Bodrum Travel Forum

Im goin to bodrum with my girlfriend in july and im lookin to find out a bit more about the place!!we are staying in the gardenya appartments,does anyone know anything about them??
we hav heard lots af stories bout turkish men hassling girls,is this true??
if so wats the best way to deal with them??
as far as i know theres no beach in bodrum,wats the best beach to go to so and where??
wat are they insects like there??any poisioneous ones???
wat are the best day trips??
i would really appreciate it if ppl got back to me cos we are kinda nevous travelling over!!

Welcome to VT.
In case you don't get specific answers on your question, you could start reading the Travel Guide about Bodrum on VT with lots of tips and pics of members.

Just copy and paste:
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Turkey/Mugla_Ili/Bodrum-1850697/TravelGuide-Bodrum.html

happy travels
jaap

hey there ,
well its been ages that i left Bodrum but lived there for long time.Bodrum is good fun :) As you will be a couple i dont think so if men will hassle your g/f...perhaps they kinda believe foreigners hasnt got commitment or whatever :)))Nearest beach is Gumbet and Bitez but i am not sure if these beaches still clean ?? if you take a local bus maybe fancy hiring a car i suggest you to go Mazi ,http://www.geziturkiye.com/html/gezimap2.asp?id=GG480101
: site is in turkish but you can get the idea from pictures...such a unspoiled and beatiful village...You will have trouble with mosquitos for sure : not personally experienced, but my cat poisoned by a scorpio bite in Bodrum and i had to take him to animal hospital...Bodrum is famous with huge black snakes-we call them whipping snakes- but they are not poisoneous !! well you only see them around the bushes and in the nature not around the beaches or in city centre:)))
daily boat trips are ok but also daily ferries to Kos are available and you can go for daily trips to Ephesus on the north and Dalyan-Mud baths on the eastern coasts.If your into fun&sun&sail i am sure you will love Bodrum !!

enjoy :))

thanks for taking the time to reply!!
bit freaked out now about the snakes,haha!!
hopefully il be reporting back with nothing bar good things to say!!
thanks again!

HI there, I shall answer as many of your questions as I can!
* Gardenya Apartments are on Rasattepe Sokak on a little hill about 7 mins walk from the beachfront. It is a nice apartment complex with bar, nice pool and over the road is a smashing restaurant called Alp Kaptan.
* TUrkish people are lovely and yes there is a certain degree os hassle but it all depends on the status of the woman (single/attached) and the behaviour of the woman (certain behaviours are unacceptable in traditional Turkish households and when Western women behave in these ways, men can get the wrong idea). Hints rae easliy taken but men will appraoch a couple to make friends with them too. Be nice but be firm if there is persistent bother that you are not happy with.
* Limited shingle beach in Bodrum but there are alternatives ar Bardakci and Gumbet which are very close, Turgetreis, Yalikavak and Torba are a little further afield but also have nice beaches.
* No particularly poisonous insects and the most bother you are likely to get is from mosquitoes (non malarial) - bring some anti mozzie spray etc
* Loads of good day trips available - Ephesus, market trips, Pammukale, Dalyan

DON'T be nervous, I'm off to Bodrum for the 9th time this August. The people are great, the place is super - great atmosphere and things to do. Gumbet is a short Dolmus or taxi ride away and this also offers you loads of nights out.
I have loads of tips on my Bodrum pages if they are any use to you in helping to stop any worries you have.
If you have any questions more specific than this send me a VT email and if I can help you I will.

lol that kinda made me a little less nervous!!
iv been on tons of websites and the place looks amazing!!
really looking forward to it now!!

Hi Stephen,
Welcome to VT :-)
Lyndra

Geeza, As long as you are with your girl, they'll stay away...and the only way I can describe Bodrum is erm ... in simple terms its blackpool but hot and in Turkey... you ain't gonna see any Turks and the ones who are there are normally either "pick up a granny type" or are prebooked by middle aged sad English women who are looking for toy boys....

loadsa pubs/clubs and good atomsphere .... enjoy

WEVE STOPPED AT THE GARDENYA A FEW TIMES AND ITS A GOOD BASE FOR YOUR HOLIDAY WERE GOING IN AUGUST IVE HEARD THAT THERES BEEN A FEW STAFF CHANGES ITS A NICE RELAXED ATMOSHERE BUT THE POOL AREA WHICH YOU WOLD EXPECT IS NOISEY AT TIMES DRINKS AND FOOD AT THE GARDENYA IS QUIET GOOD TURNING LEFT DOWN THE SLOPE BRINGS YOU TO THE MAIN ROAD WERE YOU WILL SEE JIMMYS BAR GO STAIGHT ON OR DOWN THE LEFT HAND SIDE WILL TAKE YOU TO THE TOWN CENTRE GOOD FOOD AT THE GOLDEN PLATE AND BRUNCHIES ON THE SEA FRONT VERY GOOD ON A NIGHT WITH THE VIEW OF KOS ACROSS THE WATER AND THE CASLTE ALL LIGHT UP, WE JUST GET SNACKS ROUND THE POOL DURING THE DAY,POLITE HASSEL ROUND SOME SHOPS & STALLS NOTHING TO GET WORRIED ABOUT JUST HALF THERE ASKING PRICE AND AND IF YOU THINK THE PRICE IS RIGHT BUY I TEND TO LOOK ROUND AND GET GET A FEW THINGS OFF THE ONE SHOP BARTE LIKE MAD IF YOU WNAT THE GOODS CLOTHES MARKER IN BODRUM ON A TUESDAY NEAR THE BUS STATION SHINLE BEACH SUNBEDS FREE JUST BUY A DRINK FORM THE BAR THERE FROM GUMBET 5 MINS AWAY JUMP A TAXI OR DOLMUS WEVE ONLY BBEN ON A NIGHT FOR A DRINK AND SOME SHOPPING THE STAFF AT JIMMYS BAR WIL ASK EVERY TIME THEY ARE YOU COMING IN BUT WE WOULD SOONER GO INTO THE TOWN .GARDENYA OK AT NIGHT WHEN YOU WANT TO UNWIND LATE BAR THET SHUT THE DOORS AT 24.00 SO YOUNG CHILDREN OR ADULTS GET A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP IF YOU NEED TOO KNOW ANYTHING ELSE PUT A NEW POST ON CHEERS IAN THE SAINT

Hiya.. I went to Bodrum/Gumbet last year && going again this year to.

Turkish men don't hassle you the most they say to you is "hello daring come into my shop etc" the best way I find to deal with them is to simply ignore them or not look at their busisness.

There is a beach at Bodrum also Gumbet, they are very crowed, however they aren't the best beaches in the world. A bus ride to the town of Turgruis (about 20 mins) takes you to a beautiful quite town.

They're are hardly any insects from what I saw. Not a cockroach in sight!!

Personally, jeep safari is a really good day trip or turgruis market.

Hi

I'm a regular Bodrum visitor with my two 20ish daughters who get constant attention but never aggressive. Just say hayir (no) or istemiyorum (I don't want) and that should do the trick. Turks are in my opinion the most genuinely friendly and helpful nationality. My daughter travelled around Eastern Turkey and never even had anything but kindness.

You will find Bodrum classy, cosmopolitan and trendy. I think it's a ridiculous comment about it being like Blackpool in the sun. Blackpool's a total characterless dump in my opinion. Perhaps chavez meant Gumbet which is certainly full of chavs but even there there's also plenty of intoxicated turks and europeans.

The one advantage of Gumbet over Bodrum is the restaurant prices especially as many throw in a free bottle of wine!

hey thanks for ur reply!!
im back from bodrum for the last two weeks!!
i absolutely loved it....defo goin back next year!!!
the turks are the nicest in the world,they would do anything for u!!!
ya we found the same about gumbet,we ate in there alot!!
most of the places paid for our taxi and gave us a free bottle of wine!!
it really is a lovely place,dont think i could ever go bak to any of the spanish resorts after being there!!

Hi - don't laugh at me, but does anyone know any of these bars where you can find these Turkish men wanting to grab a (British) granny and (visa).
I am serious here - I am trying to find a bloke who diddled my friend out of cash.
Can anyone help?