In addition to the town of Bodrum, the Bodrum peninsula is beautiful and full of surprising finds. We were going take a day trip around the peninsula and ended up only getting about halfway, spending the day in the village of Gümüslük, on the very western end. For a map of the key places we visited in Turkey, click here.

Enjoying a mid-day meal overlooking the beautiful harbor.

It was a great spot—a quaint village with good seafood restaurants along the waterfront and beautiful views as a reward for hiking a nearby hill overlooking some of the ruins of ancient Myndos (founded by King Mausolus in about 350 BC).

The beautiful harbor and setting of Gümüslük, with some of the ruins of Myndos visible on what is now called “Rabbit Island” in center right of picture.

Myndos was a large port city with a good harbor, but today the ruins are spread out over a large area and for the most part not easily accessible—some are under water, so bring your diving or snorkeling gear.

The ancient breakwater built by King Mausolus is visible just below the surface of the water. It originally was about 3 meters high.

The primary draw for many tourists and locals is the natural setting. Since we were only about 25 km from Bodrum, I was surprised how quiet Gümüslük felt—seemingly unaffected by tourism, and yet our travel books said it is definitely growing.

Life on the beach – not a bad setting if you’re a cow. There are some ruins of a temple nearby, but I doubt the cows appreciate the historic significance 🙂

There are lots of good day trips from Bodrum, and I highly recommend a leisurely drive out on the peninsula as one of them.