos, one of the seven wonders, and
- The Castle of the Knights of Saint John.