Scores of Brits pick this bustling city as their annual holiday destination - but it's not always been such a popular place to visit. In the 20th-century, Bodrum in the municipality and district in Mugla, Turkey , built its economy around fishing and sponge diving. In the 1970s, the peninsula became popular with well-off writers and artists who wished to escape the heat of Istanbul .
By the 1990s, the city and its surroundings had developed a reputation of being a budget-friendly package holiday destination, offering cheap drinks and selling fake designer handbags. At this time, it was known as “the Bedroom of Europe ”, due to the after-dark antics that took place. However, the building of several five-star hotel openings in various coves along the coast in the early 2000s sparked Bodrum’s ascendency to an A-list holiday destination.
In November 2023, it was added to the Michelin Guide . Since then, it has been visited by the likes of Kate Moss, Bill Gates, Pamela Anderson and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on their last holiday before their wedding. Today, Bodrum is described as a “Turkish Saint Tropez”, “ the Aegean’s answer to Ibiza ” and “the new Mykonos ”.
Architecturally, anyone could think they were standing on the Greek island of Mykonos, surrounded by whitewashed houses, some with blue doors and windows. There are even 18th-century windmills on its hilltops. For history fanatics, Bodrum is a perfect destination.
Known as Halicarnassus in ancient G.