Gümüşlük and Türkbükü: The Two Quiet Sides of Bodrum

Ask ten people in Bodrum where to go for a quiet few days and you will hear two names: Gümüşlük and Türkbükü. They are both on the north side of the peninsula, both a little over half an hour from Bodrum town, and both get described as the calm alternative to the castle, the marina and Bar Street. That is where the similarity ends. Gümüşlük is quiet because the law made it so. Türkbükü is quiet only if your definition of quiet includes a DJ.

At a glance

Gümüşlük from Bodrum town

About 24 km (15 miles), 35 to 40 minutes by car

Türkbükü from Bodrum town

About 17 km (10 miles), 30 minutes by car

From Milas–Bodrum Airport (BJV)

Roughly 50 minutes to Türkbükü, an hour to Gümüşlük

Gümüşlük is for

Slow travelers, families, the 50+, anyone who reads at lunch

Türkbükü is for

Beach clubs, boutique hotels, people-watching, Istanbul's summer set

Season

May to October; both villages go very quiet in winter

Currency

Turkish lira; cards accepted almost everywhere, carry some cash for the dolmuş

Gümüşlük: a village built on a ruin

Gümüşlük sits on the site of ancient Myndos, a Carian and later Hellenistic harbor town. You do not visit the ruins so much as walk through them: bits of wall in the lanes, column drums used as garden furniture, and, underwater just off the beach, the outline of the old harbor mole. Because the whole village is a first-degree archaeological site, nobody can dig a foundation without the museum turning up, which is the real reason it still looks the way it does.

The result is a place of one- and two-story houses, a sandy main lane, and no concrete hotels. Development went to the hills behind the village and to Koyunbaba, the next bay south, and left the waterfront alone. If you have seen what happened to Gümbet, you will understand why people here talk about the protected status with something close to affection.

Fish restaurants with their feet in the sea

The thing Gümüşlük is known for is the row of fish restaurants along the bay, several of which put their tables on the sand or in a few inches of water. You eat meze with the Aegean lapping at the table legs, and the sun goes down directly in front of you, behind Rabbit Island. Even in the season of Instagram it remains a genuinely good way to spend an evening.

Order the way locals do: cold meze first, then a grilled fish by weight, then nothing else. Prices along the water are higher than a lokanta inland but nowhere near Yalıkavak marina. Book ahead on summer weekends, and ask for a table at the front if the sunset is the point.

Rabbit Island, the beach and the music festival

Tavşan Adası, Rabbit Island, closes the bay to the north. At low water you can wade across to it along the sunken ancient breakwater, knee-deep or a little more, which is why everyone who visits has a photo of themselves apparently walking on the sea. There are no rabbits anymore, but there is a good view back at the village and some ruins to poke around.

The village beach is small and pebbly and fine for a swim; the better sand is at Koyunbaba, a short drive or a longer walk south. From roughly July into September the Gümüşlük International Classical Music Festival puts on concerts in the village, some of them in an old stone quarry up the hill, with the sea behind the stage. Check the program for the current year; it changes, but it has run every summer for about two decades.

Türkbükü: Istanbul's bay

Göltürkbükü is the official name, created when the two villages of Gölköy and Türkbükü were merged, but everyone says Türkbükü and means the eastern, livelier half. It faces north into a sheltered bay on the peninsula's top coast, and since the 1990s it has been the summer address of Istanbul's business, media and fashion crowd. Think of it as the Hamptons of the Aegean and you will not be far off.

The bay has little natural beach, so the beach clubs and hotels built out over the water on wooden platforms, called iskele. You rent a sunbed on the deck, swim off a ladder, and have lunch brought to you. By late afternoon the platforms turn into bars, and on summer weekends several of them become parties that run well past midnight. The dress code is linen by day and whatever is in the Istanbul magazines by night.

Boutique hotels and what 'quiet' means here

Türkbükü is where the Bodrum boutique hotel was more or less invented. Small, design-led places with 10 to 40 rooms line the bay and climb the hill, many with their own platform. They are expensive in July and August, booked out on weekends, and noticeably better value in June and September when the same room, the same deck and the same sea cost a good deal less.

So in what sense is Türkbükü quiet? Only in the sense that it has no Bar Street, no foam parties and almost no package tourists. The crowd is Turkish and moneyed, the music is house rather than Europop, and nobody is selling boat trips from the pavement. Midweek in June it is genuinely restful. A Saturday in August is not, and you should not book expecting it to be.

How they differ, side by side

• Building height: Gümüşlük is capped by its archaeological status; Türkbükü is low-rise by taste and money rather than law, and keeps adding hotels up the hillside
• The water: Gümüşlük has a beach and tables in the shallows; Türkbükü has decks and ladders, with Gölköy and the beaches west of the bay for sand
• Evenings: Gümüşlük is fish, wine and sunset, then bed; Türkbükü is dinner at ten and a club at midnight
• Price: both are above the Bodrum average; Türkbükü in August is among the priciest places in Turkey
• Crowd: Gümüşlük draws families, older couples and Europeans; Türkbükü draws Istanbul, the Gulf and anyone who follows them
• Getting around: both have a dolmuş to Bodrum otogar, but a rental car makes either easier, and Gümüşlük in particular has little to do within walking distance besides the village

Getting there and getting between them

From Bodrum town, the road to both runs out past Ortakent toward Yalıkavak. Türkbükü is reached either that way, turning north at Gündoğan, or on the faster road along the north coast past Torba, which is also the way in from the airport. Allow about 30 minutes from town and 45 to 60 from the airport, more on a Friday evening in July when the whole peninsula is driving in the same direction.

Gümüşlük is further west, beyond Yalıkavak, about 35 to 40 minutes from town and an hour from the airport. Between the two villages it is roughly 20 minutes by car along the north coast through Yalıkavak and Gündoğan. The dolmuş minibuses from Bodrum otogar run to both all day in season; the Gümüşlük one is well used by locals and costs very little, but it drops you at the top of the village, a ten-minute walk from the water.

Which one should you pick?

If you are coming from the US for a week and want the Bodrum the travel pieces promised, slow, sunlit and a little old-fashioned, Gümüşlük is the better bet, and you can always drive to Türkbükü for one lunch on a platform to see what the fuss is about. If you want the scene itself, a good hotel, a deck to be seen on and a party on Saturday, go to Türkbükü and visit Gümüşlük for a sunset dinner.

Either way, go in June or September if you can. Both villages are at their best when the water is warm and the Istanbul crowd has thinned, and the difference in price between then and August can pay for the flights.

Frequently asked questions

Is Gümüşlük worth visiting?

Yes, especially for an evening. It is one of the few places on the Bodrum peninsula that still looks like a village, with the ruins of ancient Myndos underfoot, fish restaurants at the water's edge and a sunset over Rabbit Island. Stay there if you want quiet; visit for dinner if you are based elsewhere.

Can you walk to Rabbit Island in Gümüşlük?

Usually, yes. A sunken ancient breakwater links the beach to Tavşan Adası and in normal conditions the water is about knee-deep. Wear water shoes, as the stones are uneven, and skip it when the sea is rough.

What is Türkbükü known for?

Türkbükü is the Bodrum peninsula's most fashionable bay, popular with Istanbul's wealthy since the 1990s. It is known for beach clubs built on wooden platforms over the sea, small design-led boutique hotels and a summer party scene that is lively without the package-tour atmosphere of Gümbet.

Is Türkbükü quiet?

Compared with Bodrum town's Bar Street, yes; compared with Gümüşlük, no. Midweek in June or September it is relaxed. On July and August weekends the beach clubs run late and loud, so pick your hotel's location with that in mind.

How far is Gümüşlük from Bodrum?

About 24 km (15 miles), or 35 to 40 minutes by car from Bodrum town, and about an hour from Milas–Bodrum Airport. Dolmuş minibuses run from Bodrum otogar throughout the day in season.

Is Göltürkbükü the same as Türkbükü?

Göltürkbükü is the official name for the merged villages of Gölköy and Türkbükü on the north coast of the Bodrum peninsula. In everyday use Türkbükü means the livelier eastern half with the beach clubs; Gölköy is the quieter western end.