Bodrum and Dalyan River Turkey excursions?

Can anyone give us information or share experience with the ports in Bodrum and the Dalyan river in Turkey. We will be there is Sept on a Star Clipper cruise from Athens.

Thanks!

Can anyone give us information or share experience with the ports in Bodrum and the Dalyan river in Turkey. We will be there is Sept on a Star Clipper cruise from Athens.

 

Thanks!

Bodrum is a lovely harbour to wander round - it has a big castle you can visit, lots of lovely shops, bazaars and a small beach - you could probably spend pretty much a whole day there exploring. You could also take a Turkish Bath whilst there - always a good invigorating experience! Are there any excursions on offer from Bodrum? I could maybe recommend which might be better if you have a list of them.

As for Dalyan - you should be able to take a trip along the river to have a mud bath - maybe not recomended to bathe yourself in the mud though - this has been going for probably 20 years and I think they regularly re-fill the mud with goodness knows what! The trip along the river to the beach and the tombs is worth doing though - it is very pretty with some history thrown in.

Bodrum is wonderful. It is easy to do on your own. If the walking is too much there are lots of taxis. If the weather is great you could hire a boat on the spot. We had not known this and decided not to, but it would have been great.

We took a free shuttle ferry which leaves from where you dock every half hour (I forget when) and takes you across the harbour to St. Peters Castle. The castle is nothing special if you have been to some in Europe, BUT it contains a wonderful underwater archeology museum. This shows findings from shipwrecks from very ancient times and is very interesting.

Then you can wander up to the remains of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, and then go further up to an ancient theatre.

We also loved our lunch at a local cafe where men playing backgammon gestured that we could join them in a game, and we enjoyed our walk back to the ship along the scenic waterfront. If that is not enough, there is great shopping there too.

Check out this:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=698234&highlight=bodrum&page=2

Can anyone give us information or share experience with the ports in Bodrum and the Dalyan river in Turkey. We will be there is Sept on a Star Clipper cruise from Athens.

 

Thanks!

Bodrum is a lovely town favored by wealthy Turks and very upscale. St Peter's castle has a unique underwater archaeology museum- it's very impressive to see the advanced commerce of even 1000 bc- the castle also has other exhibits of old turkish life and there are great views of the town and the sea from the grounds. The other Bodrum excursion I enjoyed was an lunch and afternoon cruise on a turkish gulet, the small wooden sailboat native to those waters. Lunch was delicious and and it was great to go swimming in the clear lovely water and really relax on the gulet. Then the icecream selling boat came by to top things off! Enjoy your time in Bodrum!

Can anyone give us information or share experience with the ports in Bodrum and the Dalyan river in Turkey. We will be there is Sept on a Star Clipper cruise from Athens. Thanks!

Agree with Maryann and others that Bodrum is a very, very nice location. We loved it. Below are some visuals from our visit there in 2006. You might also use the search function on this board to get other earlier posts on this charming and historic port.

Glad to hear from our friends in Ann Arbor. Been watching all of those interesting things with UM football, etc., there.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Bodrum Castle and next a view from the Castle to our cruise ship:

Bodrum harbor and city views:

At Bodrum along the Turkish Coast, here's a religious tower and view of the town in background:

Historic ruins at Mausoleum site:

Bodrum is a lovely town favored by wealthy Turks and very upscale. St Peter's castle has a unique underwater archaeology museum- it's very impressive to see the advanced commerce of even 1000 bc- the castle also has other exhibits of old turkish life and there are great views of the town and the sea from the grounds. The other Bodrum excursion I enjoyed was an lunch and afternoon cruise on a turkish gulet, the small wooden sailboat native to those waters. Lunch was delicious and and it was great to go swimming in the clear lovely water and really relax on the gulet. Then the icecream selling boat came by to top things off! Enjoy your time in Bodrum!

Thank you for all the great information. It is a big help to get advice before the trip so we can make the most out of our visit and you never know if the excursion are the best way to go. I have listed the excursions offered below so if anyone has opinions about whether it is worth it or other things we should try on our own that would be great! I would love to hear more about getting a Turkish bath in Bodrum or other unique experiences we could try instead of the excursion. Also if we could get an idea of how much is reasonable to do in 1 day?

Bodrum:

St. Peter Castle and Underwater Archeological Museum Transfer to the village by minibus, at the end of the tour you will have time to walk around on your own (Walking Tour, by foot only in Bodrum 2 1/2 hours, Euros 28)

Daylan River:

Ancient Caunos and Dalyan River By boat, 3 1/2 hours, Euros 40 (This tour involves getting on and off boats as well as a fair amount of walking at Caunos. At the return of the tour, you will have the opportunity to be dropped at the beach.)

Dalyan River and Mud Baths By boat, 3 1/2 hours, Euros 39 Boat passed the tombs then to the mud baths. (NOTE: The return of the tour you will have a chance to be dropped at the beach.)

You can easily do any of these on your own. You can bargain with the gulet (ship0 owners, and you can walk or take the shuttle ferry or a taxi to the castle.

Thank you for all the great information. It is a big help to get advice before the trip so we can make the most out of our visit and you never know if the excursion are the best way to go. I have listed the excursions offered below so if anyone has opinions about whether it is worth it or other things we should try on our own that would be great! I would love to hear more about getting a Turkish bath in Bodrum or other unique experiences we could try instead of the excursion. Also if we could get an idea of how much is reasonable to do in 1 day?

 

Bodrum:

St. Peter Castle and Underwater Archeological Museum Transfer to the village by minibus, at the end of the tour you will have time to walk around on your own (Walking Tour, by foot only in Bodrum 2 1/2 hours, Euros 28)

 

Daylan River:

Ancient Caunos and Dalyan River By boat, 3 1/2 hours, Euros 40 (This tour involves getting on and off boats as well as a fair amount of walking at Caunos. At the return of the tour, you will have the opportunity to be dropped at the beach.)

 

Dalyan River and Mud Baths By boat, 3 1/2 hours, Euros 39 Boat passed the tombs then to the mud baths. (NOTE: The return of the tour you will have a chance to be dropped at the beach.)

I seriously would do my own thing in Bodrum - there really is no need to pay that for what they are suggesting!

From personal experience, I would opt for the Ancient Caunos & Dalyan River by boat - the mud baths was fun when I did it about 20 years ago but I really would not smother the mud on me now from what I have read they now put in it!! Which port do you arrive in for the Dalyan trip - does the price include coach/minibus to Dalyan?

Thanks for the info! Those mud baths sounded like a great unique experience but I was concerned about that.

The transportation is included in the price for Dalyan excursion but I am not sure what port we will be at.

Thanks for the info! Those mud baths sounded like a great unique experience but I was concerned about that.

 

The transportation is included in the price for Dalyan excursion but I am not sure what port we will be at.

If it includes transport to Dalyan, it seems like a fair price.

See link for Mud baths at Dalyan (and believe me, it stinks :))

http://www.propertyturkeyforsale.com/show_attraction_image.php?attraction_im=214

and for Caunos:-

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gurkanapart.com/DALYAN_KAUNOS_DALYAN_CAUNOS___15_.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.gurkanapart.com/html/dalyan_caunos.html&usg=__fiiFrnUUdatWlMfUyI_zgQbuo6w=&h=1200&w=1600&sz=605&hl=en&start=6&sig2=880xgrkIwD6bCiV6OVuGsA&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=fY72-NweewQtbM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dancient%2Bcaunos%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=5jRHTP-fGZSF4QbG2MzZCQ

The beach was a lovely beach, too - well worth a visit it's known locally as "Turtle Beach" as it is where all the turtles lay their eggs at night - you have to leave before it gets dark & the only way to the beach is by boat - a lovely experience!

I read that there are only a few turkish baths in Bodrum and it is something we really want to do so I was wondering, given our time constraints, will we have problems getting in? Is there a way to reserve an appointment? Does anyone know how easy it is to fit into our 1 day excursion and how close they are to the port and castle where the rest of the tours are?

I read that there are only a few turkish baths in Bodrum and it is something we really want to do so I was wondering, given our time constraints, will we have problems getting in? Is there a way to reserve an appointment? Does anyone know how easy it is to fit into our 1 day excursion and how close they are to the port and castle where the rest of the tours are?

I would do an internet search for Turkish baths in Bodrum. I found a few of them in 2008 and emailed them to ask for prices and appointments.

I wasn't sure about their locations and how far they were from the dock

and how to take a taxi to get to them. And it was August and very hot so the prospect of being steam cleaned before/after being scrubbed was less appealing.So since my cruise had an excursion that combined St Peter's castle and the gulet trip, I took the excursion. Other people made their own arrangments for their own gulet trips and had a great time. Other people went to St Peter's castle by themsleves and had a great time.

I would also search this forum to see if there are any reports about Bodrum turkish baths. There have been great reports about turkish baths in Kusadasi.